Westwood revival continues

Lee Westwood’s revival continued to gather pace in the first round of the Lancôme Trophy this morning.

Westwood won the BMW International Open in Munich a fortnight ago to end almost three years without a victory.

The 30-year-old from Worksop had not tasted success since the last of his seven victories worldwide in 2000 which saw him end Colin Montgomerie’s seven-year reign as European number one.

He had slumped from a high of fourth in the world to outside the top 200, and revealed he had considered quitting the game for good.

But with the help of coach David Leadbetter he has turned his game around and was quickly back on the leaderboard at St Nom-la-Breteche.

Starting on the 10th, Westwood played a superb approach to within three feet of the flag for an opening birdie and after a par on the next, repeated the trick on the par-three 12th.

That took him to two under par and into a share of the lead alongside Ryder Cup team-mate Paul McGinley, Wales’ David Park and Scotland’s Raymond Russell.

Ireland’s Padraig Harrington, making his first appearance since the birth of his first child three weeks ago, was a shot behind after also opening with a birdie on the 10th.

Playing partner Retief Goosen was also one under after birdies at the 10th and 11th were followed by a bogey five on the 13th.