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WGC HSBC CHAMPIONS


November 3, 2011


Lee Westwood


SHANGHAI, CHINA

Q. How happy are you with three?
LEE WESTWOOD: It was all right. I made three bogeys and four birdies and an eagle, but all in all, played all right, yeah. Not bad.

Q. Solid start.
LEE WESTWOOD: Yeah, pretty good. Difficult to tell out there really. A bit unlucky at 13, I hit 5-wood from 245 yards I think it was, 50 yards and it hit the flag and finished that far from the hole. So that was a nice, easy eagle.

Q. Last albatross?
LEE WESTWOOD: Yeah, on the last at Kingsbarns, 10-under in the Dunhill.

Q. The course this year, scoring --
LEE WESTWOOD: Is the scoring better or worse this year?

Q. Worse.
LEE WESTWOOD: Is it?

Q. It's not bad.
LEE WESTWOOD: I think when the greens are soft, it is a bit more scorable. It wasn't that much wind out there. The air felt quite heavy so it was difficult to pull a club at times I thought. Almost hit it half a club more because of the humidity. It's not normally as humid as this this time of year. That was the main thing really.
Sometimes it can also hurt you, the amount of spin you can get on the ball when the greens are as fast as this. You can be spinning it away from the flag. But there were lots of birdie chances out there if you hit the ball well. I missed three good ones in a row on 17, 18, and 1. Could have been 6-under through ten and then 7-under through 11 quite easily really.
So you know, I'm fairly happy, although I felt like I left -- 5-under would have been more like it.

Q. So what happens if Keegan's score --
LEE WESTWOOD: He played solid and rolls it lovely on the greens and hit it close a few times and made a few putts. But it's very doable out there.

Q. Did you make much?
LEE WESTWOOD: I made some nice putts. I was pleased. They look a bit quicker than they actually are, so I left two or three short right in the middle. But I'm pleased with the way I'm putting. I'm starting to see the ball running on online.

Q. What's his name again --
LEE WESTWOOD: Phil Kenyon.

Q. Thinking it could have been one or two shots better --
LEE WESTWOOD: I'm a professional golfer. We always walk off thinking we should have done two or three better.
I hit it in the rough on 5 -- 10 I hit it in the bunker, pitched on the green, spun it off and left myself a tough up-and-down and didn't get it up-and-down.
Then 5, I hit it will the left hand rough, ball didn't come out as a thought out of the rough, front edge of the green, 3-putted.
Then I hit it in the water at the next, just pulled my tee shot, landed on the bank, rolled it into the hazard and got up-and-down for bogey.

Q. Have you ever thought about the belly putter?
LEE WESTWOOD: I've used the belly putter.

Q. Now, because --
LEE WESTWOOD: I'm a great putter. Why would I use the belly putter?

Q. I'm not suggesting you're not. You're a professional golfer?
LEE WESTWOOD: Well, I've obviously thought about it because I used it and won twice with it.

Q. Well, okay, then why did you change? Why did you go back?
LEE WESTWOOD: I found it difficult to control it. I'm a bit of a traditionalist as well and I like the short one.

Q. Do you think it's cheating?
LEE WESTWOOD: No, it's not cheating. It's well within the rules.

Q. Would you change those rules --
LEE WESTWOOD: I'm not going to fall for that one. Looking for the tree you think I've fallen out; hit every branch on the way down. (Laughter).

Q. If they could go back and change the rules, would you want them to, the R&A?
LEE WESTWOOD: Not really bothered. I've used it so who am I to criticize?

Q. Does it help if you're playing with somebody who is putting lovely --
LEE WESTWOOD: I actually watched Justin Rose on the putting green before, and looked at his rhythm and tried to feed a bit off that, because I think he putts really nicely, as well.

Q. When is the last time you actually walked off and thought, I got the most out of that round? Does that actually happen?
LEE WESTWOOD: No. Even if you shoot 61, you lie in bed at night thinking, if I had just holed that, and holed that, it would be 59.

Q. Dubai, you must have thought --
LEE WESTWOOD: Yeah, that was one of those rounds where -- although I missed from ten feet on 17 and didn't birdie the last, shot 62. See, it's still there in your mind.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports




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