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THE PLAYERS CHAMPIONSHIP

March 24, 2005

Lee Westwood

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, FLORIDA

JOE CHEMYCZ: We welcome Lee Westwood to the interview ear. 7 under par, 65. No bogeys today. Talked to a lot of guys that have been in, and talked about how the golf course was kind of available for some scoring today. Maybe address that and the conditions out there.

LEE WESTWOOD: Yeah, it was. There was probably the favorable wind for the golf course, 17 and 18 downwind, 9 downwind. But you still have to do it. The flags were in accessible spots, if your shot is accurate, that is. But like I say, you've still got I think you've still got to play well out there to shoot a good score.

JOE CHEMYCZ: What was good for you today?

LEE WESTWOOD: I hit the ball well today, missed the greens in the right places, when I missed them. Didn't hit too many greens. I hit my iron shots very close. Didn't really hole too many long putts; the longest was about 12 feet for par on the 4th. So it was a lot of good iron shots close to the hole and on the par 5 in two. I was really happy with the way I played.

JOE CHEMYCZ: First time you've been back in a couple of years.

LEE WESTWOOD: Yeah, it was nice to come back. The course holds good memories for me. I played well here in the past, I think I finished 6th or 6th and 5th, something like that. So it's nice to come back. I've always played the course pretty well. So I was looking forward to this week.

Q. Were you in danger of not getting the round in? Was it starting to get dark?

LEE WESTWOOD: No, not at all. Everybody is going to get finished today. The wind died, which made it a little easier on 8. And maybe it got caught on a sheltered spot.

Q. Are these the easiest greens you've seen?

LEE WESTWOOD: The greens are as soft as I've ever seen. Obviously if the fairways are soft, then they play a bit wider, and I don't think they were overly cruel with the flag positions. But like I say, you've still got to play pretty well. The scoring is good, but like it says on the wall

Q. Your season so far, Lee, how would you sum it up?

LEE WESTWOOD: I've been quite happy with the way things have gone. I've never played particularly great at the start of the season. But I've been trying to make a few alterations to my swing, keep it progressing. I had a good session with David Leadbetter last week, and that took a bit of getting used to. It took last week to get used to.

Certainly I hit it in the water a lot last week, six or seven times. So that's where I dropped all my shots last week. And I didn't particularly putt well. But today I've hit the ball more or less where I wanted to and did okay, but still managed to throw in a 3 putt on 16, and missed from three feet on the last. So I'm never quite completely satisfied with the way I'm putting.

Q. The top four players in the world, Vijay had the best score at 67 and Els was at 71, they were all right in there. Does that surprise you on a day like today?

LEE WESTWOOD: Not really, no. It's a difficult golf course. You can only play 71 is still well in there, especially around here. I don't think it's going to get much softer out there, unless obviously it rains, but I don't think they'll be turning the sprinklers on, so the course normally gets harder as the week goes on. And that's why the better players come to the top of the leaderboard on Sunday.

Q. You mentioned before the short miss on your final hole with a chance to tie for the lead. Was it a stringy putt there or just a lack of concentration?

LEE WESTWOOD: No, there was a little spike mark on the line that I just decided to go a bit firm, and then as I say, it just went a little bit more than I thought. It just caught the bottom of the lip and lipped out. I wasn't too disappointed with that. I played well today, and I've been aggressive as I like to play. I was delighted with the way things went.

JOE CHEMYCZ: Take us through your birdies.

LEE WESTWOOD: You want me to start on the 10th?

11, hit it in the rough, bad lie, hacked it out and I went in with a 7 iron to about 18 inches.

Driver, lob wedge at the next to five, six feet.

6 iron to 12 feet nine inches.

As I say, 3 putted 16, missed a very makeable putt on 17 from six, seven feet, straight up the hill.

3 wood, 9 iron to about three feet on 18.

Driver, 5 wood, 20 feet on 2.

8 iron on 3, just pitched and run through the green. Chipped it in from about 25 feet.

3 wood, wedge, three feet at 6.

Q. What were doing this time last year? Were your sitting at home

LEE WESTWOOD: Concentrating going to the Dubai Cup, which I wish I had gone to. One of my regrets.

Q. Do you like playing these modern style golf courses, TPC style, personal preference? Regardless of how your results are, do you enjoy this kind of golf?

LEE WESTWOOD: Yeah, I enjoy this kind of golf. But I like to play links golf, I like the variation. I like to play this type of golf. I like the Sony, it takes a bit more fiddling around. I never think this course really plays like a true American style golf course. It's kind of a plotters' golf course, whereas last week, Bay Hill, LaCosta, places like that, they're more the bombers' type of golf course.

Q. What would be a couple of your favorite courses on this side of the Atlantic?

LEE WESTWOOD: This one would certainly be one of the my favorites. Pebble Beach, very good. Pine Valley, places where you get penalized for getting off line.

Q. Excited about

LEE WESTWOOD: That was the reason for taking my card up over here this year, the start of the year, get me used to playing this type of golf course, and I'm preparing for tournaments like this and like The Masters. So it was great to have paid off today.

End of FastScripts.

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