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BMW PGA CHAMPIONSHIP

May 24, 2016

Lee Westwood

Surrey, England

MICHAEL GIBBONS: Many thanks, as always, for joining us at the BMW PGA Championship.

If we could start, Lee, just with a couple of thoughts from you on this week, a special week playing at home for you. Looking forward to it?

LEE WESTWOOD: Yeah, obviously it's a big week for any European Tour player, but I think especially the ones from Britain. We don't play too many tournaments in front of home fans nowadays, and I guess after The Open Championship, this is the next biggest thing. It's nice to play in front of a home gallery and all those cheers. The crowds really get behind the home players this week.

It's nice to be back at Wentworth. I think Wentworth's had its issues recently and it's nice to see the tournament still here. Looking forward to the week and carrying a bit of form into it, somewhere where I've played well in the past and looking forward to playing well this week.

I feel like my game is in good shape, and 10th was probably about the worst I could have done last week. Bit of a slow start after five weeks off but gradually got going as the week went on.

Q. I'm not sure if you're aware of it, but this is your 23rd straight appearance at this tournament. That's something you've got to be immensely proud of, to not miss one in all that time.
LEE WESTWOOD: Yeah, it shows the sort of regard I holed the tournament in. I wouldn't want to miss this week. I've tried to play every year, which obviously I have done. It's somewhere where I love coming back to.

It's nice of you to say it's 23 times. Shows how old I'm getting I guess. I've played more times than some of the other players have been on the planet, but there you go. Such is life. I've seen a lot of changes here over the years, and it's a nice place to keep coming back to.

Q. As touched upon in your first answer, you haven't played too much in the last few months, but when you have played, you've played well. How close are you to being 100 per cent happy with your game at the moment?
LEE WESTWOOD: I'm a lot happier with my game than I have been for quite some time. I started working with Pete Cowen again at Houston and it had a pretty immediate effect. We just did a couple of hours there and then an hour at the Masters and I think that showed at Augusta. Started hitting the ball a lot straighter and iron shots were a lot better.

Did a bit of work with Bob Rotella on the putting green at Augusta, as well. He seemed to free me up a little bit and rolled a few more putts in there. Just feel a lot more aggressive but a lot more calm on the greens, and my short game's good, as well. So there's no reason why I shouldn't be playing well and scoring well, this week, really.

Q. In your list of 2016 priorities, where does qualifying for The Ryder Cup sit?
LEE WESTWOOD: It sits high but it's never been something I've really sort of worried about or focused on too much. I tend to think that when people start worrying about qualifying for The Ryder Cup, that's when they get Ryder Cup-itis, really, and they start to hit the wall and slow down earning points.

It's a bit like the World Rankings and the Money List. It's a culmination of playing week-in, week-out, and if you do that, then The Ryder Cup just comes as a byproduct of playing well week-to-week.

Q. But in a similar vein to my first question, ten in a row for 20 years with the inevitable sort of troughs in form that you can have over time is an unbelievable achievement.
LEE WESTWOOD: Yeah, when you look at the records, there's not that many people played that many Ryder Cups. It's something that I'm proud of; that I've played ever year since 1997 and won a lot of points, as well.

Obviously when I look at my C.V., it's a part of my career that I'm immensely proud of, yeah. It would be nice to play a 10th one and get some more points for the team in September, October time.

Q. As one of the senior figures on The European Tour, what's your assessment of the field here, and obviously some of the players who haven't come for whatever reason.
LEE WESTWOOD: Well, I haven't really looked at the quality of the field. I have enough of a job on focusing on getting here myself and getting my own game into shape and performing at my best.

I know there are a few players missing. I understand why Rory is not playing. Unfortunately this time of year, there's a lot of tournaments that he enjoys playing in and plays well in; plays well in most of them, but I can understand why he went to Quail Hollow and then the players, and then obviously he wants to support The Irish Open last week and I know he likes the Memorial. Somewhere along the line, a tournament has to give and unfortunately it is this one. He's supported it in the past, and fair play to him for having won here, and having won last week, as well, at his own tournament and coming back and supporting certain events on The European Tour.

There are other players that don't like the way this golf course sets up for them, so they miss it because of that. Ideally you would like everybody to play but we don't live in an ideal world. We have to pick and choose where we play, and some people choose not to play this, but I think in general, the top players support The European Tour as much as they can, yeah.

Q. What's your favourite hole at Wentworth, and why?
LEE WESTWOOD: I like 18. I think it's a good risk/reward par 5 now. I think before, it was just a bit of a soft par 5 before the changes, but now obviously there's penalties for hitting a poor shot in there. But you can still make eagle with two good shots.

Obviously it gives you a chance to rescue your round at the end of the day if you're not playing so well and it obviously gives you a chance to win the tournament if you're a couple behind. Anything can happen if you've got a lead in the tournament. I think it throws up a lot of interest.

Q. What did you say to Danny Willett walking down 16, 17 and 18 at Augusta?
LEE WESTWOOD: Nothing at that stage. I wasn't really talking to him. He was one of my least favourite players on the planet at that stage (laughter).

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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