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Lee Westwood: Running on empty
Westwood stays in the hunt
Mark Garrod at The Belfry27/ 9/2008
In his own words Lee Westwood was “shattered” and “running on empty” today. But it did not ruin his hopes of making a successful defence of the Quinn Insurance British Masters at The Belfry.
After a fog delay of more than three hours - long enough to make him miss his daughter Poppy playing a scarecrow in a harvest festival - Westwood added a 70 to his opening 68 for a six-under-par total of 138.
With half the field in on “Pink Friday” - the players were helping to raise money for breast cancer charities - he led in the clubhouse by one from Scotland’s Marc Warren and Spaniard Alejandro Canizares.
Colin Montgomerie improved 12 strokes on his opening 81, but on six over was still looking at his seventh missed cut of the season.
Westwood will not know until tomorrow morning where his score leaves him at halfway as the hold-up at the start of the day prevented the second round being completed by the end of it.
One of only two members of last week’s beaten Ryder Cup team playing in the event - Graeme McDowell is the other and after a tired-looking 75 for three over he had to wait to discover whether he had made the cut - Westwood has a great opportunity to close in on Padraig Harrington at the top of the Order of Merit.
An Order of Merit that could have added spice to it next season when the likes of Phil Mickelson and Vijay Singh, the number two and three players in the world, could be involved.
Next year’s money-list race culminates in the Dubai World Championship, golf’s richest-ever event with a prize fund of $10m.
To be eligible for that, however, players have to become European Tour members and as things stand, have to compete in at least 11 events.
Practise
Family man Westwood, who has given up his US Tour membership, will welcome it if some of the game’s leading lights also alter their schedules to fit in more European-counting tournaments.
Told that the average tour player might be less pleased, he replied: “The average tour player will just have to practise harder.”
He pointed out there were benefits for the circuit because the world ranking points go up the more top players there are in the fields.
Westwood mixed two birdies with three bogeys in his first five holes, but a hat-trick of birdies at the start of the front nine shot him up the leaderboard.
“I would hope to play better tomorrow,” he said. “I made a big effort and my scrambling was good. I’ve worked hard on my short game and when I’m feeling a bit lethargic it can get me out of a bit of trouble.”
There were holes-in-one from England’s Phillip Archer at the seventh and Spaniard Alvaro Quiros on the 12th - nearest the pin there on Sunday earns a Jaguar but it was only champagne on offer today - but McDowell was unable to reproduce his form of last week in Louisville.
“I don’t know how to deal with this ’comedown’ feeling. Lee has learnt how to deal with things better than I have,” commented the Ulsterman.
“Physically I’m probably not all there, but mentally definitely - if last week was 11 out of 10 then I’m five out of 10 this week.”
Of the later starters striving to snatch top spot away from Westwood Dane Thomas Bjorn and Swede Michael Jonzon were going best.
Bjorn, returning from 10 weeks out with shoulder trouble, had three birdies in his first five and Jonzon four in the first eight to make it a three-way tie.
Darren Clarke needed a miracle to be around for the last 36 holes, though. He followed up his opening 80 with a six on the long third.
A new European Tour record was created when Jeev Milkha Singh made it three holes-in-one in the day.
Like Archer he aced the seventh and it took the Indian to five under and joint second as both Bjorn and Jonzon had slipped back to four under.
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