United States, Oct 01: Golf can be a streaky game, even a cruel game. No one knows that better than England's Lee Westwood, who has gone from the penthouse to the outhouse and back over the course of three seasons.
Now, as Westwood prepares to play in the American Express Championship Thursday, he just might be the hottest player anywhere.
In the 2000 season, Westwood won six times on the European Tour, plus another title in the Dimension Data Pro-Am in South Africa. With earnings of more than $3.6 million, Westwood ended Colin Montgomerie's seven-year stranglehold on the Order of Merit title.
The only player hotter in the world as the 2001 season dawned was Tiger Woods, who was No. 1 in the world to Westwood's No. 5. Then suddenly Westwood fell and fell hard. He plummeted to 52nd in the Order of Merit, with earnings of $455,612 and did not win that season. The bottom was still to come, however, as Westwood finished the 2002 season 75th in earnings with $359,523.
He had put together some good finishes in 2001, such as a tie for second in defense of his Volvo Scandinavian Masters title. Westwood compiled four top- 10s that season, then in 2002 he had none. His best showing was a tie for 14th late in the season in Spain.



The rise in his stroke average tells an ugly story. In 2000, he led the European Tour with 69.62 average. The next year that number rose to 71.69 and ranked him 111th. In 2002, his average was 71.10, still 111th.



He ended 2002 with a 65th-place finish in the Volvo Masters Andalucia after shooting 76-73-81-78 for a 24-over-par 308. Westwood's game had reached a point where he wasn't doing anything well. It was a nightmarish fall from grace for a player who reached his 30th birthday just last April.



The current season didn't offer much consolation, except that Westwood was working hard on his game with swing coach David Leadbetter. Finally, in early July, Westwood earned his first top-10 in more than a year with a tie for ninth in the Smurfit European Open. He picked up a tie for 14th in the Barclays Scottish Open with a strong showing on the weekend, then tied for 11th in the Nissan Irish Open.



Out of the blue, after missing the cut in the PGA Championship and placing tied for 46th in the NEC Invitational, Westwood won the BMW International Open in late August.



Three tournaments later, Westwood captured a one-stroke victory over world No. 2 Ernie Els in the Dunhill Links Championship, one of the European Tour's richest events, and earned a trip the American Express.



Not only did he win last weekend, he was near brilliant in making just one bogey in four rounds over the Carnoustie, St. Andrews and Kingsbarns courses. He had jumped into the lead on Saturday with a 62 at Kingsbarns, a round that included a holed 218-yard 4-iron at the ninth for a double-eagle 2. On the final day at the Old Course, a course Westwood has never liked, his 67 earned him the win.


Bureau Report