Westwood eyes Race to Dubai as he aims to continue his solid form in Italian Open
Lee Westwood is out to recapture his consistent form at this week's Italian Open.
Abu Dhabi HSB C Championship winner West wood is in four th spot in the R ace to Dubai following four top -20 finishes in his last five starts.
The 47-year-old from Worksop will partner fellow former world No 1 Martin Kaymer and Italy's Renato Paratore in the opening round.
Westwood said :" I like the course. It's long, there's not a lot of run out there at the moment.
"It's 7,400 yards, there's a little bit of water in play on some holes as well, so there's some challenging shots and some tricky holes.
"I haven't really made any goals, just to keep playing well, really, and maybe have a chance in the last event of the year to win the Race to Dubai.
"Obviously I did win at the start of the year in Abu Dhabi and it would be nice to win another tournament before the end of the year, before the year's out."
Kaymer is still searching for a first victory since his 2014 US Open triumph, but insists he is not far away from ending his drought.
Rounds of 68, 69 and 68 saw the German claw his way into the top 10 at the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth last week.
The 35-year- old said: "I'm very close right now-but in order to win you always need that little bit extra compared to the other competitors. Even at Went wor th I was playing good. I played three rounds of very solid golf - the first round was not so good - so I could creep into the top 10. That was still a positive looking back on the week. This is a new week now, a new golf course and slightly different field than we played in Scotland and in England.
"I feel good about the game, it's just a matter of putting everything together and hopefully that will be one shot better than the second."
Meanwhile, Tiger Woods believe she has ironed out some of the kinks that affected his game at the US Open as he builds towards his defence of the Masters on one of his happiest hunting grounds.
This year's Zozo Championship has been relocated from its home in Japan to S herwood Country Club in California- the venue at which Woods hosted his own Hero Challenge for over a decade.
In that time he claimed five victories and five second-placed finishes. Having also won the title last year - a record- equalling 82nd PGA tour crown to take him level with Sam Snead-Woods is very much the man to beat this week.
That is an elevated status for a man whose best finish in four outings since the sport returned from its coronavirus shutdown is a tie for 37th .
Woods, though, insists his form is tracking in the right direction ." My game' s de finitely better than it was at the US Open. I feel a little bit more prepared, a little bit better, and hopefully that translates into playing the golf course," he said.
"The fact that the Masters will be held in November, it's unprecedented, never been done before. I can't simulate the normal ramp-up that I normally have, and I don' t think anyone else can either."