MASTERS TOURNAMENT

April 6, 2021

Lee Westwood

Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: We are joined by Lee Westwood this morning. You recently joked that players on the PGA TOUR have asked you when you're joining the Champions Tour; however, your game is in stellar form after winning The European Tour's Race to Dubai for the third time in 2020. You also recently recorded back-to-back runner-up finishes on the PGA Tour at the Arnold Palmer Invitational and THE PLAYERS. To what do you attribute all this recent success?

LEE WESTWOOD: I think it's the culmination of a lot of different things. I've obviously been working hard at my game, but I have a good team around me, Steve McGregor, we work on the physical fitness side of the game. Ben Davis, I work on the mental side of the game, which I have done for three years now, two, three years, and that's made a big difference. Liam James on the swing. Try not to forget anybody. There's a big team.

It's not just one thing that makes you play well. Golf's got so many different facets. Phil Kenyon on my putting, as well. I went to the pencil grip about two years now which has made a huge difference. When I get under pressure, I feel more comfortable under pressure. All that and playing well has bred confidence.

I maybe don't play as well as often anymore, but when I do play well, I tend to contend, and, you know, with the work I've done on the mental side of the game, I feel a lot more comfortable out there.

I heard Jordan Spieth say something last week about he feels comfortable under pressure again and he's enjoying being under pressure and he can cope with it. And that's how I feel when I do get into the heat of battle and close to the lead; I feel comfortable again. That's a big part of it too, I think.

THE MODERATOR: This week marks your 20th Masters, and you've performed well here at Augusta National. You had runner-up finishes in 2010 and 2016. What are your expectations this week, and what are your overall feelings about Augusta National?

LEE WESTWOOD: Well, I've always loved Augusta National. I saw that it's my 20th time here, and I still remember the first time I came here like it was yesterday, really. It's such a special place, traditions. And you feel fortunate to drive down Magnolia Lane, and it's always special.

The walk, I think the walk over the 11th down the hill seeing the 12th in the distance, it still sent chills yesterday when -- I came here with you three weeks ago, but even yesterday it sent chills down my spine just to see Amen Corner in the distance there. It's a very special place.

So what was the second part of the question?

THE MODERATOR: How do you feel about Augusta National and more generally, how did you prepare for this year's Masters?

LEE WESTWOOD: Well, we came early, didn't we, and played three weeks ago. Yesterday I had a practice round, and today I'll play nine and tomorrow even less. Like we said, I'm 48 in a few days' time, and the secret is to tone the practice and the training down as Thursday comes so I'm fresh. My legs probably won't take as much as a 20-year-old's legs will take, and this is a physically demanding golf course. I have to scale that back.

As for expectations, I don't really have any, but I don't really have any at any tournaments I turn up to anymore. I just put the preparation in, hit it off the first tee and try and find it and hit it on the green, and hopefully hit it on the green and have a birdie chance and make a few of those. After that, it's in the lap of the gods, really.

THE MODERATOR: Thanks, Lee, and best of luck this week. And with that, I'd like to open it up and see if you can field some questions, please.

Q. You've talked about Ben's impact repeatedly over the last couple months. What was the impetus for turning to him a couple years ago, and what's the biggest significance he's had for you?

LEE WESTWOOD: It's been going for a while. Ben works with Steve Peters, and I've worked with Steve Peters since about 2012 just working on skills to make me feel more comfortable under pressure. The older you get, the more mental scarring, I guess, there is there. And sort of you have good experiences, and you can have bad experiences. The good experiences you want to remember; the bad experiences you want to forget. They have both given me tools to combat that.

I haven't seen Ben for a while, but I speak to Ben and I speak to Steve whenever I want to. Just have a little top-up now and again, and it works well. We've been doing it on Zoom lately because of the pandemic. I did a lot of hard work kind of two years ago to 18 months ago, and we just keep kind of refreshing that.

I enjoy working with them both, which is good fun as well, and that helps. It always helps to be enjoying stuff that you do and work that you do. Always seems to have more of an effect. Yeah, the psychological part of the game is a massive part of the game now. It's probably the biggest part of the game.

Q. What is one of the tools he's taught you?

LEE WESTWOOD: I don't like to discuss it because it's a very private and personal part of the game.

Q. You alluded to seeing the 12th hole walking down 11. How would you describe what the 12th presents, and what has been your sort of method over the years there for playing it?

LEE WESTWOOD: There's a lot of things to take into considerations there because of the yardage. The front edge on the right, might be back edge on the left, and, you know, front edge on the left might be in the water 25 feet right of the hole.

So you've got to get the right club, obviously hit it the right distance, the right trajectory in there because the wind swirls around a lot down in that bottom corner. Sometimes the flag on the 11th is going the completely opposite direction to the flag on 12.

So I like to keep it out of the air as much as I can and play like a little knock-down shot. Very rarely do I -- if it's flat calm, I'll hit one in normally. But if there's any kind of breeze blowing, I try and play a little knock-down shot in there because I find that obviously short's not great, but I always feel like long is terrible.

And the only way you're going to get it long is by getting it up in the air and getting a gust carrying it. If you don't get it up in the air, then you don't get that -- you sort of take the long one out of play. Generally not aiming at a right-hand flag, I'll aim -- if it is over there, I'm aiming over the trap. I'll be aggressive to any other flags on there, but, yeah, I prefer to see like a little three-quarter knock-down shot in there and control the ball flight.

Q. Some players spoke yesterday about resisting the temptation to be too artistic here and learning to just play their game. Was that something as you played more Masters that you realized, to not try to do too much in shaping shots and just playing the game you have?

LEE WESTWOOD: I think it's a very strategic golf course, probably one of the most strategic, because a slight miss can really get you into a lot of trouble. I mean, even a good shot hit, say, five yards too far can get you into trouble or short can get you into trouble.

I think playing the golf course under tournament circumstances is very valuable, and you learn a lot when you play in previous Masters. That's why I think you get a lot of repeat winners around here, and the likes of Fred Couples and Bernhard Langer, people that played it over the years a lot can contend and can get themselves into position because you learn where not to hit it.

The golf course plays four different ways depending on the flag positions the four different days. So, you know, you can play, say, the third, depending on the pin position, four different ways if you want to. And there's very few golf courses where the pin position dictates where you hit the tee shot.

I think it is a very strategic golf course, and you have to have a good plan before you go out there. And then obviously depending on the conditions, you have to adapt that plan. If all of a sudden the greens get soft and a thunderstorm comes through, you can be more aggressive.

Say in November when we played, the golf course is nothing like it normally is. You could actually miss it in spots you were terrified about when you were making your plan, and you could be aggressive to certain flags. It wasn't, as everybody would sort of say, a true Masters.

This week it's back to how the golf course should play, fast and firm, and this is how it is at its toughest. You'll see, I think, people who have got a lot of experience around here coming to the top of the leaderboard again.

THE MODERATOR: We received a remote question. Jack Nicklaus became the oldest winner of the Masters with his son on the bag in 1986. How much of an inspiration is that for you with Sam, your son, on the bag this week?

LEE WESTWOOD: Even without that, Jack has always been an inspiration the way he played the game, especially his record around here. You can't help being inspired. There's a few similarities there with age. It would be great to break his record.

I saw Jack a few weeks ago at the Honda, and I still remember the first time I played this tournament in 1997. I played the final round with Jack, and I knew I was playing with him on the Sunday.

And I went out on the Saturday night and bought the picture, the iconic one where he's following the ball into the hole on 17 with his putter. And after we played on the Sunday, I had done enough to qualify for the following year, fortunately. I think we had to finish top 24 at that stage. And I said to Jack, "Would you mind signing this picture for me?" And I still have it to this day all framed up where he's put, "Lee, enjoyed our round, best wishes, Jack Nicklaus."

There's very few people you would do that with. He's a legend of the game and arguably the greatest player to ever play the game. His record in the major championships and especially Open Championship and here, you know, is second to none. I always enjoy speaking with Jack and picking his brains and just being in his company, really. To have a chance to break one of his records would be very special.

It's amazing that I'm old enough to have my son on the bag and still be competing in these tournaments, and having Sam here to enjoy the experience with me, I have to close his mouth every now and again when we're going around here; he loves it so much.

Q. Similar to that question, you came up I think after THE PLAYERS Championship to play a round with Sam. What's that been like, and what's that been like this week with him on the bag?

LEE WESTWOOD: It's very special. It's a special place, and to get to share it with Sam was amazing. I set him a target of 86 the first day. We were playing right from the backs, weren't we, and the course was just pretty the same as we played it yesterday in the practice rounds, firm and it was fast.

Although there was more wind when we came up. It was blowing 15 miles an hour, and I made him play right from the backs, as well. I think he shot 87 the first day, but he had had a practice round then and kind of got a feel for the place.

And I set him a target of 83 on the second morning, and it was cold. It was 45 degrees and windy, and the greens were fast, and he doubled 16 to go 10-over, and then he bogeyed 17 to go 11-over, and then he chipped in from short right on the last for a 3 to shoot 82.

So he took the $20 that morning, and he's never stopped talking about it since. He tells everybody about his chip-in.

Q. You're a month removed from it, but those back-to-back seconds, what did that do for you from a confidence and belief standpoint? Did it rekindle things in some ways?

LEE WESTWOOD: Yeah, very fresh in my mind still, and it just is validation, really, that I'm still good enough at my age to be out here and contending. Two very different golf courses. Bay Hill, very long, and TPC, or PLAYERS Championship, Sawgrass, more of a tactical golf course. You have to hit it in certain positions.

Playing with Bryson the last couple of days in both tournaments, he's one of the top -- probably one of the top 5 players in the world at the moment and on his form, and going kind of toe-to-toe, losing by a shot to; and losing by a shot to Justin Thomas the following week, and just the odd breaks here or there. Not birdieing 16 at Bay Hill. Not birdieing 16 and bogeying 17 at THE PLAYERS Championship and having a chance to win, really, and getting myself into contention is good. And shooting two pretty good final rounds, those kind of things give you confidence.

When you think about the finish at Bay Hill, 17 and 18, hit some great shots there, and a little bit unfortunate to finish in a divot on 18 at Bay Hill, but still wouldn't have been too aggressive to that back right flag, but made a nice putt to make Bryson hole his.

Then on 18, hit a good tee shot down there and obviously made a birdie to finish second on my own, holed it from 15 feet. Little things like that just top up the confidence bank all the time.

Q. The look on your face after you made the putt, you made a little exhale or whatever it was, seemed like you enjoyed the moment whether Bryson was going to make his putt or not. Is that an evolution that comes with age or something along those lines?

LEE WESTWOOD: Yeah, I love playing golf, and all the practice is to get into contention and, you know, do it properly when the heat is on. It was nice to hole that one down the green on 18, keep him honest and make him hole his. I didn't want to miss that and leave him two putts to win the tournament. Just to see if he could step up and make his, and he put a great stroke on it and wrapped it firmly in the bag.

So yeah, you can't -- it felt like it was Bryson winning the tournament rather than me losing it. I think moments like that when you go toe-to-toe and it's a good experience for you and a good experience for everybody watching is what the game is all about.

Q. You mentioned how much you missed fans when there were no fans, but how much has your resurgence been because of them, and even though there's a limited number here, they are not having the Par 3 Contest, and how much did that help you or was it a fun thing and would you just go there for the heck of it sometimes?

LEE WESTWOOD: Yeah, I think there's a lot more intensity certainly, and playing with Bryson in the final two rounds of those tournaments, there may be only a certain amount allowed in at the moment at tournaments, but it pretty much felt like they were all with our group in those final two rounds. So there's definitely more intensity for me, and the adrenaline flows more when the crowds are in.

I was saying to Danny when we were playing yesterday, it was good to hear cheers again. You can read what's going on around this golf course just from the cheers, whether it be a hole-in-one on 16 or somebody holing a birdie putt down on the 11th or 12, not so much on the 12th because no crowds kind of get near that green, but eagles on 13 and 15.

When you're at the top of the hill on 10, you know what's going on and you know somebody is doing good, and you just wait for a number to go up on the scoreboard.

I remember in 2010 having quite a big lead in the third round going down the 10th, and Phil went on a run where he made eagle at 13 and holed his second shot at 14 and I think he birdied 15, and I went from four or five in front to one behind.

But you know that something's going on, and you know when it's an Augusta favorite, like Phil or Tiger or Fred Couples or somebody like that or Seve or Jack, that it's one of them and there's going to be some action on the scoreboard. And it's like, no, you probably haven't got a four- or five-shot lead anymore, and you can tell that just from the sounds around the golf course.

Q. How much are you missing the Par 3 Tournament?

LEE WESTWOOD: Well, all the pros play in it. They all love the Par 3 Tournament. It almost feels like the start to the Masters. It's a shame not to be playing. And I understand why it can't be played. I'll hopefully be back here next year and I get a chance to play in it.

I think Sam misses it more. He wanted to have a go at that 9th hole with a wedge.

Q. Here more than any other place, we hear about guys seeking advice from players who have played before and sort of mentoring. When you first came here, is there anybody you sought out for advice, and what did they tell you? And are you now one of the guys younger players seek out for that kind of advice?

LEE WESTWOOD: I think that goes back to what I was saying about you learn more about the golf course when you play it competitively rather than having practice rounds. I picked a lot of people's brains.

Nick Price was very helpful for me when I came here the first time. I think I had a practice round with Seve and Ollie; most of the Europeans tended to because they were successful around here. Nick Faldo's brain you would pick, Bernhard Langer's.

And even last year, I'm always trying to learn. I had a few holes with Sandy Lyle, and we were talking about the different ways of playing. Yesterday with Woosie, I played nine holes with him, and he gives little nuggets of advice on where to hit shots and how to hit shots and how to place certain shots.

The game of golf, you're always -- you never know everything about the game of golf. You're always learning, and even more so around Augusta.

Q. Any one spot or anything they told you about a shot here that has stayed with you through the years?

LEE WESTWOOD: It very much, like I said, depends on the pin placements. One day you're all right missing it in a place to a certain flag, and then the next day you can't get it down in two. The variables around here, there's a lot of variables in golf anyway, but there are even more around this golf course, and they are magnified more because it's such a severe penalty for getting it in the wrong place.

Q. There are ten Englishmen in the field. Is there a strong sense of pride among you?

LEE WESTWOOD: I don't get that, no. We are all here as individuals. But I think en masse, yeah, we are probably the strongest contingent of Englishmen for quite some time, yeah.

Q. Does the course remind you at all of courses in England? We think of Augusta as an iconic American course, but is there anything about the design that reminds you of links in Britain?

LEE WESTWOOD: There's nowhere like Augusta. It's unique. It's what makes it great.

THE MODERATOR: Thank you very much, Lee, really appreciate it. Have a great week and have fun with Sam on the bag.