30 Things You Didn’t Know About Lee Westwood

One of the best golfers England has ever produced, Lee Westwood has had 25 wins on the European Tour, played on multiple Ryder Cups and reached the World No.1 spot.

Get to know the Englishman a little better with these 30 facts...

Lee Westwood facts:

1. Westwood's best Ryder Cup was in 2004 at Oakland Hills Country Club where he produced 4.5 points out of 5.

2. His middle name is John.

3. Westwood became World No.1 in October 2010, knocking Tiger Woods off the top. He held the top position for a total of 22 weeks and was first English golfer to do so since Nick Faldo.

4. He is the European player that has played in the most Ryder Cup winning teams ever, with seven.

5. He has secured 23 points across ten Ryder Cups.

6. On the European Tour, he won his first two playoffs in tournaments in 1996 and 1998. He then lost his next five, one a year from 2007 to 2011.

7. Westwood has an OBE, which was awarded in the 2011 Birthday honours list.

8. Westwood is a big fan of English soccer side Nottingham Forest FC.

9. He was married to Laurae Coltart, the sister of Scottish Ryder Cup player Andrew Coltart. They divorced in 2015.

10. They have two children together, Sam and Poppy.

11. He received an honorary degree of Doctor of Science from Nottingham Trent University.

12. Westwood started playing golf when he was 13 and turned pro when he was 20.

13. His father John, a maths teacher, also took up the game to give his son encouragement.

14. His best finish in a Major is as a runner-up. He achieved this twice at The Masters in 2010 and 2016. He also did so at the 2010 Open.

15. Westwood's wife is Helen Storey, who also currently caddies for him out on Tour. They married in 2021.

16. He is attached to Close House Golf Club near Newcastle, where he hosted the British Masters in 2017.

17. He turned pro in 1993 off a handicap of plus four.

18. The Englishman cites his interests as films, horse racing, snooker, football and cars.

19. He has been a Ping staff player for his entire career.

20. He played rugby, cricket and football as a child.

21. His son, Sam Westwood, has caddied for him a number of times, including at the 2021 Honda Classic and the 2021 Masters

22. He joined LIV Golf in 2022 and has played in every LIV Golf tournament. He co-captains the Majesticks GC team with Ian Poulter and Henrik Stenson.

23. He holds the record for most men's Majors played in without winning one. He overtook Jay Haas at the 2021 Open when he teed it up in his 88th Major.

24. He has professional tournament victories in five continents and 20 different countries.

25. He became the oldest player to win the Race to Dubai in 2020.

26. He is one of only six players to have won three or more European Tour Order of Merit titles.

27. He has won pro tournaments in four different decades - the 1990s, the 2000s, 2010s and 2020s.

28. In 2020, he won both the European Tour Golfer of the Year and Association of Golf Writers' (AGW) Golfer of the Year awards for the fourth time.

29. He finished 45th in the 2023 LIV Golf League, only avoiding relegation due to his contractual situation as a captain.

30. He is second on the DP World Tour career money list with €38.3m.

Lee Westwood career earnings

Lee Westwood is second on the DP World Tour's career money list with €38.3m to go with his $23.9m won on the PGA Tour. His LIV Golf fee was not released but was expected to be somewhere between $30m-$50m.