Westwood ready for tough Open test

Lee Westwood admits the rough is punishing but is determinded to stay out of it.

Lee Westwood believes the course at Royal Lytham is one of the toughest on the Open Championship rota but says he is up for the challenge.

The 39-year-old is hoping to break his duck at the Open and is 14/1 to finally win a major at the 58th attempt.

While Westwood missed the cut at last year’s Open due to the extreme conditions he has got a good record when competing for the Claret Jug, finishing 2nd, third and fourth in his 16 appearances.

The English competitor has a good record at major tournaments recently, recording seven top-three finishes in 16 competitions.

However, despite some great displays he still doesn’t have a major win to his name, something he hopes might change at Royal Lytham this week.

Westwood say Lytham is one of his favourite courses on the Open rota but admits the recent bad weather in England has made some of the holes tough going.

Tiger Woods has described some of the rough as “almost unplayable” and Westwood admits that aspect of the course is bound to make shooting a low score difficult.

I was going around yesterday (Monday) trying to figure out where the birdie opportunities are, and I’m still trying to figure that out.

Lee Westwood

“It’s going to be a tough test, as Lytham is. They changed a par-five (the sixth) to a par-four, so relative to under par you would think is going to be a bit higher,” said Westwood.

“People say it’s fairly flat and almost dull, but the more you play I think the more you enjoy it and I played a lot of Lytham Trophies and a couple of Opens here.

“I was going around yesterday (Monday) trying to figure out where the birdie opportunities are, and I’m still trying to figure that out.

“Rather than pick out the birdie opportunities, there’s going to be holes out there where par is going to be a good score. That’s the way to approach it.”

Westwood has been paired with Masters champion Bubba Watson and Yoshinori Fujimoto for the first two rounds at the Open.

Westwood is 4/5 to win the first round three balls, with Watson 7/4 and Fujimoto 5/1.

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