John Helm column: ‘Plodder’ Westwood takes title in style

Nov 25 2009 By John Helm

AS HE flung his arms aloft and lifted his eyes to the heavens, I couldn’t help but feel great happiness for Lee Westwood at becoming the top golfer in Europe.

Forget the money, not easy when it runs into millions of pounds, Lee has only ever been interested in winning titles and becoming the best at his chosen trade.

He’s a winner which might seem a strange thing to say after so many runners-up spots over the last couple of years, but Lee has never lost faith in his ability, even when he was going through a period of self doubt and fine tuning of his game.

When he first came on tour Worksop’s finest described himself as ‘a bit of a plodder’.

Goodness me, he could only have been thinking of the way he planted his feet on the fairways, certainly not his golf which has always had a majestic quality to it.

Let's pay credit too to his caddie and confidante Billy Foster from Bingley.

Believe it or not caddies can make or break players.

Some golfers are not great decision makers, their caddies often make decisions for them, they assess their moods, and become more important in a relationship than even a marital partner.

Billy was Sevvy Ballesteros’ right arm for a long time, he’s cajoled and coaxed the likes of Darren Clarke, not easy believe me, now he’s been instrumental in helping Lee to the top of the rankings.

A marriage made in heaven? Maybe. Let’s hope their next milestone is a victory in the Ryder Cup.

IT’S November 25 and here I am in Gaberone.

Where the hell is Gaberone I hear you asking?

No, I’d never heard of it either until I arrived here on Sunday, and the answer is Botswana, formerly Beshuanaland until independence in 1966 – two months after England won the World Cup.

The first surprise was to find Thierry Henry handling my check-in at the delightful Gaberone Sun Hotel.

No, seriously either the guy has a doppleganger, or the man who is handling everything at the moment has defected to southern Africa to get away from his sudden notoriety.