Westwood brings an end to USA dream for the sake of his kids

By Graham Otway

Lee Westwood must have know the interrogation would come.  But instead of reacting like many sports stars, celebrities and politicians with a curt ‘no comment’ when asked about  their private life,  he answered questions put to him during The British Masters about his marriage breakdown and his decision to quit the US Tour and return to playing his golf full-time on the European Tour.

He did not go deep into the details of why he and Laurae, the sister of former tour pro Andrew Coltart whom he married in 1999, had decided to go their separate ways three years after moving from his roots in Worksop to America.

But by stating the fact that he had abandoned his American golfing dream and returned to Europe because he needs to be close to his two young children Sam and Poppy he will have won many new admirers.

“I’ve always had (other) priorities in life,” said Westwood. “I’ve always said that golf is not my main priority. Obviously the kids are. I won’t lie, golf doesn’t mean as much to me now as it did five, 10 years ago.”

The big question now, however, as he tries to rebuild his personal life is whether, at the same time, he can get rebuild his golf.

Although his career record of 42 wins worldwide does not include one of golf’s four Major titles, he did climb to the top of the world rankings in 2011 in two spells for a total of 23 weeks and when, a year later, he upped sticks and moved to America he was the world number four.

But now on his return to Europe that is a distant memory. He did pick up a handful of ranking points for finishing joint 17th at Woburn, the highlight of his four rounds being the four under par 67 he shot on Saturday, but they only lifted him two places in the table to 42nd. And he openly admitted that his marriage breakdown had taken its toll on his golf swing.

“Unfortunately this year I’ve not really been able to put time into it,” he said. “So it’s no surprise that the game has suffered a little bit. We know how mental the game of golf is. I’ve had a lot going on which has affected me in the head.

“I don’t see any reason why, when I get my ducks in a row and can focus on golf again, I can’t climb the rankings. I’m prepared to work hard.

“I’m in pretty good shape. I’ve got 42-year-old niggles but my back is still good, and my knees and hips and shoulders are all good. It’s just down to hard work, really.”

And from Europe’s point of view the timing of Westwood’s return to the fold could not be better since the qualifying period to make next year’s team for the Ryder Cup defence against the Americans at Hazeltine started only in mid-August and has another ten months to run.

Westwood has played in the transAtlantic challenge in every European team since 1997 and holds the record of being on the winning side seven times. He has earned his place on merit every time, never needing a captain’s pick.

Given he and current captain Darren Clarke are part of the same Chubby Chandler management stable and have had a close relationship stretching back many years, it would be a huge surprise if the Ulsterman does not want to see Westwood passing on his vast  experience to youngsters in the European locker room next September.

One of the things Westwood will miss about life on the US Tour is the ease of travel between tournaments. Because most tournaments there are held on the same courses every year, players do not have to turn up at the start of the week to familiarise themselves with conditions.

Instead they can fly in on Wednesday morning and work for a day on their swings and fly back home after the fourth round on Sunday night and have a couple of days with their families every week.

And while Westwood wants to see as much of his children Sam and Poppy as he can there will be many periods on the European Tour schedule – such as the annual three week Desert swing – when it simply is not practical to fly home between tournaments.

Set against that, however, Westwood is looking forward to returning to some venues that featured on his early career playing schedules – like his appearance a fortnight ago at St Andrews in the Links Championship.

“I hadn’t played the Dunhill for two or three years. I missed it,” he said. “I was discussing how nice it felt to be back and there are events on my schedule now that haven’t been there for two or three years. It will be nice to go back to supporting those.”

In world golfing terms, at the age of 42, Westwood has now been overtaken by the new generation of Jordan Spieth,  Jason Day and Rory McIlroy, but however sad the family circumstances of his return to Europe, there will be fans on this side of the ocean who will gladly welcome him back.

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