World No.1 Dustin Johnson won more often. Others captured bigger titles - majors and WGCs - in more spectacular fashion. Many, headlined by Bryson DeChambeau, muscled it (much, much) further off the tee. He wasn’t even alone in being a 40-something antithesis to the 20-something rip and gouge brigade, Graeme McDowell achieving that very feat a fortnight later in Saudi Arabia. Indeed, save for a glorious week in January and another in December, he wasn’t even a regular headliner last year. â–¶ Yet few produced a narrative as heartening in 2020 as Lee Woodwood, Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship winner turned Race to Dubai champion, via a pandemic enforced mid-season stall and resulting global tailspin.
Rather than produce a scowl to smiling assassin storyline in the past 12 months, Westwood embellished it. The Englishman’s resurgence actually dates back to mid 2018 when something inside switched. By that November, the transformation turned to tears of joy when Westwood claimed the Nedbank Challenge in South Africa, his first European Tour win since April 2014 and first win anywhere since 2015.
Sports psychologist Ben Davis hashelped the evolution of the former world No.1 immeasurably, so too fiancée/ caddie Helen Storey. Sprinkled with a hearty portion of reality, let’s call it life experience both inside and outside the ropes, Westwood won again in Abu Dhabi 12 months ago.
“Ben has installed in me that fact I’m playing the game I love for a living, and I should enjoy it,” Westwood said after becoming just the third European Tour player after Mark McNulty and Des Smyth to win in four different decades in the UAE capital.
Bu hikaye Golf Digest Middle East dergisinin January 2021 sayısından alınmıştır.
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Bu hikaye Golf Digest Middle East dergisinin January 2021 sayısından alınmıştır.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
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Tempting Entrée
INDUSTRY IDENTITIES AND A FORMER SIX NATIONS STAR AMONG THE BIG NAMES ROLLED OUT FOR THE EAGL’S SUMMER DRESS-REHEARSAL
Year of the Comeback
Tour pros of all ages are rediscovering their mojo
THE GOLF STAYCATION PERFECTED
Golf Digest Middle East’s inaugural Play & Stay is coming to Radisson Dubai DAMAC Hills and Trump Dubai
THE GENIUS OF JORDAN
HE WANTED A CONFIDENT, RELIABLE SWING. HE FOUND IT IN A CLEVER WAY
The Starter
The Nairn Golf Club
Undercover Caddie
Think you could carry a 40-pound bag for a living?
DRIVE BLAST PUTT
THREE WAYS TO RAISE YOUR GAME
Get Set - Ball-striking success starts at address
AMATEURS OFTEN STAND OVER THE BALL with their feet too wide apart. I understand the appeal—they want to feel more stable throughout the swing, and a wider stance seems a logical way to achieve that.
Take 5
It’s hot but that’s no excuse not to warm-up before every round and range session
Classic Closer
Our monthly guide to taming the region’s stroke index 1 holes has gone off-piste. Dubai Creek Golf & Yacht Club professional Matthew Brookes heads to arguably the toughest finishing hole in Middle East golf
