As we continue the build-up to the Masters Tournament, europeantour.com hears from some of the leading contenders to win the first Major of the season. Next up, Lee Westwood…
Lee Westwood is confident his improved short game and extensive knowledge of Augusta National will lay the foundations for a tilt at the Masters Tournament title.
With just seven days to go until the 76th edition of the historic event gets underway, Westwood’s sense of anticipation is heightened by the belief that he has all the tools needed to secure his first victory in a Major Championship.
The closest the current World Number Three came to being measured up for a Green Jacket was two years ago, when only Phil Mickelson’s final day brilliance denied Westwood’s bid to become the first Englishman since Sir Nick Faldo in 1996 to triumph at Augusta National.
Next week will mark Westwood’s 13th appearance at the Masters Tournament, and the 38 year old is hopeful that the wealth of experience he has gained during his 12 previous visits to Georgia’s fabled course will stand him in good stead, particularly around the greens.
Westwood said: “You don’t get too many first-time winners at the Masters, because it’s the kind of course where you need to learn. You can hit a great shot there and think, ‘Well that’s good, I can hit a nice easy chip there’. And you get down there and think, ‘God, how can I get this up and down?’ It’s that kind of place – two or three yards can make a huge difference.
“So experience plays a massive part around there. My short game is much better now – it’s far more reliable and solid. If anywhere is going to show short game frailties, it’s Augusta.
“Tiger [Woods] and I were discussing it last week, and we were saying the short game around Augusta has changed quite a bit over the last few years. It used to be that there wasn’t a lot of grass around the greens – you could almost see the earth through the grass. So you very rarely pulled out a sand wedge or a lob wedge around the greens – you were running it up, and you would putt from a long way off the green.
“Now you’re more likely to have a bit more grass under your ball and be able to spin it with a lob or a sand wedge, and it won’t run through as easily anymore. So you can’t just muddle through or putt from a good distance off the green, which puts more pressure on your chipping.”
Pressure is something Westwood has learned to deal with in a 20-year professional career which has yielded no fewer than 21 European Tour titles.
Having topped the Money List in Europe on two occasions and reached the summit of the Official World Golf Ranking last year, Westwood now gears his season around the four Major tournaments, and the ‘Worksop Wonder’ is unabashedly excited about his return to Magnolia Lane.
He said: “The Masters is exciting every year – there always seems to be a story or something going around which gets everybody going. I can’t think of a boring Masters that I’ve ever watched.
“And obviously if there are a lot of guys all playing well going into it, as there is this year, it hypes it up even more and it’s even more exciting, both for the players and the outside world.
“I look forward to the Masters from the moment it finishes the previous year. It’s just one of those tournaments you always want to be involved in. Augusta is one of those places with the charm and character which makes you want to come back. It’s a special tournament and one that I want to win. The years where I don’t win it, I’m already looking forward to the next one – this one’s no different.”
