Special Features
Lee Westwood Interview after Day Two in Race to Dubai
MICHAEL GIBBONS: Another good day for you.
LEE WESTWOOD: Yeah, played quite nicely. Made a couple of mistakes out there, probably through not having played a lot recently and being a little bit rusty. A bit of an error at 5 with a wedge and then chipped it to a couple of feet, a foot and a half, and missed it.
And then made a pig’s ear of the 14th after hitting a couple of nice shots. Got a bit unlucky with the second shot. I was aiming for the trap and it landed on the edge of the trap about a foot from it and broke right. And if it had gone in the bunker, it would have been an easy shot straight down the slope. Other than that played pretty nicely.
Kept losing my driver to the left, so I’m going to go to the range afterwards. I think the head is about to go. I brought a spare and I hit that pretty well, as well, so I’m going to do a bit of testing on the range.
MICHAEL GIBBONS: Not too concerned at the minute about that.
LEE WESTWOOD: A little bit concerned because I drove it so well today. And today, it just kept -- it went shorter and kept diving left on me. You know, if you hit them hard, they tend not to last too long.
MICHAEL GIBBONS: Shaping up for a good weekend, isn’t it. Good leaderboard.
LEE WESTWOOD: Yeah, it’s a good leaderboard. The players you want at the top of the leaderboard are there. So it will be an exciting weekend.
Q. Ian was saying that he thought your driver was faulty because he digged you on a few holes, despite you promising to be 30 yards past him.
LEE WESTWOOD: Yeah, he knows the truth.
Q. Is that the only reason or is he hitting it longer with that white stick?
LEE WESTWOOD: Ian’s worked hard on his game over the last few years and he’s turned into a really good player. He’s put a little bit of length on.
But I got a couple out there past him today.
Q. You seem to enjoy the banter with the Twitter and all that. You seem to be enjoying yourself.
LEE WESTWOOD: Yeah, we have a great time in each other’s company. He’s easy to get along with, and he’s talking now -- it’s strange how we got paired together, and his Arsenal and my Forest are linking up. We’ve got Aaron Ramsey on loan now -- we’re just a feeder club for Arsenal now, aren’t we, getting their reserves back to full fitness. So we had plenty to talk about out there.
Q. Looks like Martin has probably wrapped up The Race to Dubai. Can you just say a few words about --
LEE WESTWOOD: What’s Graeme on?
Q. 1-over.
LEE WESTWOOD: 1-over?
Q. Can you say a few words about how impressive he is and maybe a little bit about the tussle for world No. 1 which might come about this weekend?
LEE WESTWOOD: Well, he’s obviously a very strong player. You know, I’ve played with him in The Ryder Cup, and that wasn’t one of his best performances and he still hits the ball pretty well.
I’ve watched him a bit on TV while I’ve been injured. I watched him in Holland and I watched him win the PGA, and the thing that impressed me most, really, is his mental strength. He seems to have that steely German Langer/Schumacher/Vettel look about him I suppose, if you’re thinking of the German sportsmen. They all have that sort of look that nothing fazes them.
So I think he’s got a fairly healthy future in front of him as long as he stays off go-karts. (Laughter).
Q. And the No. 1 tussle?
LEE WESTWOOD: Well, it is what it is. It’s close. Whoever plays well will go to world No. 1 or stay at world No. 1. It’s not really something you pay much attention to. I’m a bit old at it now; I’ve been at it a month. It’s obviously something I’d like to hold on to. (Laughter) But I’m not going to hold onto it forever and if I don’t play well and somebody else plays better, then they will deserve to be world No. 1.
The tournament is close this week and I suppose that’s what everybody wants to see. They want to see that challenge, don’t they. But I think the main thing that all of us up there are focusing on this week is trying to win the Dubai World Championship and let everything else fall where it may. You know, I’ve got people playing next week for a lot of points again, so it could change again.
So I think it’s interesting that it’s so volatile at the moment.
Q. Anything a tiny bit different that you experience or hear from fans as being the No. 1 player?
LEE WESTWOOD: It’s strange really. I don’t want to say there’s more respect, because I’ve always felt like I had a lot of respect from all of the galleries and I’ve all tried to give a lot back. But I suppose you get a lot more recognition, and you get people that don’t play golf come up to you that know who you are.
So I suppose I’m more recognisable now, I guess. It’s strange to really quantify it and put it into words really. It gives you a good feeling, obviously. (Smiling).
Q. Are you like the rest of us who look at the leaderboard and go, "That is a sensational leaderboard." And looking at today’s, would you say that’s maybe one of the best leaderboards you’ve ever seen at a European Tour event, five Ryder Cup players, Paul Casey, Robert Karlsson, Noh from Korea.
LEE WESTWOOD: It’s a fantastic leaderboard. There’s really only Graeme missing from all of the stories going on this week. You’ve got the leader of the Money List up there. You’ve got the world No. 1 up there. Ross Fisher has had a great year. Poults has had a great year. Fantastic leaderboard from England from our point of view. And the young lad, like you said, Noh is up there, so some Asian interest. And Francesco is playing well again and he’s close-up behind me.
Q. Best of the year then in terms of depth and quality?
LEE WESTWOOD: Yeah, I mean, you look at it in a different way to what I would look at it.
So it is a really good -- if you were a sponsor of this event you would look at the leaderboard and you would seem to be rubbing your hands together, wouldn’t you.
Q. What’s the difference then between the way you look at it and the way we look at it?
LEE WESTWOOD: Well, it looks really good to me if Westwood is at the top. (Laughter) Maybe you don’t quite see it that way. (Laughter).
That’s the way I look at it, sorry. It’s fairly black and white up there. Westwood, great. Somebody else, not so good. (Laughter).
Q. Ian was saying that he thought his white driver had relaxing qualities and helped him to hit --
LEE WESTWOOD: (Eyes widening). Really? Cobra must play pay him a lot. Does he have his feng shui -- and I bet he has all of his furniture at home pointed in the right direction, too, doesn’t he.
Q. Can you see any possible -- would the colour --
LEE WESTWOOD: Is this a serious question? (Laughing).
Are you taking the Mickey? Did his white driver make me feel comfortable out there? Oh, sorry. (Laughter).
Q. Would you comment on the qualities that might attach to having a white driver.
LEE WESTWOOD: (Laughing). Well, you could probably see it better at the bottom of the lake if you have a bad day. John Daly should use one, shouldn’t he, with his history of flowing drivers in lakes and oceans.
You look like you’re about to do karaoke together. .
