Ryder Cup 2010

Q&A with Lee Westwood

Tour News

30 September 2010 14:53

Q. 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.

Q. 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.

Q. Was there any doubt in your mind that you were going to be here today?

LEE WESTWOOD: Yeah, there was. 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.

Q. 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.

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.

Q. Probably playing for it next week.

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.

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. 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?