A Major Win Still Eludes Westwood

Lee Westwood is golf’s world number one.
He has overtaken his Ryder Cup teammate Martin Kaymer in the rankings after successive victories at the Indonesian Masters and the Ballentine’s Championship.
Despite this success and officially being the best golfer on the planet a dark cloud still lingers over Westwood’s career.
And that cloud represents no Major Championship wins. And he’s had his fair share of chances.
The number of chances he has had highlights that he has probably been the most consistent performer in Majors over the past few years. Last season alone saw Westwood claim the runner-up prizes at the Masters at Augusta and the Open Championship at St. Andrews.
Overall, Westwood has ten top 10s to his name in Majors.
But is this just bad luck or does Westwood lack the ‘bottle’ necessary to win a Major?
The 2010 Masters, in which he led by a shot going into the final round, suggests that maybe it is a lack of ‘bottle’.
His consistent challenge to win of one of golf’s great prizes is impressive and has led to many concluding that it ‘is just a matter of time until he wins one’, including the 14-time Major champion Tiger Woods.
But Westwood’s consistency makes it even harder to explain how he hasn’t won one.
When asked about his bid to finally win a Major this season, Westwood said, “The amount of times I have to answer it gets on my nerves. This might be the very last time I could be answering this question. It could be no comment after this.”
The frustration has no doubt had its effect on the 38-year-old.
Who knows how many more chances he will get, especially with golf seemingly in a period of arguably unparalleled competitiveness and unpredictability. You only have to look at the form of Luke Donald and the emergence of players like Charl Schwartzel and Bubba Watson, as well as a resurgent Tiger Woods to realise that.
Indeed the last four Majors have produced four new Major winners.
As a consequence, and when considering his age, Westwood’s quest for a Major title appears to running out of time.

Saying that he will go into next month’s US Open at Congressional in great form and as likely as anyone to win after claiming two titles in the past month. No one would begrudge Westwood his maiden Major victory and he would be a particularly popular winner.
Unfortunately, sportsmen do not always get what they deserve and unless Westwood wins a Major he will not (and should not be) considered as a great of the game despite his current position on top of the world rankings and numerous victories all over the world.
But let’s hope Westwood can finally put his Major heartache to bed. At least then he can stop having to answer that dreaded question.

Images from the BBC Sport website and Betfair.com