Woksop’s own Lee Westwood has ended 2020 as European Number one after winning the race to Dubai ahead of Matthew Fitzpatrick who actually won the DP World Tour Championship in the United Arab Emirates, the last competition of the season, yesterday.

The Notts born golfer needed to finish in the top two to take the lucrative crown and was already in the clubhouse, finished on a round of 68 and 14 under par, needing both Patrick Read and Laurie Canter who were also in the race for the title to crack.

Patrick Read, hoping to be America’s first European Tour season winner, bogeyed 16 and 17 to fall out of contention and finish T3, whilst Laurie Canter double bogeyed the 17^th and parred the last (needing Eagle to take the crown) as he drove his tee-shot into a hospitality tent to all but concede second place to Westwood and the title ahead of Fitzpatrick by under 18 points.

It is the third European Season win for Westwood who first won the tour 20 years ago with the 47 year-old saying “It was a great finish. I sat there watching it.

“it’s always exciting this tournament, coming down the stretch and there’s always thrills and spills.”

“There was the Race to Dubai up for the grabs, the tournament. It was an exciting end to the year. It’s hard to quantify.”

The 25 times European tour winner, eighth on the list behind the legendary likes of Seve Ballesteros, Bernard Langar, Tiger Woods, Nick Faldo, has now set his sights on a potential Ryder Cup next September, stating “The Ryder Cup would be great if I got in again.”

“I would love to play again but at some point I’m hoping the captaincy will be offered to me. I would love to do that.”

“At certain times, you’ve got to move into different chapters of your life. It’s nice to watch these young kids play, they tear it up out there. I enjoyed the Ryder Cup last time out when I was vice-captain. It’s a lot less pressure than having to hit the greens and hole the putts yourself.”

*Main image @pgatour Lee Westwood with the Race To Dubai Championship trophy.