Fresh from his first win in more than two years, at the Portugal Masters on Sunday, and back in the world’s top five for the first time since 2001, Lee Westwood declared yesterday that he is in the form of his life and that Phil Mickelson has a fight on his hands to remain as the world No 2.

Westwood has never been higher than No 4, which he achieved in 2000 when he won his only European Order of Merit title — he leads the race again this year with five events to go — but the English golfer has hit a rich vein of consistency since 2007. The only problem has been winning.

Between his 29th professional victory (the British Masters in 2007) and his 30th on Sunday, Westwood has had 28 top-ten finishes, including eight of his past nine tournaments, and been third three times in major championships. If he was ten years younger, you would put him in the “promising” pile, but Westwood is 36 and some would say a little old to be winning his first major title.

It is a charge he denies. “I’ve always been a pretty late developer,” he said. “I feel like a young 36-year-old and I’d like to think I’ve got ten to 12 more years at the top of the game. Kenny Perry almost won the Masters at 48 this year, Tom Watson almost won the Open at 59 and Vijay Singh has played his best golf in his forties.

“I hit the ball 25 yards farther than I did ten years ago. Around the greens I’m a lot sharper. The thing I need to work on is from 50 to 100 yards out. It’s just a question of fine-tuning.

“I was one shot away from being in a play-off for two majors this year [the Open and US PGA Championship] and I came third in the US Open last year. In terms of consistency, I’m right up there and being world No 2 is a definite goal.”

Many credited the coaching that Westwood received from Mark Roe, the TV analyst, for reviving his short game, but they have parted company and Westwood is now coached by Pete Cowen, his former mentor.

“Mark gave me a good understanding, but I wasn’t progressing as fast as I would have liked and my bunker play was suffering,” he said. “The best bunker lessons I’ve had were with Pete, so I’ve gone back to him.”

The key for Westwood has been to work hard on his fitness, with two hours a day in the gym when he is home in Worksop, Nottinghamshire, and as much as he can when on tour.

“I’m fitter now than I have ever been,” he said at the launch of the Lee Westwood Golf School, a two-year national diploma course combining academic studies with golf training. “If I could give one piece of advice to a young golfer, it would be to work on your fitness a lot harder than I did. When you are in your twenties, you feel bulletproof. You don’t groan when you put your socks on. But you need to be strong and supple, which will prevent injuries in the long term.”