New direction for Westwood?
It was just three years ago -- but an eternity to him -- that Lee Westwood displaced Colin Montgomerie atop the European tour, with bigger goals ahead.
There would be more tournament titles, to be sure. And, of course, he would claim the Order of Merit again, seeing as how he had finally wrestled it away from Montgomerie, the owner of the honor for the previous seven seasons.
Could a major championship be far away?
So quickly, the talk changed to: What happened to Lee Westwood?
One of the world's best in 2000, Westwood quickly and startlingly dropped to the depths. He didn't post a single top-10 finish in 2002 and wasn't doing much this year until a come-from-behind victory Sunday at the BMW International Open in Germany.
Needless to say, it was an emotional win for Westwood, who at age 30 still has many years ahead.
With a final-round 66, including a back-nine 30, Westwood showed the form of old, defeating Alex Cejka in Munich by three strokes.
"I am fairly emotional,'' a tearful Westwood said afterward. "It's been more than two years since I won. This is a big moment.''
No doubt. Westwood had risen as high as No. 4 in the World Ranking in 2000 and seemed poised to challenge Tiger Woods and Ernie Els. He won six European tour titles that year, seven overall. His career victory total stood at 24.
Then, just as suddenly, he lost his form.
Some suggested it had to do with his newborn son, who perhaps redirected his priorities and maybe his desire. Then there were the efforts to work through the slump, to make changes. As many players can attest, sometimes it is unwise for a player of Westwood's caliber to fix what is not broken.
Nonetheless, it became apparent that something was wrong, as Westwood's confidence waned with continued disappointments.
"There were times when I thought about putting the clubs away and not ever getting them out again and calling it a day, but that would have been the easy thing to do,'' said Westwood, who rose 92 spots to No. 123 in the latest World Ranking. "I battled it out and hopefully this is one of my many rewards.
"I just enjoy winning and being in the lead with my name on the leaderboard and in front of people. I have worked for three years to get back to here and there was no reason not to enjoy it while I was there.''
Somewhere, perhaps, David Duval is taking notes.
It was after last September's Ryder Cup that Duval joined the celebrating European squad in a show of sportsmanship. Duval, who won the 2001 British Open, was going through a similar slump, and he and Westwood could relate. In fact, had the teams not been kept intact, it is doubtful that Westwood would have been part of the European squad.
Just like Westwood, Duval's slump continued into this year. He has had a myriad of personal and physical issues derail him since he won his first major championship and 13th PGA Tour title at Royal Lytham. He broke up with his longtime fiancée and has had several injuries, including shoulder, wrist and back.
This year, Duval has made just four cuts in 19 events. He did not play the weekend at any of the major championships. Duval had a bout with vertigo in March, has shot four rounds in the 80s and has posted no top-10s.
Duval has suggested that trying to work through the injuries caused his problems.
"As we know, practice makes permanent, not actually perfect,'' Duval told the Golf Channel last month. "What I was ingraining was bad habits. I was making a lot of compensatory moves for my back, my shoulder, my wrist. So through the course of that, I'm ingraining a bad setup, a bad address position, a bad takeaway. Those kind of things are hard to get out of.''
Duval said he has seen progress recently, just not results. He began working with noted instructor David Leadbetter and shot a 62 in the second round of the Capital Open in June, leading to a tie for 28th, his best finish of the year. But he hasn't made a cut in six tournaments since.
Westwood has also been working with Leadbetter, and finally saw some results.
"I'd won 24 tournaments and I always felt if I got the chance I'd know how to win again, but it's the first time I've been in contention and it's come quicker than I expected,'' he said. "I owe a lot to my new coach David Leadbetter. We've worked together since February and he's given me short and long term goals.''
It's only one victory, almost three years removed from the last. But for Westwood, perhaps it is the start of a long climb back to the top.
Bob Harig covers golf for the St. Petersburg Times, and is a frequent contributor to ESPN.com. He can be reached at harig@sptimes.com
