After his lowest finish on the European Tour in six years Lee Westwood still has the chance to complete his 2012 campaign on a high. Westwood, 12th on the money list this side of the Atlantic and 24th in America, is the defending champion both at this week’s Nedbank Challenge in South Africa and next week’s Thailand Championship. Both events will bring back memories of some of the best golf of his career last year. At Sun City the 39-year-old world number six had a course record 62 in the third round and went on to make it two wins in a row, while in Bangkok he started with a 60, followed up with a 64 to lead by an incredible 11 shots and ended up triumphing by seven. “I’d love to be the first to win three Nedbank Golf Challenge titles in a row,” he said. “You just have to look at the names on the trophy to realise how special it is. It’s not the winning margin that is important to me, but it’s the coming back and defending the title that is so satisfying.” Westwood, about to emigrate from Worksop to Florida, has added wins in Indonesia and Sweden this season, but there have been plenty of disappointments too. After a third-placed finish at the US Masters and then a 10th in the US Open he managed only 45th in The Open and missed the cut at the USPGA Championship.
