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Westwood eyes No. 1 spot

Lee Westwood currently sits at No. 3 in the world but is confident of climbing higher over the coming months © Getty Images

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Lee Westwood believes he is capable of breaking Tiger Woods' six-year stranglehold on the No. 1 spot after climbing to a career high ranking of third.

The last person to take the top spot away from Woods was Vijay Singh in 2004 and while world No. 2 and recent Masters champion Phil Mickelson is the closest challenger to the 14-time major winner, it is Westwood who has made up the bigger gap on the injured American.

The 37-year-old finished 2009 just under eight points behind Woods, but has drawn to within just over three points of his rival after enjoying an impressively consistent season to date. Westwood's performances at the high-profile events either side of the Atlantic have been the highlight of a terrific recovery of form, which has seen the Worksop man finish in the top three at all of the past three major championships.

Another strong showing at the Players Championship earlier in the month added further evidence of Westwood's ability to perform on the big stage and he feels there is no reason why he cannot challenge the top two players in the world if his consistent form continues.

"Why not," Westwood told Sky Sports. "The world rankings normally reflect consistency so I think the No. 1 and 2 spots are definitely there to be shot at.

"Both of them (Woods and Mickelson) are obviously capable of playing some fantastic golf but neither of them have really shown the consistency that the world No. 1 and No. 2 would ordinarily show. Phil obviously played very well to win the Masters - I had a ringside seat for that one. I'll be trying to keep up my consistency and in the next few weeks and months with some big events coming up and try to get closer to them.

"I got to No. 4 in the world over 10 years ago now in 2000 but only for a couple of weeks so it was nice to stay there for a lot longer this time around.

"I don't think anyone can argue that my performances over the past year or so I have not been in the top three in the world based on performances, especially in the bigger competitions. It's nice for the world rankings to catch up and recognise that fact and it was nice to wake up and be told that there are only two people better at golf than you in the world."

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