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HSBC WORLD MATCH PLAY CHAMPIONSHIP

October 16, 2004

Lee Westwood

SURREY, ENGLAND

GORDON SIMPSON: Well done, Lee. You're through to the final again. You've already won this title and interestingly enough, you've actually beaten Ernie twice here, haven't you.

LEE WESTWOOD: Yeah, I have a good record against Ernie here. I'm looking forward to tomorrow, which will hopefully be a great match for everybody to watch. Hopefully the weather will be great because the forecast is pretty good I think. And the course, it will dry out a bit with a little luck, get rid of some of the spin we are getting on the greens. We'll have a good game.

GORDON SIMPSON: For a long time. It looked as if you were going to win quite easily, but he came back at you well.

LEE WESTWOOD: Well, yeah, Miguel, 5-up after 18, I knew it wasn't all over. He gave me the first, but then played very solid from there. We were halving holes with birdies and he hit it close on 7. I birdied 8 to get back to 5. That was probably one of the key moments, me chipping in when he hit it close. Then 11, 3-putted there, but he missed five feet so he could have birdied that. He eagled 12; I birdied it. He birdied 13. Made a great up-and-down from the back of 14. I missed a chance on 15, just didn't look like I thought I would. 16 I hit it to six feet and he hit it stone dead, put a lot of pressure on me after going from 5-up back to 2-up. Don't want to lose the game then and blow it. He just kept put putting pressure on me and I managed to get a halve on 17 and 18.

So that was a good game. I hit a lot of good shots down the stretch. Wasn't like I gave him any holes. I was 10- or 11-under for 19 holes in the middle of the day through the back nine this morning. So that's the kind of game it was. It was lots of birdies today.

Q. Was fatigue a factor?

LEE WESTWOOD: Don't really feel fatigued at all. Just got a cold and a terrible cough, tickly cough. I feel mentally and physically feel great.

Q. When you have a match like that, do you start feeling yourself getting edgy?

LEE WESTWOOD: No, I don't let it get to me, but obviously the pressure intensifies. You're 5-up and you're cruising along and you lose one hole and you go to 4 and he goes eagle, birdie and then you're 2-up. Then he makes a great up-and-down from the back of the par 3. After I hit a good shot I was a bit unlucky with a 7-iron, probably would have rolled back close, but kept the pressure on. Hit it stone dead at 16. There's not much that you can do about it. You just have to try not to give him any holes and just grind on through. Because you know the way we're playing this week, at some stage they are going to come back at you. That happened today with Miguel. It wasn't like I was complacent after ten or 11 holes. I was still trying hard and I knew you've got to treat the other players with a lot of respect and not give anything away. Miguel just won holes through the back nine. Very good golf.

Q. Were you delighted with your drive on the 18th?

LEE WESTWOOD: Well, I've hit three drives down there that have all sort of finished within a yard of each other. So, you know, I just thought, right, a bit further right and down a bit more. It was a perfect drive but it was long, left me 195 or 196 to the front edge and hit 3-iron. Flushed that as well. No wood on it. I it was always a struggle to get back there, but I just hit 5-wood in there because I felt like I only needed a 4.

Q. How does Ã‚Â£1 million appeal to you?

LEE WESTWOOD: Yeah. I haven't really thought about it to be honestly.

Q. What's your previous biggest win, Dunhill Links?

LEE WESTWOOD: I suppose it could be, yeah. Honestly I haven't really thought about the money. Just trying to get to the final and beat whoever is in front of me but obviously -- I'll find something to do with it.

Q. Inaudible

LEE WESTWOOD: Even when I was on last green in two, I expected Miguel to hit it close, maybe 2-putt. You know, when I hit it close at 16, I expected him to hit it close. That the way you play match-play, don't take anything for granted and expect the worst.

Q. Does the loss of a big lead knock your confidence?

LEE WESTWOOD: It boosts your confidence any time you win a game. That's why these games are over 36 holes to see who is the best one over 36 holes. Obviously very focused, it will be interesting to see what we've shot. I suspect something like 65 or 64 this afternoon.

Q. A win tomorrow takes you back into the top 25 in the world. Is there any limit to how far you can go?

LEE WESTWOOD: I feel like I'm improving all the time. Doesn't really bother me to be honest. Even if I don't win this week I've still got three more chances, two very big tournaments and a charity tournament which, you know, would still please me if I won it. So I feel like I'm improving all the time. I feel like even when I play poorly it's not that bad and when I start swinging poorly, I feel that I can get it back pretty quickly and get around golf courses with the bad shots; whereas before when I wasn't playing so well before the bad shots were killing me and I just couldn't get around the golf course. The game is very competitive at the moment and it just seems to be improving each week.

So, hopefully it will continue and it will just be a case of working on the same things that I've been working on. My short game is improving. That's pleased me more than anything this week. The chipping has been good. I had a couple of chip-ins, which the first in a long time. All thanks to David, and Steve Hanson who has worked on my fitness, which has enabled me to swing the club more athletic. And obviously I've got a good caddie on the bag, so we don't get many clubs wrong.

Q. Are you getting more turn?

LEE WESTWOOD: I just I don't know if I'm getting more turn, but it's a tighter turn that I'm able to make and I'm swinging the club a bit shorter but still create more power. I hit the ball a long way this week and it's just been partly a case of work with David and partly a case of going to the gym and partly a case of working with a new driver; probably a combination of all three.

Q. Does playing Ernie daunt you?

LEE WESTWOOD: Just whoever is in front of you. I know Ernie is good around this course, but, you know, I'm 32-under this week, so I'm not bad myself. It's just a case of, like I always play match-play, not giving holes away. Try and make as many birdies as possible, see who comes out over 36 holes. Ernie will be up for it. He's obviously playing well. But I'm up for it, as well. So it will be a great match. The two matches we've had you know, 2 & 1 and 1-up, so there's been nothing in them, just one putt here or there, which is always the case with match-play.

Q. Why does Wentworth suit you?

LEE WESTWOOD: I think a good maneuver of the ball, player's course, a shot-maker's course. The nice thing about it is it's not long, but if you want to take driver out and be aggressive with it, then you do, you know, get an advantage. The 6th, a lot of people hit iron off there. Miguel hit iron off there; and Todd Hamilton hit iron off there. But I hit driver because I get 70 yards to the flag and I feel like I can attack the hole just because it shapes for my sort of drive. And it's good, there's a few drivers off the tee, but there's a few irons and a few 3-woods, so it tests all of your game. After a while, I think I learn a lot after playing it, and you do get used to the greens as well. Although I don't think anybody will ever get used to the 16th and 17th green, because they all seem to swing different ways every time we play them. But, you know, pretty much picked my lines out on the golf course now on the greens.

End of FastScripts.

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