	products recent interviews FastScripts archive about ASAP Sports

Our Clients:

Browse by Sport

Find us on

Subscribe to RSS

Click to go to
Asaptext.com

View our
e-Brochure

THE QUINN DIRECT BRITISH MASTERS

September 21, 2007

Lee Westwood

WISHAW, ENGLAND

GRAEME HAMLETT: Thanks for coming in again, Lee. 6-under and in the clubhouse, you must be very happy.
LEE WESTWOOD: Yeah I've not played too good here in the past in other years in the British Masters so yeah, very pleased to be in the position I'm in.
GRAEME HAMLETT: How good is a 70 out there today?
LEE WESTWOOD: It felt very good. The course is playing difficult. Some tough drives. 18 is driver, 3-wood.
8, toughest drive in the course, pulled that one and I had to hit 3-wood third shot.
9, hit a good drive and just turned it over a bit into the grass and hit 4-iron just a bit long. Other than that, played really good.
5-iron and wedge to four feet on 10.
Drive, sand iron, 20 feet on 11.
3-putt on 12 from about 30 feet.
13, driver, lob-wedge, four feet on the next.
16, driver, 8-iron to eight feet.
Didn't make birdie on 17 which was unfortunate. I had a good chance on 1, good chance on 2. 2-putted 3 for birdie. Made a couple of good pars on 4 and 5. 8 and 9 were just playing difficult.
GRAEME HAMLETT: The form that you're in at the moment, are you feeling confident every time you go out on to the course?
LEE WESTWOOD: Yeah, feeling very comfortable with the way I'm hitting the ball and the way I'm swinging.

Q. What happened on 9?
LEE WESTWOOD: I just hit a driver down the right hand side and turned it over and started it too far left and pitched it the left side of the fairway and kicked left down into the hazard. It was just unfortunate.

Q. Is this a course you like?
LEE WESTWOOD: I always come in feeling like I should play well. This is hopefully going to be the week to do that.
But yeah, I always look forward to coming and playing The Belfry. This is as good of condition I've ever seen it. The greens are as good as I've ever seen.
Hopefully the wind -- not to wish ill on anybody, but I hope in the afternoon that it keeps playable and the ball doesn't move because the greens are so quick, they are like billiard tables, and if it does start gusting it may start rolling around because the greens are undulating right now, eight feet.
I'd like to get the wind strength to where it's really, really difficult but playable. (Smiling).

Q. How far away do you live from here?
LEE WESTWOOD: About an hour. Or an hour and a half doing it legally.

Q. But are you staying here?
LEE WESTWOOD: No, I'm staying down, my Jag is in the car park.

Q. Was pace of play an issue today?
LEE WESTWOOD: Pace of play? The course is just difficult. The greens have sort of a lot of gusting wind and you get trapped between clubs sometimes and have to back off a bit, especially on the greens, and play slows down.
You're right, we were waiting on the back side and front on 3, and then we were on the clock. And it didn't feel like anything had gone severely wrong, but all three of us were just trapped between clubs, and all of a sudden there's a gap behind you, so everybody is having the same trouble.

Q. How much has your work with Mark Roe helped?
LEE WESTWOOD: Yeah, big difference. He's given me -- he gave me a good lesson at the Mercedes-Benz Championship, and then we did some work on Tuesday and he's going to give me a few more tips. He's given me a lot more variety around the greens.

Q. (About scoring).
LEE WESTWOOD: I know all about it. In good conditions, chances are you're probably going to go through and par being bogey, there's lots of danger. I don't think 5-5 would be a bad score there today.
Hitting 3-wood on the third shot, chipped in for four.

Q. What do you mean when you say you have more variety around the greens?
LEE WESTWOOD: Well, the ability to get the club in the right position and then deliver the right blow on the ball gives you more creativity because you've got more variety of shots then. And I've always had plenty of vision and imagination. Just haven't been able to use it.
Yeah, I've always said it was technique and I've worked on that. And even out of the bunkers, I'm playing them spinning right on and sort of rolling on the face and letting them run out when I need to.
They're shots I've never been able to play with the technique and now I've got a better technique and I'm able to try out more shots.

Q.
LEE WESTWOOD: Yeah, yeah, you know, just got to hope for the best -- so yesterday on the fourth required getting it to grab and I checked it and hit my shot there to about three feet.

Q.
LEE WESTWOOD: Well, there's places I'd like to strengthen obviously but there's no driving distance at the moment.

Q.
LEE WESTWOOD: Yeah, massive, it should make a huge difference in the scoring. But it has not been bad over the last couple of weeks, has it.
But it's supposed to be the whole game. If you have confidence getting up-and-down, you can be more aggressive to fire at flags and not being afraid to miss it on the shorter side. It's so quick on that green, you won't have a good chance -- even running it down, it's still a good shot. The 4-iron came out of the trap a bit hotter than expected.

Q. How well did you know Mark before you started working with him?
LEE WESTWOOD: Well, I've played golf with Mark since I was 15. Played Cheshire and stuff like that, and we've always been good mates. He said that only recently that doing this TV work he's been able to watch me play golf because when you're out there as a player, you don't really watch anybody else. He said there were a few sort of weaknesses that he thought he could help me with, just basic things. He was right, and I've been able to relate to it easily.

Q.
LEE WESTWOOD: Who, Monty? (Laughter) You said that, not me.
No, I think he's great on TV. (Laughing).

Q.
LEE WESTWOOD: No, I'm keeping it to myself.

Q. (About other good bunker players).
LEE WESTWOOD: Brett Rumford is good, probably one of the best bunker players I've ever seen, for sure.

Q. (About Mark Roe offering to help).
LEE WESTWOOD: No, because chipping has always been a weakness and that was in my game for a few years and it had let me down. So it was nice for him to offer to help.
GRAEME HAMLETT: Lee, well played again.

End of FastScripts

ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297