Englishman Lee Westwood was crowned Europe’s number one golfer for the third time in his career with a second-placed finish yesterday behind compatriot Matthew Fitzpatrick, who won the European Tour’s season-ending World Tour Championship.
Westwood won the Harry Vardon Trophy again 20 years after he first lifted it, with a steady final-round 68 at Jumeirah Golf Estates in Dubai to go 14-under for the tournament and finish one stroke behind Fitzpatrick, who took home $3mn for his victory.
Westwood won $2mn for finishing at the top of the Race to Dubai leaderboard, while overnight co-leader Patrick Reed lost the chance to become the first American to claim the honour as he ended tied in third place with Viktor Hovland at 13-under.
Fitzpatrick, who had a share of the lead before the final round, began with birdies on the opening four holes and added a further gain before the turn and finished steadily to seal his first Rolex Series win.
A tearful Westwood admitted after that victory there were times when he was not sure he would ever win again but he claimed a 25th European Tour triumph and second Rolex Series title earlier this season at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship presented by EGA.
That gave him a chance of a Harry Vardon Trophy hat-trick at the 2020 DP World Tour Championship, Dubai and after finishing second to Matthew Fitzpatrick at Jumeirah Golf Estates, he is Europe’s best once again at 47 years of age.
“It’s been 20 years since I sat there at Valderrama and finished second in the American Express Championship to win the Volvo Order of Merit as it was back then,” he said. “I won here in 2009 to win the Race to Dubai and now I’ve finished second to win it today.
“They have all been very different. I guess 2000, sort of I was winning a lot, but I was still up and coming. It was only my seventh year on Tour.
“2009, I was honing in on the best player in the world spot, and I needed to win here to win the Race to Dubai, and I managed to do that.
“And then this one, I’m kind of the more mature player on the European Tour now. It wasn’t something I set out to do at the start of the year, but it shows the consistency I’ve shown.
“The motivation’s never changed, really. I get to get up each day and do the job I love. I’ve always wanted to be a golfer and I don’t want it to end.
“So I’m prepared to keep working hard and put myself in the line of fire and try and get into contention in tournaments. It’s where I’m most comfortable and what I love doing. I love the work away from the course and the gym and on the range, the hard work that people don’t see, I love that. I don’t need to motivate myself very often.”
Westwood’s 2020 season started with that win in Abu Dhabi and he also achieved a top 25 at the WGC-Mexico Championship before Covid-19 led to the season going into hiatus.
The Worksop native then played a big part in the European’s Tour return to action, hosting the Betfred British Masters to kick off the UK Swing and playing in three of those events.
He finished in the top 20 at the U.S. Open Championship and back to back Rolex Series events to keep racking up the Race to Dubai points, and his consistency was shown by the fact he had one missed cut in 15 appearances.
Come this week and he knew that he would need a good performance to take the big prize and, just as he has done so many times, Westwood duly delivered to beat Fitzpatrick by just 27.8 points over the season, despite suffering from a back injury.
“The two lads in the physio unit, Nigel and Rob, have done an incredible job on me,” he said. “They have stretched me in places I didn’t think I had and they have given me a massage twice a day. I’m very appreciative to the job they have done on my back this week.
“I knew I needed to go out there and shoot a good round today. I played great as I have done all week. I missed a load of chances today but hit a wedge to two feet on 16 and made a great par on 17 and then made a great four at the last when I needed to.”