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BARCLAYS SCOTTISH OPEN

July 12, 2007

Lee Westwood

LUSS, SCOTLAND

GORDON SIMPSON: Well, Lee, fourth man in at 65, 6-under and I'd imagine another three of these would do you quite nicely.
LEE WESTWOOD: Yeah, they certainly would. I played very solidly today. Got off to a good start, hit it to about ten feet on the first and rolled that one in. Lovely 4-iron on the next to 12 feet and made that. Then played a nasty bunker shot out to about ten feet and missed it. On the next hit a great putt there on 6, hit a great putt there and then made two birdies. Good save at 8 out of the trap. I had a plug lie. Just missed on 9. Just missed on 10, left it short. Short little putt on 11. Putt on 12 that was maybe the most important putt of the day, seven feet for par to keep my momentum going. Two good shots on the next. I had a chronically slow putt up the green there, left it ten feet short and made it for birdie.
Played the next few holes well. 16, hit a great drive, in between clubs, eight feet short and made it up the hill, which was a bonus. Good save on 17 out of the trap. Hit a shot to about six inches and driver 9-iron on the last and pushed it a bit. Rolled it down and tapped it in.
GORDON SIMPSON: You seem fairly happy with life at the moment.
LEE WESTWOOD: Yeah, I've been playing well recently, putting well, getting into position without putting well -- it's imperative that you make putts and I just haven't been making putts, only at Andalucía when I won. It was important that I got my putting sorted out. I went to see a guy down in Birmingham that Harrington and David Howell had worked with on Thursday last week, Paul Hurrian, and he gave me a few tips. Using a slow motion camera, he looked what was going on and fairly obvious I wasn't going to make anything the way I was putting.
I'm now starting the ball on-line a bit more as I'd like and getting the pace back at the moment.
GORDON SIMPSON: The guy has a putting laboratory, doesn't he.
LEE WESTWOOD: Yeah, lots of cameras. It's been very informative for me.

Q. You seem to have embraced technology recently?
LEE WESTWOOD: I've embraced the technology.

Q. Inaudible
LEE WESTWOOD: Yeah, he's here this week. You've got to break it all down, haven't you. It's a very fine line between winning and losing with this game, and so you've got to cover all the bases. It's a term we regularly use, isn't it, 'cover all the bases.'
I was shocked how bad it was. I could see immediately why I wasn't making anything. A lot of the tips he was giving me were tips like how I putted in 2000, '98 and '99; my hands high, keep the ball on my left side. He gave me a few other small tips for pace and putts and a few drills I've been working on and it's really helped.

Q. Where is he located?
LEE WESTWOOD: In Birmingham.

Q. Are you enjoying playing golf more at the moment?
LEE WESTWOOD: I always enjoy playing golf. I enjoy playing it a lot more with the two Thomases. Couldn't forget Ernie, today -- see him hit good shots.

Q. How have conditions changed since '98?
LEE WESTWOOD: It's a lot drier. The greens I think were a lot purer back in '98 because obviously they had just been laid down. Over the years, native grasses blow in and grow in and there's a few different grasses in there now which can make it awkward at times. There's a couple of new tees, one on 14, the new back tee which I don't really like but that's about it really.

Q. Were you shocked when you saw your putting stroke?
LEE WESTWOOD: No, it's just been, you know, abysmal pretty much all year. Walking off and talking to people and saying I left so many shots out there. I made a few at Andalucía, but I hit it very close a lot of times and won that. Then went back to putting poorly again in Ireland. Played well and 1-under and six behind and left so many shots out there. Then played the next 12 holes and missed everything and frustration just got to me and I just lost it on last six holes and came off after that and decided to take last week off. I was going to play, and get it started out, get it right.

Q. What is the facility like?
LEE WESTWOOD: Full of rabbits. (Laughter) It's just a hard floor, like a putting green surface, carpet, cameras all over the room and mirrors. A bit kinky, really, when you say it like that. I didn't get very good roll on the silk sheets.

Q. How long were you there?
LEE WESTWOOD: I was there for about four hours which is longer than I've putted for as long as I can remember, I can't remember how long it's been since I've putted for four hours.
I enjoyed it, it was very informative. I took my dad there and he learned a few things, so he can give me a few things to give me a jab about, about eight things to think about when I practise, it was good.

Q. Fancy your chances?
LEE WESTWOOD: Well, depends on the next three days I suppose. The first day started well. If I can keep putting like this, you know, I won't be too deterred if I don't win. But I'd like to win going into The Open Championship. It's obviously a massive confidence booster. I have played well at Carnoustie. It is in the top three of links courses that I enjoy playing, along with Birkdale and probably, it's a tie really between Lytham and Muirfield.
But I think Carnoustie is probably my favourite out of the lot.

Q. Have you been up to Carnoustie yet?
LEE WESTWOOD: Yeah, I was going to go up on Monday but I decided not to. I've played it enough. Sometimes if you go and play a practise round, it gives you too long to think about it and I want to concentrate on this week and doing well here.
But I'll go play nine holes Monday, 18 Tuesday and probably nine Wednesday so I'm fresh when it starts.
GORDON SIMPSON: Lee, well done again. Thank you very much.

End of FastScripts

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