U.S. OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP

June 14, 2008

Lee Westwood

RAND JERRIS: It's a pleasure to welcome Lee Westwood to the media center. Lee with a round of 1-under par 70. 2-under par for the championship. Your thoughts on being the leader in the clubhouse at the moment after 3 rounds.

LEE WESTWOOD: Oh, well very pleased. It's just the position I wanted to be in. Played very solidly the first three days, good today, and been thinking well out there. Thinking my way around the golf course as well.

RAND JERRIS: The wind was up a little bit today, was this the most difficult of the days and is this your best play so far?

LEE WESTWOOD: I think so. It was a little tricky out there with the wind blowing. It made some holes hard that weren't sort of difficult or weren't as hard the first two days.

But they were kind to us with some of the tee positions and flag positions. Moving the tees up on some of the holes like 12 and 4. So yeah, you got to plot your way around the course.

RAND JERRIS: Go quickly through the birdies and bogeys on your card.

LEE WESTWOOD: I 3-putted on 8 from about 12 feet for bogey. That was the only bogey I made all day.

Hit 3-wood, sand iron to about eight feet I guess on 10. Rolled that in.

Driver, 4-iron just short of the green, pitched up to a three feet on 13. So that was it.

Q. We haven't seen any really big celebrations from you, Lee, or any of the sort of getting down on yourself either, what's controlling your game, have you been working hard to control your emotions?

LEE WESTWOOD: Yeah, I just been very calm and just, I didn't really have too many expectations coming in here. Just to try and myself into contention and give myself a chance to win the U.S. Open. So I've got to achieve that. So I'm doing exactly what I wanted to do, so I'm pleased.

Q. Sorry, but you're not the clubhouse leader any more, but you are one of the few people in the world who does have the experience of coming back and beating Tiger Woods on a Sunday. It was a long time ago, but does that mean anything to you going into tomorrow?

LEE WESTWOOD: It's better to have done it than not done it.

(Laughter.)

So, yeah, it does mean something, yeah.

Q. Can you talk about that experience then?

LEE WESTWOOD: Well, we weren't playing together. I was playing in the group in front, I think. But like a few years ago as you said at the Deutsche Bank I think 2000 and I shot a 64 that day so hopefully I can do the same tomorrow.

Q. It's been well documented that it's been a long time since a European has won the U.S. Open. What would it mean to you to be the first European in 38 years to win this championship?

LEE WESTWOOD: Well the last European to win it was an Englishman I think and before I was born. So that would be great to follow in his foot steps. And it obviously the reason I practice every day is to get into this position and try and win Major Championships.

I've won pretty much everything else there is to win, I think 29 tournaments now, so I proved I can win golf tournaments. But players are always rated on how many Major championships they have won. So it's a good opportunity to try and win one of those.

Q. When you sunk to 200 in the world what gave you the belief that you would be back in a position like this one day?

LEE WESTWOOD: I stopped remembering being 200th in the world. Thanks for bringing it up.

(Laughter.)

Just the thrill it gives you winning golf tournaments. I wanted to get back to that feeling. And I'm not a quitter, so I worked hard to try and get back to where I am.

Q. I read some comments from you at the end of last year where you said that you realized that you had to take more ownership of your swing. What did you mean by that? Can you expand on that a little bit?

LEE WESTWOOD: Just relying on coaches too much. Trying to let them input feelings into my golf swing, whereas I ought to be going on the range and trying to figure it out myself and building up the feelings in my own mind. Because at the end of the day sitting in the middle of the 18 fairways with a 5-wood there's no coach telling you what to do. You have to rely on your own feelings and your golf swing. And that's what I've tried to do for the last year or so or more than a year.

Q. The putt on 18, did you see something there that wasn't there and the second part of the question is, the two big roars from Tiger's, from Tiger, were you affected at all by that, by those roars?

LEE WESTWOOD: Which roars?

(Laughter.)

I've been sitting here while one of them is going on. So that hasn't affected me, has it?

(Laughter.)

Q. Eagle on 13 and a chip in on 17.

LEE WESTWOOD: I didn't hear them, to be perfectly honest. And he finished with a chip in on 17 I think?

Q. But the putt on 18, what did you see there?

LEE WESTWOOD: Sorry?

Q. The putt on 18?

LEE WESTWOOD: Mine? I thought it was straight and it was very quick and I just had to dribble it down the hill and it moved a bit left-to-right. But it was a good putt and started exactly where I wanted to and felt like a good stroke, so I wasn't too unhappy with that.

Q. Lee, as well as being 200 something in the world you were fourth in the world?

LEE WESTWOOD: Thank you.

Q. When you were coming back did you look at the position and think I'm one of the guys who could be No. 2, even if Tiger is a class above, or vying for the No. 2 spot?

LEE WESTWOOD: Well, I would like to get, first and foremost, get back to where I was before. Number four in the world, you know. That would be a good place to get to. And anything on from there is obviously a big bonus. Not that I'm really thinking about that at this present time.