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ABU DHABI HSBC CHAMPIONSHIP

January 17, 2019

Lee Westwood

Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

Q. Lee, a round of 68 to add to yesterday's 66. Just assess your play for us.
LEE WESTWOOD: I felt like I played pretty similar to yesterday. Hit a lot of good shots, drove the ball pretty well. Like I said yesterday, these fairways aren't the easiest to hit. You've got to cross some angles, and they seem to have narrowed them a bit, so you're going to miss a few. I seemed to be in the semi quite a lot. I guess my driving stats weren't that -- didn't look brilliant, but I wasn't far off the fairways and had pretty good control of the ball most of the day. I putted nicely again. Three-putted the 18th, my ninth hole, but other than that, rolled some nice ones in and hit a lot of good putts that just grazed the edge, so I was pleased with the way that I played and hit some nice iron shots and controlled everything pretty well.

Q. Playing conditions today? What will the guys face going out this afternoon?
LEE WESTWOOD: It seemed pretty similar to yesterday. I think it was calm in the morning and then a little bit of breeze picked up in the afternoon. I mean, yeah, if you hit fairways it was there for scoring this morning. Towards the end, the wind picked up, which helped us on 7, 8 and 9. 6 played long, but 5, 7, 8 and 9 played short, so they were scoring chances. Unfortunately I only birdied one of them but hit some good shots on the others, and I'm pleased with the day, and 10-under is a nice position to be in going into the weekend, or Friday and Saturday.

Q. You had a magnificent win at the Nedbank last year, which was your first in three and a half years. Did it change your mindset going into the season? Do you think, I'm capable of perhaps more than I was expecting?
LEE WESTWOOD: No, not really. My confidence gradually increased as the year went on really. I didn't play a lot at the start of the year. There was a period when I played one week out of 15, 16, so you wouldn't expect to come out firing in the middle of the year it was very disjointed, and I'm the kind of player that needs to go and put tournaments together, or I used to be. I've had six or seven weeks off coming into here and picked up straightaway. You know, through the process of thinking better and working on my swing, you know, that's allowed me to forget about scoring really and forget about getting the ball into the hole, just working on the things that I know make me play well and just letting it go there.

Q. 68 today, that's a nice follow-up to yesterday's opening 66.
LEE WESTWOOD: Yeah, it was nice. I played well. I got off to a nice start, birdied the 1st, my tenth hole, and was in control, really. I missed a few fairways but I hit quite a lot, gave myself a lot of stress-free golf.

Q. The breeze seems to have picked up a little bit more today, as well. How does that change the dynamic of some of these holes?
LEE WESTWOOD: Yeah, there wasn't much there early on, but towards some of the last five, six holes that we played, there was certainly some breeze to take into account. It got to being about a club strong, so fortunately we were mainly on the downwind holes when that happened. But 6 played long, 6 played driver and a 5-iron, so yeah, there's a bit of breeze to take into account, and it'll keep things interesting this afternoon.

Q. You've had a bit of time off. Are you playing off a bit of freshness at the moment? Is it nice to come in fresh having had a bit of a break?
LEE WESTWOOD: Yeah, I'm fresh, but I did play a little bit over the new year with my son. He came to Dubai for Boxing Day and the new year, so we got a bit of golf in there. Three rounds of golf, which is more than I would normally play in the winter, between finishing and starting up again. So yeah, it was -- I didn't feel quite so rusty coming in here. I've been doing a bit of gym workout through the winter, although this pot belly wouldn't suggest that. But I'm feeling pretty fit, as fit as a 45 year old can be that's been out here 26 years. Got the odd ache and pain, but feel like I'm swinging it well, and I was keen for the season to start, and it was nice to come out and shoot a couple of good scores to kick it off in good style.

Q. It's always nice to back up a low one, isn't it, with a really solid one next?
LEE WESTWOOD: Yeah, after being 6-under through nine holes yesterday, 66 felt like almost the worst it could be. The key was to not be too -- well, not be disappointed with that round. It's a great first round of the year, and to come out today with a whole new mindset -- you're going to play this course, and sometimes if you hit a lot of fairways you can shoot 6-under for nine holes, but other times you're going to have to battle. You're going to miss a few fairways and you're going to have to make a few good up-and-downs for pars. That's what I'm trying to do, trying to hit as many fairways as I can, and when you don't, keep the scoring going with good saves.

Q. This looked like stress-free golf, and that actually gives you a bit more than even this other score, doesn't it?
LEE WESTWOOD: Yeah, I really only needed to get up-and-down twice today, I think, on the 14th and -- actually that was about it, really. Oh, the second hole I hit it in the sand left and made a bit of a mess of that, but other than that, it was all pretty solid stuff, and I wasn't very far from the flag even when I was just off the edge of the green. Yeah, it was pretty stress free and pretty similar to yesterday really with the exception of three-putting and not quite making as many putts. It was good quality stuff.

Q. And is it fair to say as a final thought, that's a byproduct of what seems like a much more fresher mental approach these days?
LEE WESTWOOD: Yeah, I'm not really worrying too much about it and almost not bothered with the outcome. I'm just working on little things in my swing that I know make me play well, and I've been doing some good work on the greens with Phil, and I'm seeing the ball start on the greens on the lines that I pick a lot more often. So I'm grazing the holes. I'm a good reader of greens, especially grainy greens. I guess that's why I've done so well in Asia and the Middle East. I'm starting it on the line I've picked with a good roll, coming off the middle of the putter. You can't control whether it goes in or not, but you can control whether or not you make a good stroke.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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