AT&T BYRON NELSON

May 14, 2021

Lee Westwood

TPC Craig Ranch

Quick Quotes

Q. Easy day. Turn in a 71. Not that the conditions were that much tougher, but how were you able go so low on Friday?

LEE WESTWOOD: I don't know. Just couldn't get any momentum yesterday. I don't know whether it was having three weeks off and, you know, it's always a bit tricky on when you come out and you see 9-unders on the board and 8-unders, although you shouldn't really pay attention to that. You should just play your own game.

But it puts a little bit of pressure on you. I didn't really get off to a very good start yesterday and didn't get any momentum going. Today I got off to a good start, got some momentum going, hitting is close, was 5-under through 6, and then the wind started to pick up. I was able to be 3-under for the last five holes.

So it was a good start and a good finish today, and I played solidly all day. I think 64 is as bad as it could have been.

Q. Could you tell in your warmup that you were going to play well today?

LEE WESTWOOD: I been working with Liam, my coach, on the drill and I've been putting the ball between my arms trying to get them tighter in the backswing. Yesterday felt a little bit awkward. Today I get the feeling a little bit more.

I'm just going to keep working on that. I'm striking the ball well, driving it well. Short game got me out the trouble when I hit a bad shot and I putted nicely, too.

Q. After your three weeks off, why was it important to play here at the AT&T Byron Nelson?

LEE WESTWOOD: Well, a lot of things went into the decision. I was coming over prior to this to see my daughter in Palm Beach Gardens and I wanted to watch a little bit of the Walker Cup. I've never been to Dallas. I've never played this tournament. I've never played at Colonial. So I thought maybe, you know, try a new experience still at the age of 48, and obviously right in the middle there is a PGA Championship and I didn't want to have three off or four weeks off and go into the PGA rusty.

So this is ideal, I don't want to call it prep for next week, but I prefer to go into a major championship being competitive the week before.