WGC ACCENTURE MATCH PLAY CHAMPIONSHIP

February 20, 2002

Lee Westwood

SCOTT CROCKETT: Well done, Lee. Just start us off with a few general comments about your match.

LEE WESTWOOD: I played quite solidly, really.

Missed a couple of iron shots, but other than that, didn't leave myself in much trouble. My short game has been sharp because I've been working on that. Bunker play was very good. And on the back nine, had a lot of good shots and didn't really give him a chance.

SCOTT CROCKETT: You felt comfortable the whole way?

LEE WESTWOOD: Poor tee shot off the first, but 8-iron to 15 feet and missed that. The second hole, I won that with a birdie and went 1-up.

And he holed a good one on 4 to get back to all-square. Then on 6, back to all-square again.

And I won 9 and I just started to hit it a bit better.

Birdied 11.

Just missed a birdie on 12, just missed a birdie on 13. Birdie on 14.

Q. Is match-play something that gets your juices going?

LEE WESTWOOD: I enjoy playing match-play. We don't play it too often, but it's obviously nice to get out there and have a one-on-one situation. You know, you've got almost -- sometimes you can almost not play your own game. You have to kind of adapt to the way your partner is playing. It probably would be better if you just concentrated on playing your own game, each shot at a time, and you'd probably do a little bit better. But it's not like that; you get sucked into playing the other way.

Q. After a solid last week, that must have been good for confidence coming in.

LEE WESTWOOD: I played well last week. Finished 8-under. Could have finished 13, 14-under quite easily. Didn't have any outrageous -- any outrageously lucky putts. I didn't hole too many putts, I think, three over 20 feet. I hit it close a lot. So, you know, last week was a great week for my confidence.

Q. Is your pride hurt when you look at your current World Ranking?

LEE WESTWOOD: Not really. Don't know what it is. I've stopped looking. (Laughs).

There's a lot of great players around the world. If you don't play well, which I didn't play well for over a year, then you've got to expect to drop down. It's all you deserve, really. You're only going to be as high in the World Rankings as you look to be.

I've got very few points to defend from last year. I've got a chance to make a bit of headway.

Q. No Woods, no Mickelson already. That's obviously good for you, but no surprise because of the format?

LEE WESTWOOD: Doesn't really matter, to be honest. Match-play is that kind of game where seeds fall early. Sometimes it goes to playing like you did two years ago when Darren won and you've got Love, Duval, Darren and Tiger in the last four.

But 18 holes is a very short period of time. If you make a couple of mistakes, then you get punished. It's a little different in the World Match-play at Wentworth where you get 36 holes. You can afford to make a couple of mistakes. But this is just like being in a playoff, really.

Q. Good record in playoffs.

LEE WESTWOOD: Yeah, not bad, yeah. Match-play, I try not to give too many holes away and today didn't make a bogey; so I haven't really given a hole away. The only time I felt like I could have been marginally better was on 12 where I could have birdied that. But other than that, I was delighted.

Q. How bad are the greens in your estimation?

LEE WESTWOOD: If they are good, they are good. And if they are bad, they are bad for everybody. We are very fortunate in this format, the greens will be better than when we played the last thing in the day. Obviously, you and your opponent come up against the greens at the same time each day. It's not like you're playing against the guy who is first out and you're last out; that's the way stroke-play format is. That's the good thing about playing match-play on these kind of greens. I think in the long run it, may reward the stronger guy tee-to-green, but there's nothing wrong with that.

Q. What's your schedule?

LEE WESTWOOD: Two weeks off after this week. Bay Hill, TPC, week off, Atlanta, Masters.

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