Lee confirms Worksop exit

The 39-year-old, who missed out on a famous triumph yesterday at the US Open, is set to move his family home from Bassetlaw to the ‘sunshine state’.

World number three Westwood said: “There are a number of reasons, but the main one is I haven’t got that much time left at the top and I want to give myself the best chance of staying there as long as I can.”

“I am moving to America at the end of this year because, with our weather, it is hard to practice when you want to practice in the UK.”

“We see this as at least a five year plan and maybe a lot longer than that,” he added.

Westwood, who lives in Worksop with wife Laurae and kids Samuel, 11, and Poppy, 8, came close to a major title yet again at the weekend at the Olympic Club in San Francisco.

He was just three shots off the lead going into Sunday’s final round at the US Open.

A bogey at the first was followed by a birdie at two, but his challenge became an uphill struggle when his ball got stuck in a tree on the fifth and he had to settle for a double bogey.

He shot a 73 and ended the tournament five over par, taking a share of 10th place as Webb Simpson became the 15th different major winner in a row.

American Simpson was one over par for the tournament with Ulsterman Graeme McDowell – also based in the US – sharing second place with another American, Michael Thompson on two over.