Lee Westwood Enjoys Special Trip After Players Championship

Lee Westwood's stunning career renaissance continued at TPC Sawgrass, where he stood as the 54-hole leader before narrowly finishing second behind Justin Thomas at The Players Championship, a feat that came just seven days after his thrilling battle with Bryson DeChambeau at Bay Hill.

The 47-year-old Englishman ultimately walked away from these two events without a title, but he secured $2.6m in prize money and is now ranked 19th in the world, his highest position since 2013. And that's not forgetting that he's the reigning Race to Dubai champion.

Life is rather good for the man from Worksop, and it's not bad for those around him either.

Speaking on Sunday to Sky Sports after making birdie on the 72nd hole, Westwood revealed that before competing in this week's Honda Classic, he would be spending two days at Augusta National with his son, Sam.

"I've got a fun couple of days coming up. I'm going to play Augusta with my son Sam. Tomorrow's going to be a good Monday."

"It's the first time he's played there. He's been there with me years ago, but he's caddying for me this year in the Masters itself, so I figure I'm taking him to play 36 holes Monday and Tuesday. Be a good lads-and-dads trip. Looking forward to it."

Fiance Helen Storey was on his bag at Sawgrass, a dynamic that has proven to be highly beneficial, as evidenced by the jovial, relaxed and smiling demeanour that the veteran Ryder Cup icon has displayed on the golf course.

"I do enjoy the game more. I take it for what it is: A game. We're just trying to get a little white ball into a little white hole. It gets treated far too seriously occasionally. With what's going on in the world, it's fun to be doing a job that I love and that I've done for 28 years, and I'm still doing it."

Commenting that he was feeling a little fatigued after two weeks of intense play, a little venture down Magnolia Lane will be quite the tonic as he looks ahead to what the coming months could offer.

"It just shows that I'm playing really well, doesn't it? And my game's still good enough to win out here."

Two days at Augusta with your son is certainly a win. Former world number one Luke Donald joked on Twitter that he wanted to be like Lee Westwood when he grows up.

Great playing @WestwoodLee giving us old guys a lot of hope ???????? I want to be like you when I grow up ????

— Luke Donald (@LukeDonald) March 14, 2021

Considering the experience that Sam is about to have, the rest of us probably simply wish that Westwood was our dad.