WGC ANDERSEN CONSULTING MATCH PLAY CHAMPIONSHIP

February 23, 2000

Lee Westwood

LEE WESTWOOD: Yeah. I played very well today. Well, I didn't make any mistakes. I birdied the first two holes, parred around to 12. Birdied 12. I missed a great chance at 14 from about 3 feet, had a 3-iron in there. Good chance at 15 from about 8 feet. Good chance at 16 from about 10 feet. And then I was conceded about a 5-footer straight up the hill on 17 for a birdie.

LEE WESTWOOD: Yeah, I sort of carried on from the end of last year. Obviously I didn't do very well last week, but apart from that, I finished the 10th in the South African Open. I'm learning all the time. I have learned a little bit this winter to take time off and come back and play well.

LEE WESTWOOD: I'm all right at the moment, thanks. I'm feeling a little bit weak, a little bit drained. But I think that's to be expected. But I certainly have -- I've not got a temperature anymore, and the tonsils are feeling a lot better. I can swallow now. Yeah, I'm pretty much okay.

LEE WESTWOOD: No, I finished it this morning. So that was good. I felt a little bit dizzy this morning. Hopefully that will go now that the medication has gone through my system.

LEE WESTWOOD: Well, I had a temperature, aching all over, just the usual sort of things.

LEE WESTWOOD: No, I just played 9 holes Monday and 9 holes Tuesday. I tried not to overdo it and tire myself out. And once you walk around this course once, there's not that much to learn. It's all there in front of you, pretty straightforward. And the way it's playing this week, with it being so wet in the fairways and it's wider, the balls are really not going anywhere. It's just a case of pitching it to yardage.

LEE WESTWOOD: I knew somebody was going to ask me that. I learned I needed time off at the end of the year. Previous to this year, the years have all been blending into each other, because you finish so late and start so early. This time I put the clubs away for five weeks and didn't hit a ball. And I came out fresh and keen to play, really. I think that's been the problem at the start of most years. I've not actually felt like I've had a break, so I've almost been going through the motions until April time, when I've actually had three weeks off and just not hit balls.

LEE WESTWOOD: I've taken time off --.

LEE WESTWOOD: It's not so much taking the time off, it's occupying yourself and not thinking about golf in that time off. And that's what I've learned to do. I've got other things to occupy my time.

LEE WESTWOOD: I've gone further than last year, so that's a relief. No, whether you lose second round or third round, it's fairly irrelevant, really. Unless you get to Saturday, you're not going to feel like you've done well this week, I don't think. It's just that kind of week.

LEE WESTWOOD: No, not really. It's not got a big tournament feel to it. The weather has not been great today, so the crowds haven't been ought, and they certainly weren't with my match. There were 10 or 15 people walking around, it doesn't have that big tournament feel that others did, for some reason. I think it's because it's being spread out all over the golf course.

LEE WESTWOOD: There's a sense of excitement waking up this morning, because I was bored to tears laying around and doing nothing. It was nice to get out and play some competitive golf and feeling all right. Because even the first round last week in LA I had a temperature, and the tonsillitis, so it was more or less a survival thing, than trying to build the score last week. So it felt like three weeks since I'd played competitive golf today.

LEE WESTWOOD: No, I felt bad last week, that's why I withdrew.

LEE WESTWOOD: No, the antibiotic was clearly helping, and it was never really a question.

LEE WESTWOOD: Numerous times. They're there for a reason, I just don't know what it is.

End of FastScripts...