Westwood back in the swing

LEE WESTWOOD, not good enough to compete in last week's Masters, takes another step on the comeback trail in the Algarve Portuguese Open starting here today.

In November 2000, Westwood finished second to Mike Weir in the American Express World Championship at Valderrama, a result that confirmed him as Europe's new number one after Colin Montgomerie's seven-year reign.

The English player also reached number four in the world, but in the last 20 months he has not managed a single top-10 finish and now the 29-year-old finds himself ranked down in 237th place.