After three play-off defeats, two near misses in Majors and an amazing 26 top-ten finishes since his last victory, Lee Westwood was finally back lifting a trophy at the Portugal Masters.

Westwood ended more than two years without a title by capturing victory at Oceânico Victoria Golf Course by two shots from Italian Francesco Molinari and four from Padraig Harrington.

The added bonus - he would have been happy to win the smallest event - was that the massive first prize of €500,000 takes Westwood from fourth to first on The Race to Dubai.

And that is not all. When The Ryder Cup star last tasted success at the British Masters in September 2007 he said his goal was to make the world's top five again.

Now he has done it and the way he is playing it is not difficult to see him climbing even higher.

Not bad for a former European Number One and World Number Four who, in a nightmare slump seven years ago, fell outside the game's top 250.