Needed an eagle to win and a birdie to force a playoff with Rafael Cabrera-Bello at the Dubai Desert Classic in February. Made it to the green in two at the par-5 finishing hole at Emirates GC, but his chip shot left him with a 15-foot birdie putt that he couldn't convert. He T2 along with Stephen Gallacher. Posted a solo fourth in his first PGA TOUR start of the year, at the World Golf Championships-Accenture Match Play Championship, defeating Nicolas Colsaerts, Robert Karlsson, Nick Watney and Martin Laird before falling to Rory McIlroy in the semifinals, 3 and 1, and to Mark Wilson in the consolation match, 1-down. Held a 3-up lead through four holes vs. McIlroy before seeing the advantage evaporate into a 1-down deficit through nine holes. Collected his ninth top-10 in 38 career World Golf Championships starts. Earned his best finish in the Accenture Match Play Championship, advancing past the second round for the first time in his 12th tournament. Collected his best finish on the PGA TOUR since a T3 at the 2011 U.S. Open.

A week later, made a Sunday charge at The Honda Classic with a 7-under 63 to move from T27 to fourth. It was his fourth start in the event and second top-10 finish (T9 in 2010).

Finished T3 at the Masters Tournament just two strokes out of the Bubba Watson-Louis Oosthuizen playoff. Held the first-round lead with a 67 but closed with rounds of 73-72-68.

Successfully defended his Indonesian Masters title in April. Had to finish his third round at Royale Jakarta GC on Sunday morning at the weather-plagued event. After shooting a 7-under 65, he took a commanding eight-stroke lead into the final round. Struggled to a 2-over 74 over his final 18 holes but was able to hang on and win by two shots over Thailand's Thaworn Wiratchant.

2011: Ended his year with a flourish, winning the Thailand Golf Championship and moving into the No. 2 spot in the Official World Golf Ranking. Also finished fifth in the Race to Dubai on the European Tour.

In April, he regained the No. 1 position on the Official World Golf Ranking by winning the Asian Tour's Indonesian Masters. He shot a final-round 69 at Royal Jakarta GC to defeat Thongchai Jaidee by three strokes.

He continued his winning ways a week later in South Korea by shooting three consecutive rounds in the 60s to win the Ballantine's Championship. He entered the final round three strokes behind Miguel Angel Jimenez but played near-flawless golf at Blackstone GC, with a bogey-free 67, including a birdie on the par-5 18th, to give him a one-stroke victory over Jimenez.

Began the final round of the European Tour's BMW PGA Championship two strokes behind Luke Donald and Matteo Manassero. Shot a final-round 68 at the Wentworth Club outside London to force a playoff with Donald. On the first extra hole, he hit his approach shot on No. 18 into the greenside water hazard, giving Donald the title. Dropped to No. 2 in the OWGR, behind Donald.

Finished T3 at the U.S. Open at Congressional CC. Has top 10s in four of his last six major starts. Last top 10 at the U.S. Open was in 2008 (third).

Finished T9 at the World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational on the strength of a bogey-free final round 65. It was his fourth top 10 at Akron, OH, event.

Making his 55th career start in a major championship, finished T8 at the PGA Championship for his third top 10 of the season. One of just six players with multiple top 10s in major championships in 2011 (T3 at the U.S. Open was his top performance) and just missed becoming the only player with three such finishes when he T11 at the Masters.

Hovered near the top of the leaderboard all week at the KLM Open at Hilversum, Netherlands. Shot a pair of 70s in the first and third rounds, with two 66s coming in the second and final rounds to finish solo fifth, four strokes behind winner Simon Dyson.

Successfully defended his Nedbank Golf Challenge title in Sun City, South Africa, with a two-stroke win over Robert Karlsson. Despite a 1-over 73 Sunday, he positioned himself to win the tournament with a 10-under 62 in the third round at Gary Player CC.

In final event of the year, he opened with rounds of 60-64 at Amata Spring GC and cruised to a seven-shot win over Charl Schwartzel at the Thailand Golf Championship. 2010: Became the top-ranked player in the Official World Golf Ranking on November 1, ending Tiger Woods' reign of 281 consecutive weeks at No. 1. On the PGA TOUR, captured the St. Jude Classic presented by Smith & Nephew, and also finished runner-up at the Masters and the British Open.

Making his second start of the year on TOUR, finished T9 at The Honda Classic with bookend rounds in the 60s (69-71-70-68).

Finished T8 at Shell Houston Open where third-round 72 included nines of 41-31.

Held the second- and third-round leads at the Masters before losing by three strokes to Phil Mickelson and finishing second. In 48 major championship appearances entering the week, had never held a lead after any round. Opened with three rounds in the 60s at the Masters, but closed with a 71 (67-69-68-71).

Finished T4 at THE PLAYERS Championship after holding the 54-hole lead. He became the first player in 33 years to lead both the Masters Tournament and THE PLAYERS at the end of the third round in the same year. Tom Watson did that in 1977, and he finished T5 at THE PLAYERS (when it was held in March) and winning the Masters. Westwood finished second at the Masters and T4 at THE PLAYERS in 2010.

Won the St. Jude Classic for his second career TOUR victory and first since 1998, beating Swede Robert Karlsson on the fourth hole of a sudden-death playoff. Became first European to win the Memphis TOUR event after Robert Garrigus blew a three-stroke lead on the final hole of regulation with a triple bogey after driving in the water and hitting his third shot in the trees. Garrigus was eliminated after a bogey on the first playoff hole. The two remaining players went par-par-bogey until they returned to No. 18 once again. He stuck his approach 6 feet from the pin on No. 18. Karlsson left his birdie putt from 43 feet about a foot short to extend the playoff. After going 17 straight holes without a birdie, he rolled in the 6-footer to win. His first two PGA TOUR victories have occurred the week before a major championship (1998 before the Masters and 2010 before the U.S. Open).

Finished runner-up at the British Open for his fourth top-three finish in his last five major championship starts: 2010 British Open (second), 2010 Masters Tournament (second), 2009 PGA Championship (T3) and 2009 British Open (T3).

Unable to play at the PGA Championship due to calf injury.

Went 2-1-1 to help lead the European team to a one-point victory over the United States in his seventh Ryder Cup appearance.

In November, the newly minted No. 1 made it a two-man race with Francesco Molinari at the World Golf Championships-HSBC Champions. At 18-under, finished one stroke shy of Molinari's winning score of 19-under 269. His runner-up performance was nine strokes clear of those who claimed a share of third place.

At the Dubai World Championship, the European Tour's final event, he T3 in that tournament and finished third in the Race to Dubai, that tour's season-long points competition.

A week later, he was dominant in South Africa at the Nedbank Golf Challenge. He opened with 68-64 and cruised to an eight-stroke victory over Tim Clark. 2009: Made the cut in all eight starts on the PGA TOUR and was the European Tour's top golfer after winning the Dubai World Championship by six strokes.

Earned career-best T3 finish at the British Open. His previous best was fourth at Troon in 2004. Was one behind leader Tom Watson on the 72nd hole but made a bogey on the final hole and missed a playoff by one stroke. Has finished in the top 10 seven times in 47 major championship starts.

One of five players to make a record 11th start at the World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational, finishing ninth.

Finished T3 at the PGA Championship, making a third consecutive top-10 on the PGA TOUR.

Won the Portugal Masters, ending a two-year victory drought. His victory at the Oceānico Victoria GC in Vilamoura was by two strokes over Italian Francesco Molinari. Moved to the top of the European Tour Race to Dubai Ranking and rose to No. 5 in the Official World Golf Ranking.

A third-round 65 led to a T8 finish in China at the World Golf Championships-HSBC Champions.

Shot a course-record 8-under 64 in the final round at the Earth Course to finish at 23-under 265 and win the Dubai World Championship. Earned $1.25 million to hold off Rory McIlroy on the season-long money list and win the European Tour's first Race to Dubai since it changed from the order of merit. 2008: Finished No. 57 on the PGA TOUR money list, his best showing since finishing No. 46 in 1998, but opted not to retain membership for 2009.

Posted his best finish in a major championship with a third at the U.S. Open, one stroke shy of the 18-hole Tiger Woods-Rocco Mediate playoff. Had a long birdie try on the 72nd hole to join the playoff. It was his third U.S. Open top-10 finish - third in 2008, T5 in 2000 and T7 in 1998.

Finished T2 at the World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational. Shared the third-round lead, but closed with 1-under 69 to finish second.

Finished third on the European Tour order of merit.

Had an 0-2-2 record in the Ryder Cup at Valhalla. 2007: Captured his first European Tour victory in nearly four years at the Valle Romano Open de Andalucia in Spain in early May. Posted his second win at the Quinn Direct British Masters. 2006: Named as a captain's choice for the 2006 European Ryder Cup team, and posted a 3-0-2 record. 2005: Made only 15 starts on the TOUR but managed to play on the weekend 12 times. Had five top-25 finishes, with his best effort a T17 at the World Golf Championships-Accenture Match Play Championship and T17 at PGA Championship. Shared second-round lead at THE PLAYERS Championship at 10-under 134 with Luke Donald, Tim Herron and Joe Durant, finished T22. Recorded five top-10 finishes on the European Tour, including a T5 at the Nissan Irish Open and Caltex Open. 2004: Posted his best finish in a major championship and his fifth top-10 in 28 major championship appearances with his fourth-place showing at the British Open in Scotland, the highest finish by a European player at Royal Troon.

Posted four rounds in the 60s at the World Golf Championships-NEC Invitational, just the ninth player in the event's six-year history to do so, in posting T9 finish.

Placed second twice on the European Tour. Went 4-0-1 in the European Ryder Cup victory, sharing the high point total with teammate Sergio Garcia. 2003: Ended three years out of the limelight with an emotional victory in the BMW International Open with a back-nine 30 in the final round. A month later, beat Ernie Els by a shot to win the dunhill links championship at St. Andrews. 2000: Began year with win at Dimension Data Pro-Am in South Africa, which meant he had won a tournament on every continent—Africa, Asia, Australasia, Europe and North America.

Captured the European Tour order of merit in the last tournament of the year. Winnings of €3,125,146 set a European Tour record after he captured five official titles. He finished €407,181 ahead of Darren Clarke after overcoming a €107,768 deficit in the final event of the year, the World Golf Championships-American Express Championship. Successfully defended his Smurfit European Open title to go with wins in the Deutsche Bank SAP Open-TPC of Europe, the Compaq European Grand Prix, the Volvo Scandinavian Masters, the Belgacom Open and the Cisco World Match Play Championship. Joined Seve Ballesteros, Nick Faldo and Colin Montgomerie as the only players to win six times in a season in Europe. 1999: Won three times on the European Tour and finished second on the order of merit behind Colin Montgomerie. 1998: Made his big breakthrough in the United States when he captured the Freeport McDermott Classic.

Took up the game at age 13 with a half set bought by his grandparents. Math teacher father, John, took up game at same time to give his son encouragement.

Played rugby, cricket and soccer during his school days.

Big supporter of Nottingham Forest FC.