U.S. OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP

June 15, 1999

Lee Westwood

LEE WESTWOOD: Well, my game is not as good as it has been, but it's been improving recently,. I think the injury has contributed to the way I've played. And it was just a matter of time before my shoulder improved and got back to the way it was. As for the course, the greens are excellent. It's a good test. There's a lot of long holes out there. It's a shot-maker's course. It demands a lot of different shaped drives and second shots to the greens. I'm disappointed with the amount of rough. I think it's a bit too short, a little bit too easy, once you've knocked it up, to get it up on the green. That's about it.

LEE WESTWOOD: No, not really.

LEE WESTWOOD: I think it depends on the shot, but I'm using a 3-wood or 5-wood, to run it up the banks. And I don't think the lob shot is out the window this week, because there's such tight lies around the greens. And all the grass is growing against you, and you're chipping into the greens. I don't think the bump-and-run shot -- because that digs in as well. You want it to be on the floor as much as possible.

LEE WESTWOOD: I haven't practiced it that much, but a lot more just recently. Hopefully after a couple more days, should have it down quite well.

LEE WESTWOOD: I never said it was relatively easy --

LEE WESTWOOD: I used to think so, when there was five inches of rough off the edges of the fairways.

LEE WESTWOOD: Yes, because it puts a premium on accuracy off the tee. But now, I don't think it does. Especially if the rain that's due comes down the next few days, it will make the greens very soft, and you don't need to be in the fairway off the tee.

LEE WESTWOOD: No. I'll be rooting for it to be as dry as possible, to make the greens as dry as possible, because I think it will be a sterner test with harder greens.

LEE WESTWOOD: It seems to be the opinion of most players. You'll have to ask them. I can only speak for myself, but I was in the rough a couple of times yesterday and I had no problem getting 6-iron, 5-irons on a couple of lies. On the 8th, down the left, there was very little rough; down the left there.

LEE WESTWOOD: It just runs a bit quicker, as opposed to getting it in the air at all. The first -- it's not really getting it in the air; it's just easier when it's tight to just use a 3 or the putter with extra loft to help you out.

LEE WESTWOOD: It's fine now. But it was my right shoulder, and it was just a matter of time. There was no treatment for it.

LEE WESTWOOD: I don't think I was lacking in confidence. You just have to wait for the shoulder to heal. And that's why I put my poor form down over the last 7 weeks to that. When I've been fit, the rest of the year I've won: 6th in The Masters, 6th in the TPC, and there's no point in me not being confident.

LEE WESTWOOD: 15, par-3, because the green's very small. And I suppose it depends on which way the wind is blowing. 8 is quite a difficult hole. There's a few difficult holes out there. I'm not saying it's an easy course, by any means. I think it's very tough. I still can't see a really low score on it.

LEE WESTWOOD: At the Masters. The greens there are very similar to Augusta.

LEE WESTWOOD: I've used that chip shot when there's not a lot of rough around the greens, and you've got big slopes or steep slopes to go up, and it's straight down and left; it's the best shot to employ.

LEE WESTWOOD: My caddy does all of that. I go out and get a general impression of the course. And really, most courses are the same, and this one you just need to practice those shots up and around the greens. Really it's not even a case of getting a feel for the speed of the greens yet, because on Monday, they always seem to be a yard, a yard and a half slower than they are on Thursday when they're cut right down and they've firmed up a little bit.

LEE WESTWOOD: No. Like I said ten minutes ago, we have nothing like this in Europe. I don't know why somebody has the impression it's going to suit the European player. That's just a proviso in case one of us wins. But very rarely do we have to play shots that you have to play around here. I'm not saying we can't, but it's a shot we don't have to play.

LEE WESTWOOD: I think it's similar to The Masters course, yeah. The real focus on this course is on and around the greens. You can hit a good shot to ten feet, and if you had missed it five feet further right or left, you can finish 20 or 30 yards away from the flag. There's a lot of patience required, as there is at the Masters. And it's the same shot once your ball goes away, as well. There will be a lot of putting from off the greens. You need a lot of imagination on and around the greens, I think.

LEE WESTWOOD: I think your first statement was right. I think it gives more people an opportunity to win. You don't have to be quite as straight. The tee shots aren't as demanding, and it brings into play the short game more, this course, I think.

LEE WESTWOOD: I'd like it like concrete.

LEE WESTWOOD: No, I can't count; I don't have enough fingers. I've played him a lot; seemed to have played him a lot, recently. Just recently, I played with him. I played with him the last round of the Masters. I played with him in the Million Dollar. I played him in the World Matchplay; three rounds in this last year. I played with him quite a lot lately. He's probably getting sick of me.

LEE WESTWOOD: No. We don't get together and discuss whether one of us should win. Golf is an individual game, and I think you do what you want. There's no sort of team talks, apart from the Ryder Cup. But it would be nice to see a European win it.

LEE WESTWOOD: Occasionally it does happen, but it's just one of those things you have to put up with. Nobody can do anything about it. It tends to happen less when there's a big crowd, like here, because people tend to hold their position. And it's -- there's normally about, if one or two people are around the green, when one or two people rush around the back of the green, you tend to not see it much. I've never really had much of a problem. My caddy says, "Quiet, please," if anything does bother me. But you should have the concentration to get through that sort of thing.

LEE WESTWOOD: No. The crowds are fine always towards me. I've never had a problem with anybody. They've always been very good and supportive. When I won in New Orleans, the crowds were fantastic. I think they like winners over here, which is the way it should be, I think. They're always trying to build people up, and never trying to knock them down.

LEE WESTWOOD: I don't know. There's certainly more Americans in the field, for starters. But I think a couple of people have been unlucky just recently. I think Faldo was unlucky. Monte has been unlucky. That's it, really.

LEE WESTWOOD: No. This is the first time.

LEE WESTWOOD: I knew it was going to suit the Europeans, which was fairly off the mark. I think it suits them, but the best player will still win on the week, let me put it that way. You have to be very accurate with your iron shots; not quite as accurate as I'd like with a driver. You have to have a good imagination around the greens, and a good feel.

LEE WESTWOOD: No, can you tell me?

LEE WESTWOOD: No. I know I beat him in The Masters, because I played with him in the last round, but that's about as far back as I remember, in the Majors, anyway.

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