In 2009 Lee became the eighth Englishman to have won the Harry Vardon Trophy on two occasions or more, having previously won the money list in 2000. He also won the 2009 Portugal Masters, ending a run of three play-off defeats, two near misses in Majors and an amazing 26 top-tens since his previous victory in 2007.That title took him past Mark James and second only to Nick Faldo in the list of England抯 most prolific champions.

The Ryder Cup is of great importance to Lee and he set a Ryder Cup record at Valhalla in 2008 when he took his unbeaten run to 12 matches on the opening day to equal Arnold Palmer抯 benchmark. He also delivered four points out of five at The K Club in 2006 to add to his four and a half points out of five at Oakland Hills two years earlier.

After finishing 11th in the 2011 Masters, Westwood recorded four consecutive top-10 finishes and lived up to his billing as world number one by winning the Ballantine抯 Championship. Having become the World抯 number one after winning in Indonesia the week before, Westwood shot a stunning final round which left him one shot clear from Miguel Angel Jimenez and as a result secured his 21st European Tour title. 

In June 2011, Westwood equalled his best performance at the U.S. Open finishing in a tie for third place at Congressional CC. In December 2011, Westwood shot the lowest round of his career, a 60, at the Thailand Golf Championship, following this with a 64 to equal the lowest 36-hole total on the Asian Tour and won the tournament by seven shots.

February 2012 saw Westwood record his best ever performance at the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship when he made a run all the way to the semi-finals for the first time. Had he won the tournament, he would have regained the number one ranking.

Westwood continued his fine run of performances in the major championships with a tied third finish at the Masters in April 2012. He finished two strokes behind Bubba Watson and Louis Oosthuizen This was the seventh occasion that he had recorded a top three finish at a major without actually winning one. In April 2012, he successfully defended his title at the Indonesian Masters on the Asian Tour, winning by two strokes.