TOUR SCENE NEWS ROUND-UP:AT SOME point of his great slump back in 2002, when he plunged to 256th in the official world rankings and struggled to break 80 in regular tournaments, Lee Westwood considered quitting golf. He didn't, which has proved to be an extremely wise decision; and, now, as he heads into this week's US Open – on the back of his St Jude Classic win in Memphis on Sunday – the Englishman has moved within tantalising touching distance of becoming the world's number one ranked player.

Westwood’s win in Memphis, which ended a 12-year drought on the US Tour, consolidated his position as the world number three, moving him to within 1.84 points of Tiger Woods and just 1.19 behind Phil Mickelson.

For the man who has arrived in Pebble Beach with the unwanted tag of “best player yet to win a major” after so many close shaves, including a runner-up finish to Mickelson at the US Masters in April, events at Memphis, where he won a sudden-death play-off over Robert Karlsson and Robert Garrigus, who had triple-bogeyed the 72nd hole of regulation play to open the door for the two Europeans, simply affirmed a long-held belief.

“Don’t expect nothing in this game, cause you never know what’s going to happen next. . . . Golf is a funny game. Sometimes it gives, sometimes it takes away.”

Westwood, for one, is living proof of that old adage that form is temporary and class is permanent.

“In my career, I’ve had highs and lows. I’ve dropped down the world rankings and come back up. So, to be contending for golf tournaments is a real positive, because I couldn’t see a fairway or the golf course eight years ago. Now I’m contending. What is there not to enjoy?” he added.

Although Westwood hadn’t won on the US Tour since what was seen as a breakthrough win in the New Orleans Classic all of 12 years ago, he has won consistently in Europe – where he topped the European Tour order of merit last year, winning the season-ending Dubai World Championship in the process. The realistic next step for him is to claim a major.

After all, he has the best results of any player in the last four majors: third in last year’s British Open, third in the 2009 US PGA and second in this year’s Masters. He also finished third in the 2008 US Open at Torrey Pines.

“It’s definitely nice to win again (in America). Nobody likes negative questions when you try to be positive all the time. You get into contention. Sometimes you don’t finish off. It could be a lot different, things, you know, conspire to do that,” said Westwood, who became the fourth European player to win on the US Tour this season following on from Ian Poulter (WGC-Accenture Matchplay), Rory McIlroy (Quail Hollow Championship) and Justin Rose (Memorial tournament).

Although the extended extra holes – Garrigus exited at the first play-off hole while Karlsson lasted until the fourth hole of sudden-death – delayed his departure to Pebble Beach on his chartered jet, (McIlroy was one of his guests) it meant he could move on to the West Coast and cooler climes with an extra spring in his step.

One statistic, though, he might not want to hear is that no player has ever won a US Tour event the week before the US Open and gone on to win the major!

“I like being competitive before a major championship. To be competitive, win the tournament and boost my confidence . . .

“I’ve been to Pebble Beach and done most of my preparation, so I can take it easy with that the next three days and build up my fitness and stamina for when it kicks off on Thursday,” said Westwood, who made a reconnaissance visit to the US Open venue last Monday and Tuesday before moving on to Memphis. He made the return trip on Sunday night with the best possible confidence booster.

But it won’t be all rest in the run-up to this week’s major, as Westwood felt there was a bit of work to be done on correcting his shoulder turn when driving.

“You never stop working, even after a win,” he added.

Although he is not a member of the US Tour, Westwood – who played in Memphis on a sponsor’s invite – has not yet missed a cut in America in 2010 and has top-10 finishes at the St Jude Classic (1st), US Masters (2nd), The Players (tied-4th), Shell Houston Open (tied-8th) and the Honda Classic (tied-9th), all of which confirms he is in the form of his life.

Westwood’s win gave the final spot in the US Open to Rocco Mediate, runner-up to Woods at Torrey Pines two years ago. A place in the field had been held open for any player who won multiple US Tour events between June 21st 2009 and June 13th 2010.

Mediate played in the sectional qualifier in Columbus, Ohio, earlier in the month but finished one place outside a qualifying spot and became the first reserve. He will play alongside Greame McDowell and former US PGA champion Shaun Micheel for the first two rounds.

McIlroy and Pádraig Harrington finished their preparations for Pebble Beach by finishing tied-29th and tied-56th respectively in Memphis. McDowell and Gareth Maybin had the week off before their major assignments, while amateur Kevin Phelan – who has dual Irish and US citizenship – is making his debut in a major championship.