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WGC HSBC CHAMPIONSNovember 2, 2011Lee WestwoodSHANGHAI, CHINA MICHAEL GIBBONS: Lee, welcome back to the World Golf Championships - HSBC Champions. It's obviously a golf course and an event that you really enjoy. Give us your thoughts on the week ahead to start us off, please. LEE WESTWOOD: Thank you. I played nine holes Monday afternoon, and it was probably in the best condition of any golf course I've seen all year. So that was very impressive. Obviously every year the tournament gets bigger it seems and the course gets better. Every year we have come to China, the crowds get bigger and more knowledgeable, and golf's booming here. MICHAEL GIBBONS: Obviously looking to go one better than last year. LEE WESTWOOD: Yeah, became world No. 1 at this time last year and I played like world No. 1 in the tournament. Unfortunately Francesco played a little bit better. It was always a bit of a signal when you're nine shots to every third. But I was pleased with the way I played, and you know, it was one of those things. A bit unlucky on the last I thought last year with a 5-iron, just crawled to the top of that slope. If it had not, if it stopped a foot short, probably would have rolled back four or five feet and I would have had a realistic chance to tie. It was good. I enjoyed the four days. Enjoyed the last couple of days with Francesco. It was a good battle, and hopefully get stuck in there this year and sort of go through the similar thing, but go one better. Q. To compare with other WGC events, here in China, the Chinese recognise this as a full card player on the PGA TOUR. Do you think this is not fair to this event? LEE WESTWOOD: Sorry, I didn't understand that. Q. It's not a sanctioned event. LEE WESTWOOD: I'm not a member of the PGA TOUR, so it wouldn't be right for me to comment. It's sanctioned by The European Tour and on our Order of Merit. Q. You'll be making some comments on the PGA TOUR. So you're not going to make anymore comments or you're going to make for comments about these sanctioning matters? LEE WESTWOOD: Well, it's nothing to do with me and I can't do anything about it. The Tour that I play on, it's sanctioned by it. Q. Wonder if you can talk about what you learned during that seven-day adventure -- LEE WESTWOOD: Around China. Q. And what you see about the future of golf in the China. LEE WESTWOOD: Well, the country and the people are very keen on golf. The more we come and play here, the more familiar people Chinese people get with us as players and the game of golf itself. It was nice to travel around and to see the differences in culture and climate and just the differences in the places that we went around. We started in Shanghai and then went to Beijing, and also Zhengzhou, Dalian, Chongqing, and then ended up in Macou. So we covered pretty much every corner of the country. No, it was good. Three good lads to travel around with, as well. I think a lot of people got a lot out of it. Q. Did anything surprise you about the trip, or was there one lasting memory that sticks with you? LEE WESTWOOD: Surprised me the interest that everybody showed. We went to one golf course, and we played two holes there and I think 5,000 people turned up to watch it. So there's definitely an appetite for golf in this country. And I think it's a good time to push golf to the forefront of people's minds, with being included in the Olympics in 2016, I would say looking at the world economy, the Chinese economy seems to be stronger than most. It's a good time to make golf attractive for them to putt funds towards, and that will encourage grass roots golf in China, as well. Q. Some British golfers, including players from Northern Ireland play very well. So what's the secret behind the scenes? LEE WESTWOOD: I'm sorry, I couldn't hear because of the rain. I didn't get the second -- Q. Some British players, including players from Northern Ireland, they play very well. What's their secret? LEE WESTWOOD: I mean, British golf and European golf is very strong at the moment. You only have to look at tournament wins and World Rankings. Another reason for it, ten years ago or so, Nick Faldo was saying, where is the next good English golfer coming from, and just recently we have four or five in the Top-20 or 25 or something like that. So I think it's very cyclical, but certainly if one or two start doing well, it encourages and brings on the other players, say, Europe, if it's a German like Martin or Northern Ireland like Graeme. But I don't know the secret for it. It's not like we have put any programmes in place or anything like that in the various countries. Q. You mentioned the economy, the Western economy, especially in Europe is obviously pretty bad, or at least that's what everybody keeps talking about. There seems to be less golf tournaments happening in Europe on The European Tour, and there are some significant sponsors that are starting to pull out, specifically Barclays. Can you talk about your concerns, if you have any, about European golf in general in regards to tournaments, and do you think that is there anything that they can do in the short term and long term that you can think of that might be able to solidify at least some events in those countries. LEE WESTWOOD: They are difficult questions this morning (chuckling). Q. Could you speak up? I couldn't hear you. LEE WESTWOOD: (Chuckling) Everybody's economy is pretty bad at the moment. We don't seem to see any new tournaments coming on the calendar, no real new sponsors coming. So, you know, we have to give the sponsors that are currently involved and have been involved in golf over the last few years value for money to encourage them to stay involved in golf. I think the sponsors get a lot out of golf more than other sports. They can participate on a Wednesday and get close to the players. It goes around the world, obviously, the TV coverage. But it's no coincidence that we are playing more and more tournaments in Asia and China more specifically, because this seems to be the place that's doing well or better financially. You've only got to watch TV and the news to see how people are struggling in Europe and the states. So we haven't got to take things for granted and try and do our bit, I suppose. Alex, you have a follow-up question I think. Q. Is there a moment maybe they will have to start looking that if the term European Tour is a misnomer and they would need to change it? LEE WESTWOOD: No, I think everybody needs a title, don't they. But obviously over the last few years, The European Tour has travelled around the world. We have played pretty much everywhere, apart from North America. Not really my job to rename the Tour I don't think. I certainly don't get paid for it. It's predominately European players. I mean, there's probably a statistic that says it isn't, but the masthead changes all the time, doesn't it. But I quite like the name European Tour. It has a nice ring to it. (Laughing) it's only a name at the end of the day, isn't it. It's only a name. We could call it the Miceli Tour, couldn't we, or the Ferguson Tour. (Laughter). Q. You've been playing in China almost three weeks in a row. Can you make comments on your personal feeling about these three tournaments? LEE WESTWOOD: I've enjoyed the last three weeks in China. I've learned a lot more about the country and obviously got to know the people a little bit better. We have met some nice people. You can definitely see a change in the knowledge of the fans and the quality of the courses. You know, this week's, like I said, is as good as any I've seen all year condition-wise and it's a good test, as well. So, yeah, I enjoy coming here. I picked up a little bit of Chinese that's been helpful, as well, the language. So the more I come, the more I'll learn I guess. Would you like to hear it? (Speaking fluent-sounding Chinese). (Laughter) See, they knew. What did I say? Q. "No photography." LEE WESTWOOD: Yeah, "no cameras, please." (Laughter). Q. Ernie famously described the final three months of the season as "wheelbarrow time". LEE WESTWOOD: Yeah, I bet he regrets that one, doesn't he. Q. It seems to be truer than ever, with the type of headlines that were attracted last week. Do you have any sense of that golfers are exceptionally fortunate to be competing for these kind of checks at a time when the economy is suffering so much? LEE WESTWOOD: I think like I said earlier on, I think we are very lucky to be playing for the money that we are playing for, and we haven't got to take it for granted. I think last week, with it not being a sanctioned event, and there being three big events, the Andalucia Masters, the CIMB and the Shanghai Masters all on the same week, the Shanghai Masters had to get their foot in the door and do something to attract the top players to it. There's only a certain amount of highly world-ranked players, and you have to do something to get the players there. You know, we all do it for a living and money is a pretty good incentive. Q. Almost a follow-up to that, is there a sense now that there's no end of season and start of season; it's just a complete treadmill, that there's no natural break anymore? LEE WESTWOOD: Well, yeah, I suppose so. Yeah, I think everybody sort of sees Christmas as a natural break. But when you look at it in the -- if there were no Christmas, it would be three weeks off I guess, four weeks off, which is just like the three weeks off I'm about to have after this event. So yeah, I remember watching The European Tour, it was on ITV or something like that, and it sort of started in April time in Cannes, I believe, something like, that and finished October time. It's 12 months around now, but you know, when you're self-employed, you can take the time off as and when you like if you're lucky enough, and you play well enough to get to a certain status in World Ranking, you can play where you choose to a certain extent. Q. Just asking a lot of young golfers like AK and McIlroy and Noh Seung-yu, they are playing very well in the world stage. Do you think these guys will replace the world No. 1 in the near future? LEE WESTWOOD: Oh, there's no doubt about that. I think that it's a game where I guess age is not such a big issue. You know, you can obviously play well into your 40s. The young lads that come out now in their early 20s have obviously a hunger for it, and they seem they are almost professional before they come out. They have played tour events, they have travelled the world. So it's not such a big jump for them and shock really. So it's no surprise really to see them come out and play well immediately. You have the likes of Tom Lewis who won his third event on Tour in Portugal a few weeks back. Matteo that's won a couple of times already, and he's only sort of 18. And then you've got the old guys like Rory and AK, who played very well last week, and Noh, as well, who are top players. One of them will surely be world No. 1 one day and they are all going to win lots of Majors. But that's just the way it is in any sport. Golf is no different. It's just that I guess the old men can hang onto it a little bit longer in this sport than they can in football where age becomes a factor. Q. We see a lot of young golfers turn pro earlier, at a very, very young stage, like Noh Seung-yu turned pro at 15, and you'll see maybe in the future even younger golfers turn pro. Do you think it's a good thing or possibly a negative in your opinion? LEE WESTWOOD: I don't know. I think it's important to get a good education, whether you do that by turning professional at 15 is debatable. But certainly like I just said, the young lads play so many professional tournaments as amateurs before they turn professional now, and all these other amateur tournaments around the world, so they are actually travelling a lot. My first sort of tournament on Tour and abroad was the Madeira Island Open, which was my first event as a professional on The European Tour. It's very different now and they become more worldly-wise and more of a complete package when they come out. But, you know, I think 15 is a little bit young. If I had a 15-year-old son and he was a good golfer, I wouldn't be rushing to send him out on to the tour. He's still a kid. He should be enjoying golf and being a kid really. MICHAEL GIBBONS: Thank you. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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