Westwood wins in November

Lee Westwood has been named The Race to Dubai European Tour Golfer of the Month for November following his winning performance in the inaugural Dubai World Championship presented by: DP World, a victory which also saw him claim the 2009 Race to Dubai. The 36 year old Englishman, who will receive a jeroboam of Moët & Chandon champagne along with an engraved alms dish in recognition of his achievement, was in imperious form on the Earth course at Jumeirah Golf Estates, his 23 under par total of 265 giving him a six shot winning margin in the end. The victory saw Westwood – who also won the August award – not only overtake Northern Ireland’s Rory McIlroy at the head of The Race to Dubai in a thrilling end to the 2009 season, but also saw him end the campaign with €4,237,762, the highest single season earnings in European Tour history. Westwood, who moved up to fourth on the Official World Golf Ranking after the victory, was the unanimous choice of the voting panel which comprised members of the Association of Golf Writers in addition to commentators from television and radio. However, other players were commended for their performances over the month, most notably Frenchman Grégory Bourdy, who became the first Frenchman to win tournaments in three consecutive years on Tour when he won the UBS Hong Kong Open on the day of his mother Martine’s 57th birthday; and Italians Edoardo and Francesco Molinari. The Molinari brothers created history in China by securing Italy’s first victory in the Omega Mission Hills World Cup, just one week after Edoardo followed up his record breaking season on the European Challenge Tour by beating Robert Karlsson in a play-off for the Dunlop Phoenix title in Japan. Also praised by the panel were McIlroy, who finished second behind Bourdy in Hong Kong and third in the Dubai World Championship on his way to finishing second in The Race to Dubai; and Englishman Ross McGowan who finished runner-up in Dubai, a performance which helped him jump from 29th to 12th on the final Race to Dubai standings. The full list of monthly winners: Rory McIlroy (January), Geoff Ogilvy (February), Søren Kjeldsen (March), Angel Cabrera (April), Shane Lowry (May), Nick Dougherty (June), Martin Kaymer (July), Lee Westwood (August and November), Rafael Cabrera-Bello (September) and Ross Fisher (October) will now go forward for consideration for The 2009 Race to Dubai European Tour Golfer of the Year Award, the winner of which will be announced in due course.