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DP WORLD TOUR CHAMPIONSHIPNovember 22, 2012Nicolas ColsaertsLee WestwoodDUBAI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES Q. Nice to be out there with your Ryder Cup partneragain and watching him play. LEE WESTWOOD: Well, almost fell in love with him that day at Medinah and it was nice to be out with him again today. Q. What about you, playing with Lee at The Ryder Cup, and what about today? NICOLAS COLSAERTS: Well, he's a wonderful guy to play with and I quite enjoyed all of the games I've had with him. That's just another one that you can add to the list. Q. Much chat between you about that? LEE WESTWOOD: Yeah, quite a lot. He said he's watched the highlights DVD. It must all be him on the Saturday, or Friday, whatever it was. Yeah, we were chatting about other things, and obviously fed off each other, I started with a bogey and he started with a birdie and tried to catch him up and just managed to overtake him with a long one at 17. But it's the kind of course where I think both of us will be there or thereabouts at the end of the week. Q. How do you feel about your play today? NICOLAS COLSAERTS: I feel pretty good. Missed a few chances here and there but tee‑to‑green it was pretty solid. Keep hitting the same shots throughout the week and give yourself decent looks at birdies, you'll be all right. Q. The decision to part company with Billy must have been a difficult one, great caddie and also a great friend. LEE WESTWOOD: Yeah, very difficult. Obviously we are good friends, but this is a job and I had to make a professional decision. In terms of starting the year, I wanted a solid base to start from, and having the unpredictability of not knowing when Billy would be able to come back was not ideal for me, really. I made that decision and I worked with Mike for most of the second half of the year. I think he's a great caddie and I get on well with him, as well. So I had a chance to keep Mike, and I know he's had offers from other players, as well, so I wanted to secure his services. Q. That must be a very nice way to start this event. LEE WESTWOOD: Yeah, it is a good start. It's an interesting tournament, because you know, they redraw every day and you want to be sort of last off every day, or as near to as possible. 5‑under par is a good way to start, especially with starting with sort of a scratchy bogey at the first. Q. What were the keys to the round today? LEE WESTWOOD: Well, I played well. Gave myself a lot of chances. I missed maybe four putts I really should have holed. I hit the ball close a lot and if you hit the ball close, then you're going to miss a few and you're going to make a few. The greens are as grainy as they have been since we've been coming here. That just comes with them maturing and the grass finding its way on the greens I guess. They are quite tricky to read at times. But I did a good job pretty much all day and 5‑under is a good start. Q. Busy phase of the year for you, you like to play at this time of the year, and have a good record at this time of year. LEE WESTWOOD: Yeah, I do. I'm starting to get tired now, I can feel it. I've been doing a lot of gym work just recently. I had two weeks off the last two weeks and practised for about 2 1/2 hours in the two weeks. I needed that break. I did a lot of gym work and I'm concentrating mainly on preparing for next year now. Obviously these are three big tournaments I've got left this year, but my sights are set on Augusta and the Masters next year. Q. One other thing, obviously you had a tough decision to make recently in terms of your long‑term caddying arrangement. Can you sort of tell us the thinking behind that and the fact that Billy Foster won't be coming back? LEE WESTWOOD: Well, I just had to make a professional decision really, and I'm nearly 40 years of age now, and time I suppose is ticking away. I'm not really‑‑ I don't really have the luxury of being able to wait around for a caddie for however long it may be. Billy couldn't really give me a time when he could be back and I needed to have a solid base to start from the start of next year. It wouldn't have been ideal and it wouldn't have been fair of Mike if I had given him the job until Billy got fit because that's up in the air and it probably wouldn't have been fair on me with the unpredictability of it. Injuries are like that. It doesn't provide for the ideal situation and there's no real perfect solution to it but I think as far as I'm concerned, being selfish, I've come to the best solution and conclusion for me. Q. Was that a difficult phone call to make nonetheless? LEE WESTWOOD: Obviously very difficult. Billy was bound to be disappointed and we are good mates, we have sort of been in each other areas pockets for four years, five years, and had a lot of good times. It was a tricky telephone call and not one I wanted to make but I had to. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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