Lee uses his experience

Lee Westwood, above, the twotime Nedbank Golf Challenge champion, said yesterday that the conditions at Sun City for the second round were amongst the toughest he had ever seen on his 12 visits to the tournament.

Nevertheless, the Englishman showed his class and affinity for the course with a brilliant twounder-par 70 that lifted him into a tie for second place, two shots behind leader Victor Dubuisson.

“The wind was as strong as I’ve seen here and it was gusting and changing direction, it would pick up and then drop.

“So experience was everything around here, it counts for more around here than your regular tournament. If you miss the green then you’ve made a mistake in your course-management,” said Westwood.

The 44-year-old is experienced enough to avoid the sort of naïve aggression that has undone so many rookies on the Gary Player Country Club course.

“There were tricky flags today and the course is not playing easy. I drove the ball well in the fairways and then you can attack the greens.

“But there are a lot of pins you can’t go for, you’ve got to attack the right holes. The clover-leaf greens look big, but you’re playing to small portions of them,” the 2010 and 2011 champion explained.

Westwood, given his previous success around this course, is clearly a big threat to Dubuisson and whoever else has designs on the title, but if there is one area holding him back at the moment then it is his putting.

“It was a really good round, I played well besides the four threeputts I had, plus I missed a couple of putts from inside five feet.

“I’m looking good on the putting green but I’m struggling to take that on to the course. It shows the quality of my long game though that I was still under par and I’m pleased with my progress.

“The harder the conditions are, the better it is for me,” Westwood warned.

I played well besides the four three-putts I had, plus I missed a couple of putts from inside five feet. Lee Westwood Tied for second place at Nedbank Challenge