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DUBAI WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP PRESENTED BY DP WORLDNovember 26, 2010Lee WestwoodDUBAI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES Second Round 67. 8-Under. 136 MICHAEL GIBBONS: Lee, welcome. LEE WESTWOOD: Thank you. MICHAEL GIBBONS: Another good day for you. LEE WESTWOOD: Yeah, played quite nicely. Made a couple of mistakes out there, probably through not having played a lot recently and being a little bit rusty. A bit of an error at 5 with a wedge and then chipped it to a couple of feet, a foot and a half, and missed it. And then made a pig's ear of the 14th after hitting a couple of nice shots. Got a bit unlucky with the second shot. I was aiming for the trap and it landed on the edge of the trap about a foot from it and broke right. And if it had gone in the bunker, it would have been an easy shot straight down the slope. Other than that played pretty nicely. Kept losing my driver to the left, so I'm going to go to the range afterwards. I think the head is about to go. I brought a spare and I hit that pretty well, as well, so I'm going to do a bit of testing on the range. MICHAEL GIBBONS: Not too concerned at the minute about that. LEE WESTWOOD: A little bit concerned because I drove it so well today. And today, it just kept -- it went shorter and kept diving left on me. You know, if you hit them hard, they tend not to last too long. MICHAEL GIBBONS: Shaping up for a good weekend, isn't it. Good leaderboard. LEE WESTWOOD: Yeah, it's a good leaderboard. The players you want at the top of the leaderboard are there. So it will be an exciting weekend. Q. Ian was saying that he thought your driver was faulty because he digged you on a few holes, despite you promising to be 30 yards past him. LEE WESTWOOD: Yeah, he knows the truth. Q. Is that the only reason or is he hitting it longer with that white stick? LEE WESTWOOD: Ian's worked hard on his game over the last few years and he's turned into a really good player. He's put a little bit of length on. But I got a couple out there past him today. Q. You seem to enjoy the banter with the Twitter and all that. You seem to be enjoying yourself. LEE WESTWOOD: Yeah, we have a great time in each other's company. He's easy to get along with, and he's talking now -- it's strange how we got paired together, and his Arsenal and my Forest are linking up. We've got Aaron Ramsey on loan now -- we're just a feeder club for Arsenal now, aren't we, getting their reserves back to full fitness. So we had plenty to talk about out there. Q. Looks like Martin has probably wrapped up The Race to Dubai. Can you just say a few words about -- LEE WESTWOOD: What's Graeme on? Q. 1-over. LEE WESTWOOD: 1-over? Q. Can you say a few words about how impressive he is and maybe a little bit about the tussle for world No. 1 which might come about this weekend? LEE WESTWOOD: Well, he's obviously a very strong player. You know, I've played with him in The Ryder Cup, and that wasn't one of his best performances and he still hits the ball pretty well. I've watched him a bit on TV while I've been injured. I watched him in Holland and I watched him win the PGA, and the thing that impressed me most, really, is his mental strength. He seems to have that steely German Langer/Schumacher/Vettel look about him I suppose, if you're thinking of the German sportsmen. They all have that sort of look that nothing fazes them. So I think he's got a fairly healthy future in front of him as long as he stays off go-karts. (Laughter). Q. And the No. 1 tussle? LEE WESTWOOD: Well, it is what it is. It's close. Whoever plays well will go to world No. 1 or stay at world No. 1. It's not really something you pay much attention to. I'm a bit old at it now; I've been at it a month. It's obviously something I'd like to hold on to. (Laughter) But I'm not going to hold onto it forever and if I don't play well and somebody else plays better, then they will deserve to be world No. 1. The tournament is close this week and I suppose that's what everybody wants to see. They want to see that challenge, don't they. But I think the main thing that all of us up there are focusing on this week is trying to win the Dubai World Championship and let everything else fall where it may. You know, I've got people playing next week for a lot of points again, so it could change again. So I think it's interesting that it's so volatile at the moment. Q. Anything a tiny bit different that you experience or hear from fans as being the No. 1 player? LEE WESTWOOD: It's strange really. I don't want to say there's more respect, because I've always felt like I had a lot of respect from all of the galleries and I've all tried to give a lot back. But I suppose you get a lot more recognition, and you get people that don't play golf come up to you that know who you are. So I suppose I'm more recognisable now, I guess. It's strange to really quantify it and put it into words really. It gives you a good feeling, obviously. (Smiling). Q. Are you like the rest of us who look at the leaderboard and go, "That is a sensational leaderboard." And looking at today's, would you say that's maybe one of the best leaderboards you've ever seen at a European Tour event, five Ryder Cup players, Paul Casey, Robert Karlsson, Noh from Korea. LEE WESTWOOD: It's a fantastic leaderboard. There's really only Graeme missing from all of the stories going on this week. You've got the leader of the Money List up there. You've got the world No. 1 up there. Ross Fisher has had a great year. Poults has had a great year. Fantastic leaderboard from England from our point of view. And the young lad, like you said, Noh is up there, so some Asian interest. And Francesco is playing well again and he's close-up behind me. Q. Best of the year then in terms of depth and quality? LEE WESTWOOD: Yeah, I mean, you look at it in a different way to what I would look at it. So it is a really good -- if you were a sponsor of this event you would look at the leaderboard and you would seem to be rubbing your hands together, wouldn't you. Q. What's the difference then between the way you look at it and the way we look at it? LEE WESTWOOD: Well, it looks really good to me if Westwood is at the top. (Laughter) Maybe you don't quite see it that way. (Laughter). That's the way I look at it, sorry. It's fairly black and white up there. Westwood, great. Somebody else, not so good. (Laughter). Q. Ian was saying that he thought his white driver had relaxing qualities and helped him to hit -- LEE WESTWOOD: (Eyes widening). Really? Cobra must play pay him a lot. Does he have his feng shui -- and I bet he has all of his furniture at home pointed in the right direction, too, doesn't he. Q. Can you see any possible -- would the colour -- LEE WESTWOOD: Is this a serious question? (Laughing). Are you taking the Mickey? Did his white driver make me feel comfortable out there? Oh, sorry. (Laughter). Q. Would you comment on the qualities that might attach to having a white driver. LEE WESTWOOD: (Laughing). Well, you could probably see it better at the bottom of the lake if you have a bad day. John Daly should use one, shouldn't he, with his history of flowing drivers in lakes and oceans. You look like you're about to do karaoke together. Q. Another Twitter thing is a bit of fun but is there a beneficial side to it when you have a bit of plenty of banter with Poulter and you're playing with him? LEE WESTWOOD: Yeah, I think so, especially in something like golf where you can be perceived as a bit robotic, because that's the best way to become a good golfer, to go through the same motions all the time and you look like you could be a bit of a machine and you're just there as a golfer and people don't really know the person and what's behind the eyes and what's going through people's heads and how you get on and interact with the other players. I think that's the great thing about Twitter. People learn more about the individual. Q. You said you're a bit rusty up there. LEE WESTWOOD: Yeah. Q. Are you surprised that you're only one behind in such a stellar leaderboard? LEE WESTWOOD: Not really, no. I've still played very well. That's why I'm up there. But the mistakes I've made, I've shown definite signs of rustiness, sloppy at 14. Really sloppy. Having said that, done exactly the same thing at the same place. Maybe that's a good omen. Q. And has it got anything to do with how much you like this course and how much it suits you and the memories? LEE WESTWOOD: I think so. It's one of those golf courses where I turned up the first time and saw a good way of getting around it. Most tee shots fit my eye. Shots that people other, or holes that other people mention that they struggle with don't really seem to worry me too much. I like the length of the golf course. It obviously plays into longer hitter's hands I think. And the greens, although they are a little bit more grainy this year and a bit tricky to read, I seem to cope fairly well with the greens. So yeah, it's a golf course I enjoy playing. Q. Just back to No. 1. Mathematically, it's unlikely that Kaymer would pass you, but what does it mean for you to end the year No. 1? What's the significance of that for you? LEE WESTWOOD: I would obviously like to stay No. 1 ending the year at No. 1; I would like to stay No. 1 as long as possible by playing well week-in, week-out. That just happens. It's definitely mathematically possible that Martin could go past me this week. If I don't play well over the weekend and if he plays good; if he wins the tournament and I don't finish high. Anything is possible this week. I think that's why you're looking at the leaderboard and seeing a good leaderboard, because like the World Rankings, it's volatile and there's lots of different things, permutations can happen. Q. I think I am right in saying you've never moved more than three miles away from where you were born? Can you put into words at traction of staying so close to home? LEE WESTWOOD: You've been to Worksop. You know exactly why I stay there. (Laughter). Because I like it there. My friends and family are all there. I'm very fortunate that it's pretty close to most airports. I've got a nice house there that I do all of my practise at. But mainly because when I go back there, I feel relaxed and everybody treats me like one of the lads. Q. Have you ever given any serious thought to moving anywhere else? LEE WESTWOOD: Oh, not really, no. I see other people living in other parts of the world and I don't want to -- I want the options. I don't want to have to stay out of England for taxes. I want to be able to live where I want when I want. Q. Was your emergence on Twitter a deliberate attempt to show the humorous side of the world No. 1, or was it too much time on your hands recently? LEE WESTWOOD: Definitely haven't got too much time on my hands since becoming world No. 1. Life's got a lot busier but it's a good way of interacting with people a little bit more and them getting to know me I suppose a little bit more. You know me, I've always had a pretty good sense of humour but it's an impossible place really to show it on the golf course. It's the world we live in now as well. People want to know more about you. Q. And was Poults a good first target to go for? LEE WESTWOOD: An easy target to go for. (Laughter) But he's got all of these followers, so he must keep his Tweets interesting. To I read his and have a look and see how he does it, and try it take as much Mickey out of him as possible. Although I'm going to have be gentle tonight because he did beat me by a shot today. Q. An awful lot has been made about the strength of European Tour golf and the strength of European golf but it's shaping up as a good day for English golf. As you said earlier, looking at that leaderboard, there's an awful lot of English golfers up at the top there, so just wonder your views on that really? LEE WESTWOOD: I think we have carried on over the first two days as we have been playing for two or three years. The strength of English golf is incredible when you look at the press the rest of sports in Britain get. They get mountains and mountains of type and pages and you tell me if they are performing as well as the golfers are. I don't think so. I don't think you'll find another sport in the country that's got as many world-class performers as England does at golf. Q. Poults is known for his fashion sense -- LEE WESTWOOD: Well, that's a matter of opinion. (Laughter). Q. He dressed rather conservatively today and you've worn a rather dashing orange number. Were you trying to upstage him? LEE WESTWOOD: Well, he threatened to wear a kilt, which would have been a real bad idea with his legs. And he generally dresses quite garishly, so I thought I would join in with an orange shirt. And then he double-sixed me by coming out in black and white and looking more like a penguin than a peacock, as I said in my Twitter if you were reading it early on. Maybe he should dress down a bit more often, because he played great in his black and white. Q. You mentioned just a minute ago how life got busier since getting to No. 1. Have you felt a sense or a need to just behave differently? Do you feel a responsibility as golf's spokesman, and what are the pros and cons already of being the No. 1? LEE WESTWOOD: The pros are if you go to the reception at Atlantis and ask for a table in Nobu and they say not until 10.30, but then you walk downstairs and actually ask yourself, you get one-half an hour later. That's a pro. I do feel a responsibility, yeah. I try and -- I'd like to think I behaved properly before, but now I sort of think even more about more things and a bit more -- try and be a bit more attentive to what everybody wants. But it's difficult. I'm going to have to learn to say no a lot more. You know, everybody wants a bit of your time. And not necessarily asking questions about golf; they ask your opinion on a lot more different things now. Why, I don't know, for what reason. So I'm going to have to be very careful with time management, because I want to still be able to commit most of my time to what has got me to world No. 1. Q. Can we get a prediction for the big derby on Monday? LEE WESTWOOD: I predict sad Leicester fans on Tuesday, next Tuesday, including Ross, sat over there. No, I don't know where you are in the League -- where are you in the League? Somewhere near the bottom? And this time last year, I think it was 5-1 to us, so I hope you have a good weekend because it's only going downhill on Monday. MICHAEL GIBBONS: You'll be glad you came in, Ross. Lee, thanks very much for joining us. End of FastScripts |
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