|
|||
|
|||
|
 |
|
|
ABU DHABI HSBC CHAMPIONSHIPJanuary 18, 2020Lee WestwoodAbu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates Q. You've equalled your best score with a 7-under 65. Give us your thoughts on that one? LEE WESTWOOD: I played well. I holed a couple of putts early on which gave me some momentum and then hit a brilliant shot into 8, the par 5, with a hybrid, 266 to about three feet. Then backed it up with a birdie at 9, so a bit of momentum, got on a roll. Had birdie chances on the back nine. A bit unlucky on 14, came out straight left, snagged the hosel, but solid finish. Birdied 16 which is not the easiest hole on the course and a nice birdie at the last. Q. You mentioned the eagle at 8. I was behind that green and it was a stunning second shot. Describe it. LEE WESTWOOD: You had a better view than me. Like I said, it's playing downwind today. The 8th is not normally reachable for me but I hit it over the corner and I had 266, 244 front and I carried that about 235 normally. I did hit it better and it just came out nice. Hit to middle of the green, faded toward the middle of the green and got a nice bounce and it must have been close. Q. How important was the par-saving putt on 11? LEE WESTWOOD: I'm working on a couple of things on my swing and if I don't quite get it right I get a bit of pull and I pulled the second shot into 11. Didn't play the best chip. Wasn't great. Could have got it close. Made a nice 15 footer. They are the kind of puts you need to hole. Feel a bit uncomfortable on the greens at the moment. I've gone to the claw or pencil grip. I'm hitting a lot of putts where I'm intending to. Pretty good at reading these greens and I'm starting on the lines I want. Q. How excited to have the opportunity to win for a 25th time on The European Tour? LEE WESTWOOD: Pretty excited. It's always a bonus to be in contention, and that's basically why we come out here. I'm not going to lie, I didn't play a lot of golf coming into it. Didn't what to expect. To be in the lead with one round to go, or could be tied for the lead when the other lads finish, it's a real positive. Q. 65 on moving day here in Abu Dhabi and you look like you're enjoying your golf out there? LEE WESTWOOD: It was fun. Playing well. Driving the ball well. Didn't miss many fairways. Hit a lot of good shots. Made some nice putts. It was a good day to shoot 65. Q. You had the longest running bogey-free streak going. LEE WESTWOOD: These things happen, just finished on the edge much the trap and the hosel snagged because I stood well below the ball and it always goes a bit further and ran into a tricky lie. It was good to get out of that hole with bogey. Q. Your putting stroke is looking confident at the moment. You go back to the claw every now and then. How did you make that decision? LEE WESTWOOD: I went back to that after the Dunhill. I went down to see Phil Kenyon and said we've got to make a distract change, and decided it was the claw. All the figures on the computer in his lab there, and yeah, that was the best strike that came out and the best roll I was getting on it. Just continued to persevere on that and it's gotten more comfortable on the greens as time's gone on. Q. No stranger to the winner's circle but a lot of guys there at 9-under until you broke the deadlock with the eagle. What kind of score do you think you need tomorrow? LEE WESTWOOD: One better than everybody else. I can't tell the future. I'm just going to go out there and play as well as I can, and if it's good enough, then great. I know I'm talented enough to win the tournament. It's just a case of applying myself. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
|
||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
About ASAP Sports •
FastScripts Archive •
Recent Interviews •
Captioning •
Upcoming Events •
Contact Us
FastScripts | Events Covered | Our Clients | Other Services | ASAP in the News | Site Map | Job Opportunities | Links |
|
ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297
|