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BRITISH OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP

July 18, 2004

Lee Westwood

ROYAL TROON, SCOTLAND

KEITH DUCKWORTH: Lee, great finish to your best ever Open Championship. Tied for fourth. Tell us how you feel right now.

LEE WESTWOOD: Obviously very pleased. I got off to a terrible start, just a start you don't want, really. I haven't got off to a good start really at any point this week, which probably cost me this tournament. I had a few putts, but not that many. And on the last nine holes I rolled a few in and topped it off with a big par-putt from 17 for about 20 feet. It was a great way to finish.

Q. A year ago could you imagine you would have recovered the way you had done, two wins and now a top five?

LEE WESTWOOD: Well, you always hope that what you're doing is going to pay off with a lot of hard work. It's nice to see it making a difference on the golf course. I've always felt uncomfortable in left-to-right wind, but on the back nine I felt comfortable. And similar on the front, held up on the right-to-left. It's nice to see me making progress with my swing, and it turning into progress on the golf course.

Q. Were you starting to look at leaderboards coming in the end?

LEE WESTWOOD: I looked at them all week, really. I looked at six holes to go, and I thought it would be close, but I thought 8-under might go short, but I just wanted to hole the birdie putt on the last, and give them something to cheer about, and creep in front of Davis. I knew Davis was leading in the clubhouse, and I wanted to give myself a chance.

Q. Lee, that 40-footer in the end probably got you in the Ryder Cup. What do you think about that?

LEE WESTWOOD: I never really thought about it too much. I thought I was in the Ryder Cup before that, to be perfectly honest. I don't know how many Euros it's going to take, but I can't imagine it being more than 1.2 million, but that was the last thing on my mind. But I mean, obviously finishing that will guarantee my spot.

KEITH DUCKWORTH: Todd Budnick told you that you were exempt next week on the PGA TOUR, but you're not going to play next week?

LEE WESTWOOD: I'm having a week off, then I'll play the Scandinavian, then have a week off and prepare for the PGA, which I'll be confident going into now. I believe it's the third links test of the year in the majors. And it gets a bit breezy there, and I'll be trying to get up on the top of the leaderboard on that one again. There's no reason why not.

Q. When things were at their worst, did you despair from reaching this point again?

LEE WESTWOOD: I can't really remember, to be honest. I don't think about it anymore. I've stopped talking about it and thinking about it.

Q. The Tiger Woods question, how close are you now to winning a major, do you think?

LEE WESTWOOD: I have no idea, three or four shots (laughter). There's no answer to that question. I know my game is good enough to win one, it's just getting in there and giving myself the opportunity. I wasn't quite close enough going into the last round today to really do anything and put much pressure on him. But it's the consistency that is at the moment. It's the three best results I've had in a long, long time. And it's always nice to do it on the biggest stage. The Open Championship is the biggest one of the year for me and the rest of the players. I would say I'm close to being good or I'm there -- it's difficult to tell, really. There's no answer to the question. Five years ago I was thinking I needed to make a step up to become a major contender, but then I realized that there is no next level. It's just doing the right things here and there and fine-tuning your game and holing a few putts at the right time.

KEITH DUCKWORTH: Your best Open was here, tied 10th. Is there a reason for that?

LEE WESTWOOD: I like the golf course. I think it's a great links test. They've set it brilliantly this week. I think it's as good as I've ever seen an Open Championship course set up. Lytham was good when David Duval won. I think it's nice when they don't put thick rough, and bring the flyer into play a little bit more, because that's what links golf is all about.

Q. Why do you think you struggled on the first six? You said you haven't had a good start all week?

LEE WESTWOOD: I don't know why I've struggled on the first few holes. I found it hard to get a good game plan, to get the right clubs off the tee at times. Obviously the first morning I started -- the first afternoon I started double bogey, which is not the greatest start to an Open Championship, but came back with a birdie and then a bogey next. I didn't get going quickly enough. I think it cost me in the end. The same in the second round, bogeyed the first. And then instead of thinking, let's get into this tournament, you're thinking about making the cut.

Q. Are you chaffed or disappointed?

LEE WESTWOOD: No, delighted. Yeah, delighted. It's my best Open finish. And I played great coming down the stretch when the pressure is on.

KEITH DUCKWORTH: Can we do the clubs on the birdies and bogeys?

LEE WESTWOOD: I hit close on the first two holes, inside 10 feet and missed them both.

3rd, I hit 9-iron, which flew, and chipped and missed the putt.

Hit it in the bunker off the 4th tee, splashed out, left edge of the green, chipped and putted for par.

5th, nearly in the sea, tried and held one up, chipped and missed it.

6, Driver, 3-wood, chipped to 6 feet and missed it.

Driver, 20 yards off the front edge on 7, chipped, stone dead.

9-iron, 15 feet on 8, made it.

3-wood, 9-iron, 10 feet on 10.

2-iron, 3-wood, front edge, 2-putts on 16.

3-wood, 7-iron, 40-foot on the last.

Q. Just going back, Lee, to that back nine, 32 is a good score, around that, from what everybody has been saying. What were the conditions like this afternoon, compared to others? Don't mean to be rude and say it was easy this afternoon, how was it?

LEE WESTWOOD: That's the toughest I'd seen it all week, the strongest the wind had been, other than when I got caught in the squall yesterday afternoon playing the last two holes. That was the trickiest. 17 is playing the longest it's played all week.

Q. What did you hit at 17?

LEE WESTWOOD: My 3-iron.

End of FastScripts.

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