State of the Nation - Lee Westwood in great shape to equal Ryder Cup record

While Collin Morikawa was winning a major for the fearless fresh faces straight out of college on the PGA Tour and Bryson DeChambeau was establishing himself as a major championship big-hitter, in Europe the man of the year was a veteran presence.

There are plenty of exciting young Europeans on the scene; John Rahm, Viktor Hovland and Yorkshire’s own Matt Fitzpatrick to name but a few.

But in the first year of the new decade it was a man who made his name in the mid-1990s who stole the headlines – Lee Westwood.

The 47-year-old from Worksop, who looks in better shape than he ever has, goes into 2021 with a record-equalling 11th Ryder Cup appearance almost guaranteed following a third Race to Dubai money list triumph, clinched in Dubai in December.

The dual between the United States and Europe at Whistling Straits in Wisconsin promises to be the highlight of a year when golf, like many sports, plays catch-up.

In fact, the cluttered nature of this year’s calendar is best exemplified by the postponed Ryder Cup being repositioned into the calendar just three weeks after women’s golf’s premier team event, the Solheim Cup, is played in early September.

One date to look forward to more than most is July’s Open Championship following the cancellation of the 2020 event due to coronavirus.

That was the biggest casualty of a difficult year, one in which the European and PGA Tours admirably found a way to survive the pandemic. Both came back in the summer, with the European Tour starting out with six tournaments in England.

One learning that has been implemented for the new year is a better geographical spread of tournaments to reduce the travel factor for players, the result of that being there will be nine tournaments staged in the United Kingdom.

On a more local level, we have the burgeoning 2020protour for male and female professionals in the north of England, and Yorkshire has proven itself capable of hosting tournaments with the Ian Woosnam Senior Classic set to become an annual event.

The Ladies European Tour faces a battle for sponsors to maintain the standard of events but at least the Rose Series came in to bridge the gap between the elite level and the smaller circuits for female professionals. Hopefully, that returns in the summer.

The new year is an intriguing one for golf.

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