30 September 2010
An Interview With:
LEE WESTWOOD
GORDON SIMPSON: Okay, everyone,
well, in time-honoured fashion, I think we'll leave
the best to last. We have Europe's No. 1, Lee
Westwood with us, and Lee, you have not played
competitively since August, so you might as well
get the injury bulletin out of the way first and
foremost.
LEE WESTWOOD: I haven't really played
competitive since The Open Championship. I was
fairly non-competitive at Bridgestone.
GORDON SIMPSON: How are you feeling
then?
LEE WESTWOOD: Good. I'm looking
forward to this week. Worked hard to get here,
and obviously pleased to be here. Looking forward
to it.
GORDON SIMPSON:
Was there any
doubt in your mind that you were going to be here
today?
LEE WESTWOOD: Yeah, there is. I think
when you go through like a rehabilitation process,
some weeks it moves quickly. Other weeks, you
don't see much of an improvement. It's a bit like
building a house, if you go back every day, you
don't see much of a change, but if you keep going
back sort of monthly -- well, you don't see much
change there, either. (Laughter).
So you know, only when I started putting
weight to it and hitting more balls the last couple of
weeks I sort of really start to allow myself to think
about playing this week, and getting emotionally up
for it sort of.
It's just because it's something that I've
never been through before and you don't know
what to expect. It's a bit like being a rookie on The
Ryder Cup Team.
GORDON SIMPSON: In terms of the
atmosphere in the team room, G-Mac said he felt
this one had the X Factor; what's your perception?
LEE WESTWOOD:
Yeah, it's good
atmosphere in the team room. But we all are
getting on very well. It's relaxed. I wouldn't say
light-hearted, but some good banter. And when
we need to get down to serious stuff, we are all
there together as a unit for one goal, really.
Q.
Your Ryder Cup debut was at
Valderrama, Seve's Ryder Cup; can you talk
about what influence he had on your career
and what it was like Tuesday night?
LEE WESTWOOD: Yeah, it was good to
hear from him Tuesday night for sure. He sounded
well, I think. He sounded just as passionate as he
always does when talking about The Ryder Cup.
He obviously is one of the legends of the game,
and instrumental in taking European golf to a world
audience, I think; and he did that partly through his
own career, but a majority of that through all of that
passion he showed in The Ryder Cups. He
obviously carried that through to Valderrama when
he was captain, as well.
Yeah, he was very passionate that week.
Sometimes it worked. Sometimes it wound people.
But we came out of it at the end of that week with
the right result, and that has a lot to do with Seve.
I suppose he's a European talisman when it comes
to something like that.
It was great to hear -- not that everybody
needed a lift, but it gave some of the lads that had
not played with him or spent much time with him,
that extra idea of what it's all about. I know it was
over the phone, but you could still almost see a
twinkle in his eyes when he was talking; he was so
passionate.
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Q. Would your bigger concern be a
lack of much fitness, as it were, or not lasting
the course in terms of stamina and things; the
course is going to be wet. What would be -- if
any concern?
LEE WESTWOOD: I don't have too many
concerns.
I don't have concern with the
competitive edge. I've played well in the practise
rounds, and I don't see how that's going to change
in the competitive rounds. And when the match
itself starts, I think I'll be up for it even more.
It's a very difficult golf course to come back
to. It's very heavy underfoot, and it's quite hilly in
places, and there's quite a lot of slopes, steep
slopes to walk up to; 36 holes a day, ideally I
would have liked to have broke myself in gently in
a tournament with 18 holes a day, but that wasn't
possible.
So it's just a case of playing it -- I know as
much as you, really, how I'm going to react over
the next couple of days. But I wouldn't be here if I
don't think I could play five matches.
So if Monty chooses to play me for five,
then hopefully I'll be ready for it. I think we've got a
strong enough team in depth that we, you know,
can rest players, like you said earlier, it is a tough
course physically. Maybe the plan would be to rest
players.
As much as I hate to admit it, I'm not as
young as I used to be where I could play five in a
week as easily. There's a few more miles in my
legs, and maybe the best way to get maximum out
of me is to play me in four, I don't know, or
whatever Monty sees fit.
But like I said, if I didn't think I could play
five, then I wouldn't be here.
Q. Apart from the injury, you might well
be sitting there as world No. 1. Has that been
one of the frustrations of the injury happening
when it did?
LEE WESTWOOD: Yeah, very frustrating.
But at the same time, nobody's stepped up to the
plate and grasped the bat and run with it really and
gone away from me. I'm quite fortunate in that
regard.
I expected people around me to -especially with the tournaments that we have been
playing and with so many World Ranking points
available in the FedExCup, I expected to be further
behind than I am. So I'm quite pleased with the
position I'm still in.
LEE WESTWOOD: Yeah, I assume so. I
don't know. I assume there's a lot of points on
offer. But first and foremost on my mind is Ryder
Cup.
GORDON SIMPSON: I was told by Ian
Barker, our rankings man, that you will be No. 2
next week regardless.
LEE WESTWOOD: I knew that, Gordon.
GORDON SIMPSON: I knew you did.
Q. You have a very good record in The
Ryder Cup obviously; can you describe what
the most important aspects are?
LEE WESTWOOD: Well, I have a good
record in The Ryder Cup because I enjoy match
play. I'm very passionate in match play but I don't
think I give too many holes away. I hit a lot of
fairways and greens, and they set the golf course
up for the Ryder Cup fairly demanding.
And like I've always said, in the foursomes
and fourballs, I've always been very fortunate to
have great partners, partners with I suppose
similar games to myself. I've always been paired
up with, say, Monty who hits a lot of fairways or
Sergio and Darren who are great drivers of the golf
ball, and Nick, Søren Hansen.
It's not hard to play well when you've got
partners like that. But I think the record is partly
due to the intensity that I sort of get together for
Ryder Cups.
Q. Colin has said that he felt what
might be missing as he understood from
Valhalla is a lack of passion; do you think he's
restored that passion this week?
LEE WESTWOOD: I think there was a lot
of passion at Valhalla. But I think -- I don't think it
was directed or guided in the right direction at
times. I think we could have pulled it together as a
team a lot better at Valhalla.
Q. Here?
LEE WESTWOOD: Here? No, we are all
working in the same direction here for sure. This is
one of the best atmospheres I've ever been to at a
Ryder Cup.
Q. Are you playing with Rory today, or
is he just in the same fourball?
LEE WESTWOOD: I'm playing with Rory,
yeah.
Q. Probably playing for it next week.
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Q. Were you expecting that?
LEE WESTWOOD: Thinking behind that,
we are playing foursomes this afternoon, and I'm
playing with Rory. (Laughter) You're a press man,
you can draw conclusions, can't you? (Laughter).
Q. So much has been written about
Colin Montgomerie not winning a major in his
career. Do you think that if he was to captain
The European Team to victory, do you think
that would write his name in the golfing history
books?
LEE WESTWOOD: It would write his
name in The Ryder Cup golfing history books, for
sure. But I think if you asked him, at the end of the
day we are in golf as individuals, and I'm sure he
misses not having a major championship on his
C.V.
Q. As a guy who played with Colin on
Ryder Cup teams, now him switching over to
be the captain, how have you seen him as just
his personality, or whatnot, to go from a player
to a captain?
LEE WESTWOOD: He's a little bit more
relaxed this week, I think. His mood swings are
less. (Laughter). Having played with him at his
peak at the end of the 90s, he can be up and down
quite a lot.
But I think this week, because
whatever he does is directly influenced onto the
team, I think he wants to be on an even keel, and
sort of nice and calm. So I see that in him a lot
more this week.
You know, he's been a good captain, great
captain so far, not one foot wrong in my book.
Q. You have six rookies on the team,
kind of a different mix than you've been used to
player-wise in the past few Ryder Cups here, a
couple of guys are obviously not here; what
has impressed you about the rookies, and what
kind of adjustment do you think that will be?
LEE WESTWOOD:
Well, what's
impressed me about the rookies, one is Major
Champion.
And another is 21 years old and already
won in Europe and America, and he's the Top-10
in the world.
Two of them have won the last two
qualifying events going into The Ryder Cup; so
they can play under pressure.
One is about as steady as it gets,
tee-to-green,
Francesco,
he's
unbelievably
impressive and qualified, really, quite easily.
Who have I missed out?
Q. Ross.
LEE WESTWOOD: Yeah, the other one is
a World Match Play Champion, and we are playing
match play this week. (Laughter).
So what I'm trying to get at is, they are
fairly handy at it, and they have travelled the world
and played majors and proved that they can cope
with the ultimate pressure, which this is this week.
Q. Sam Torrance set up The Belfry
really to the advantage of the European side
and Azinger did the same thing at Valderrama
for the Americans -LEE WESTWOOD: Sorry, you're going to
have to start again. I didn't get the start of your
question.
Q. At The Belfry, Sam Torrance set it
up to favour the Europeans -LEE WESTWOOD: Set it up.
Q. And Azinger did the same thing at
Valderrama -- it's Valhalla, I'm sorry. It doesn't
seem that Colin has done that here. Are you
surprised by the setup, and does the setup
favour one side over the other?
LEE WESTWOOD: I think Colin set this
golf course up for long, straight, good drivers of the
golf ball. There's definitely a premium on hitting
fairways on this golf course.
I don't really need to say much more than
that, do I.
Q. Just to go back to playing five -- you
obviously sound like you expect to play two
tomorrow, foursomes. The captain has said it's
going to be that much more difficult when it's
this wet. Do you expect to play five?
LEE WESTWOOD:
I don't expect
anything. I'm not that presumptuous. I know the
strength of the players in the team. And if I weren't
to play five, then, you know, there's some great
players there to step in.
Q. And the other thing, Colin told us
that he informed you all about at least a week
ago what you were doing; were you surprised
by that, and what was your reaction to being
told that early who you would be playing with
in the first round?
LEE WESTWOOD:
I think it shows
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confidence in planning; we are not going into it
blindly. He's been thinking about it.
Q. Of the matches that get to the 18th
hole, Europe has won a vast majority of them,
probably from '85 onward. Wonder if you can
speak to that, and also what you think of 18 as
a closing hole here for the matches that get
there?
LEE WESTWOOD: I think 18 is going to
be great from a fan's point of view and a player's
point of view. There's so many variables on that
hole; that's what you want. It takes two great shots
to hit the green in two. But at the same time, if you
miss the fairway, I suppose you can hack it down
there and still make birdie that way. So there's lots
of different permutations.
As for why we keep winning the last hole
or why we are more successful on the last hole, I
really don't know. I know there's a lot of pressure
on the last hole and you've got -- I don't know how
to put it other than you have to take your balls in
your hand, but that's not going out live.
GORDON SIMPSON: It is. (Laughter).
LEE WESTWOOD: Great. Sorry about
that. In three deep over there (laughter).
You know, it takes a lot of guts to play that
last hole well.
Q.
Lee, Europe have had leaders
players on the pitch, as it were, like Monty in
the past, and that's a role that would seem an
obvious one for you, and I wonder if you would
be somewhat wary to accept that role given the
circumstances of the last few months?
LEE WESTWOOD: No, not at all. I don't
mind. I'm going to go out there and try and hit the
first fairway in my match. Try and knock it on the
green, try and win that first hole, try and win a point
that first morning, if I'm playing, of course; don't
want to drop any hints.
And I want to see 11 people stood there
right behind me following me. I mean, I know
everybody can't play, but you know, I think when
push comes to shove, if I get out there and chest
out, chin up, I suppose I've got the most
experience, try and show them how it's done. I
think we have got 11 the great players that are well
capable of following me through there and playing
to the best of their ability.
Q. Miguel was in here earlier on and he
was talking about nerves and the fact that in
anticipation of tomorrow, he has a knot in his
stomach. Do you get any nerves and how do
they manifest?
LEE WESTWOOD: I know what he's
talking about. There's that nervous excitement.
It's a long week. We are here a lot earlier than we
normally would be, and obviously the matches start
a day later than we would normally start on a
Thursday at normal tournaments.
You know, there's that intensity early and
the buzz and there's big crowds in the practise
rounds and things like that. So, you know, there's
that keenness to get going and just to get out,
really. But it's a good nervous excitement. Nerves
are great as long as you know how to handle them.
Q. You talked a few moments ago
about having the guts to go for certain things,
and obviously, as you said, you're one of most
experienced guys on the team. When it comes
time and you decide on certain holes and shots
that you're going to go for it, because it's an
individual sport, do you defer to that or when
you're playing with a partner; do you have to
say -- what do you think or defer to that guy, or
how do those negotiations work?
LEE WESTWOOD: I think match play is -you just have to separate it. You have to know
when to attack and when to defend. You learn
how to do that and read the game.
Sometimes pars are great, and they are
going to win you holes. Like I said, I always try to
play match play and not give too much away, not
make too many bogeys where you give the
opposition an easy advantage, but you do that,
anyway, when you play in stroke play. So it's just
something that you learn to do I suppose and you
do it subconsciously in the end.
Q. Are you always on the same page
with your partner, or sometimes do you have to
convince them one way or another?
LEE WESTWOOD: Yeah, there's a time
to go across and put your arm around your partner
and say, middle of the green is not going to be bad
here, and there's a time to attack.
Q. Wonder when you last had a twinge
in your calf, or is it something you're not even
thinking about?
LEE WESTWOOD: No, I get the odd
twinge, but I think that's age more than anything.
Everybody gets twinges here and there. I get a
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twinge in my back every morning when I get up,
but it doesn't mean I have a bad back -Q. You're not thinking about it?
LEE WESTWOOD: It's not something that
was in the back of my mind, I can't hit this one flat
out or anything like that. I'm going through the
motions as I would if I were 100 per cent fit, but I
don't think I've of been that. (Smiling).
It's not really an issue for me.
GORDON SIMPSON: Lee, thank you very
much for coming in. Have a great week.
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