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BMW INTERNATIONAL OPEN

August 31, 2006

Lee Westwood

MUNICH, GERMANY

SCOTT CROCKETT: Thanks for coming in and joining us as always. A good round today and even better considering the way you're feeling. Let's start with that. You're obviously not in tip top health.

LEE WESTWOOD: No, I don't feel too good.

SCOTT CROCKETT: What is wrong, just tell us what's wrong and how you're feeling at the moment.

LEE WESTWOOD: Well, tonsillitis close is as I've ever come to a diagnosis, I'm not sure. I think I've got the same thing as Freddie last week. Last week I was in the room right next door to him, I don't know whether it's via the air conditioning unit or what, and he had to go into the hospital. I don't know, I've got a very high temperature and feel, well, feeling achy all over and generally feeling rotten my head.

SCOTT CROCKETT: Is it just rest that you need?

LEE WESTWOOD: Yeah, I should probably be in bed. If it wasn't the last Ryder Cup qualifying, I would most certainly be in bed in England. Talked to Woosie on Tuesday afternoon and told him how I felt. He said: "Well, you know, if you feel that ill, you shouldn't come, but if you were to come, you know, I'd be pleased that you did play." Hopefully he's watching.

Q. They say Ryder Cup is about mental strength, do you think that's a quality you showed out there today?

LEE WESTWOOD: I don't think the mental strength has ever been in doubt to be honest. You don't win 27 tournaments without being mentally strong. But you know, when you're out feeling ill and your head's spinning and you can't concentrate, mental strength is obviously a massive factor.

Q. Do you feel better today than yesterday?

LEE WESTWOOD: Marginally but very tired. Obviously not done anything for five days, not hitting balls, I hit balls for a couple of hours yesterday and that really tired me out last night. I felt worse last night than I had earlier on in the day and set me back a bit and was awake for four hours in the middle of the night with a fever.

And then this morning woke up about half past 9:00 and felt all right, a bit better, and just really got progressively more tired out there and more achy and you know, just shouldn't be playing golf really. But a good shot on 17, might work on these jelly legs.

Q. How many doctors have you now seen?

LEE WESTWOOD: Two.

Q. One in America?

LEE WESTWOOD: He didn't prescribe strong enough antibiotics in my mind.

Q. Given the circumstances, where does this figure into the round you're most proud of?

LEE WESTWOOD: I was very proud of the round today. I found it hard to drive the ball because I didn't have the leg strength. But you know, I was patient, bide my time, made a great eagle at 6, nice birdie at 11, a good par on 10, good up and down on 14, great shot into 17, 4 iron stone dead. Lovely shot into the last with a 5 iron.

My technique is improving all the time. It feels very good at the moment. So I think that in turn has, you know, got me through today, and my short game has been improving as well. So that helps when you're not feeling well, that you can get up and down. So all in all it was fairly successful I suppose. Good reason for coming I such suppose.

Q. Fred Couples has pulled out of the event next week in Singapore; you're doubtful as well, are you sure about that?

LEE WESTWOOD: We'll see. Hopefully the antibiotics are going to keep working and I'm going to play well tomorrow morning and have off tomorrow morning and good night's sleep Friday night and lie in Saturday morning and play well again and good night's sleep Saturday night. I don't have to fly until Monday evening. Hopefully I'll be better by then. But if I feel rotten, then I won't go.

Q. What helps when you're out there, is it simply just stay out to prove how

LEE WESTWOOD: Pretty much just prove why I was there, I'd take level par the way I felt to be honest. So 68 is a massive bonus.

Q. Have you spoken to Woosie since you arrived? Did he congratulate you on getting here?

LEE WESTWOOD: No, I didn't play in the Pro Am. I think he did play in the Pro Am so I didn't get a chance to speak to him yesterday. He was out this morning. I don't really need to speak to him to be honest.

He'll know that I'm here. I said to him son Tuesday, I suppose I'll try and come. I was going to fly early Wednesday morning and play in the Pro Am but you know, Wednesday morning, still feeling rotten, so I put the plane back to 10:30 and just hit a few balls yesterday afternoon and that was it. So.

Q. Do you have any concerns that they haven't got to the bottom of it?

LEE WESTWOOD: I think I was on too weak of antibiotics for four days. I've had a pretty hectic schedule all year, and been here, there and everywhere. Since coming down with it on Friday night, I've asked myself to play in 90 degrees Saturday, 95 degrees humidity, and I really felt bad Saturday and Sunday. And then to ask myself to get on a plane and travel 12 hours, 14 hours, seven hours that I'm on the plane, and then stand down for two days; and then ask myself to fly to Germany and hit balls and concentrate and try and play golf at the highest level to try to impress somebody to get in the Ryder Cup, which is all pressure, and it's draining.

So it's no wonder I've got it acting up a bit and saying, well, you know, anybody gets tonsillitis, you lay in bed or six or seven days.

Q. Do you feel you have to do this with your Ryder Cup record?

LEE WESTWOOD: If I had played better in the first part of the year, maybe not tried to play both tours and play full time in Europe, then maybe I wouldn't be needing a wildcard, or shouldn't be. My schedule has been very poor this year anyway. So it's not that's certainly not helped.

But some of the contributing factors, grandmother in March, that had been quite hard and obviously has been playing on my mind over the last few months or year really for me. You know, I've been to and fro from America which has not been easy. It's no wonder I'm sitting here when you analyse it.

Q. I gather you might think of changing your schedule for next year?

LEE WESTWOOD: Will I? Yeah, this sort of thing makes me think about it and makes me wonder why I bother playing both tours to be honest.

Q. Could you tell us a little bit about agreeing to be a guinea pig of this trial?

LEE WESTWOOD: I am monitoring the sweat that comes out. I'm monitoring the minerals and stuff like that comes out of my body when I'm playing so I can replace them more efficiently.

Q. Is this because you've been feeling fatigued?

LEE WESTWOOD: Yeah, because I've been getting tonsillitis twice a year basically, and getting run down very easily. You know, when you've got that kind of lifestyle, you do need to take supplements and vitamins. So this is a good way and about the most specific way of analysing it. And the thing on my bag was just GPS unit to track how far I walked and my power output for the day through swinging and practising and stuff like that.

Q. What does GPS stand for?

LEE WESTWOOD: Global positioning system, isn't it. I'm not giving anything during the round. It's just collecting information and you take it to a laptop and download it.

Q. You've got no sense from Woosie that you needed to do something this week, did you?

LEE WESTWOOD: I've heard nothing from Woosie. During the rain delay on Saturday of the Deutsche Bank, we sat and had lunch and didn't talk about Ryder Cup once. Other than that, I haven't spoke to him since probably the first time I played a practise round with him at Augusta. I wouldn't expect to. If I was captain, I'd just let people go on their way anyway.

SCOTT CROCKETT: Lee, good luck tomorrow. Hope you feel better.

End of FastScripts.

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