Lee Westwood - Personal Life

Personal Life

Westwood married Laurae Coltart, the sister of Scottish Ryder Cup player Andrew Coltart, in January 1999. The couple have two children, Samuel Bevan (born 2001) and Poppy Grace (born 2004). He is good friends with fellow Ryder Cup star Darren Clarke and from April 2006; he co-owns a private jet with him.

In 2007, Westwood was presented with an Honorary degree of Doctor of Science by Nottingham Trent University. The University named its sports hall after the golfer in October 2010. He announced the creation of the Lee Westwood Academy on 5 February 2009, a set of three day academies across nine venues in England. The Academy is sponsored by Ping, Solarsport, The Co-operative Group and the British Junior Golf Tour. In recognition of his work with young golfers, he was awarded with the Golf Foundation’s ‘Spirit of Golf’ Award just before the Open Championship, an award which was previously held by Gary Player and Tony Jacklin. On 28 August 2010, Westwood officially opened his first, and one of the UK's few, golf schools. The school operates around a permanent two year schooling timetable, which incorporates practical golf and sport studies. Westwood's father always encouraged him to strive academically, and this ethos has been the background of the school. The school is also sponsored by Ping and Solarsport, along with UPS delivery services and Dunlop.

Partly due to his work with junior golfers, in 2012 he was named by the Golf Club Managers' Association's Golf Club Management magazine as the ninth most powerful person in British golf.

Westwood's interests include films, snooker and cars. He is also a big football fan who supports Nottingham Forest. Westwood is a follower of Dumfries based football club Queen of the South, most likely due to having Andrew Coltart for a brother-in-law, who himself is a passionate 'Doonhamer'.

Westwood is represented by International Sports Management.

Westwood was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2011 Birthday Honours.

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