Veteran Lee the grand Master
HE NETS AUGUSTA INVITE AS CONSOLATION PRIZE
THE OLD man turned back the clock and then allowed himself a little look to the future. Clearly Lee Westwood is not ready to disappear into the long grass just yet.
At 46, it would have been a safe assumption that his days as a threat were done, but how heartening to see what he pulled out of his bag in Portrush, both in terms of his fourth-placed finish and what it unlocked.
Namely, a place in the Masters. A seat at the table for the elite of golf. He hasn’t had one for the past two years, just as he hadn’t qualified five of the previous seven majors anywhere.
For a man who spent two decades at the sharp end of his sport, being on the outside and looking in has perhaps been the biggest ache of the ageing process.
And that is why he was craning his neck to see a television in the moments after his final-round 73. Curiosity, excitement and also a bit of fear. His six-under-par total, blown down from eight-under after three rounds because of the Sunday storms, initially had him in fifth.
To qualify for the Augusta Masters next year, he needed to be fourth or better, so as he spoke to the press, he was also watching a screen to see if Brooks Koepka would drop a shot in the final two holes.
‘I never wish anybody ill but it would be nice to play Augusta again — I’ve missed it,’ Westwood said. Then the footage switched to Shane Lowry, leaving Westwood in the dark.
What he didn’t see was his girlfriend and caddie for the week, Helen Storey, gesturing through a window that Koepka had fallen from seven-under to six-under, meaning Westwood finished in a tie for fourth.
Even if he hadn’t made it, what a stunning performance from a player who started the week ranked 78th in the world. His Hi 68-67-70 run through 54 holes was impressive, his battle to card a 73 yesterday in hideous weather equally so. At one stage, in the calmer l conditions diti of f his hi front f t nine, i he reached 10 under and might even have gone lower but for two short putts that he missed at the first hole and the seventh.
The back nine brought the storm and dragged Westwood to six under, including a run of three straight bogeys from the 11th.
‘There were some of the toughest conditions I’ve played in an Open Championship,’ Westwood said.
In hanging on to his score through the final two holes, Westwood cemented a placing that proved he can still be among the best on his day. ‘I was starting to moan and groan a little bit coming down the stretch — the legs started to ache a bit,’ he said. ‘But I’m still pretty fit and don’t feel 46.
‘The week was brilliant. I played great. I played two major championships this year. I missed the cut at the PGA Championship, where the course didn’t really suit me, but I always feel like I can perform at the Open. You don’t have to be a bomber, which I’m probably not any more.
‘You’ve just got to have cunning and guile and know how to get your ball around.’
Like everything else for Westwood these days, it’s about adaptation. ‘I’m looking forward to the rest of the year and see what next year has in store,’ he said. ‘I’ve
hardly played this year. I think I’ve played about 11 events. Most people have played about 25 at this stage. You can’t play 30 events when you get to 46. The body won’t let you. You’ve got other priorities. But you can play 20, 22 quality ones and get ready for them. I don’t feel like my game is dropping off. I feel like I’m still capable of winning tournaments.’
Westwood’s playing partner, yesterday, Danny Willett, was no less buoyed.
He closed with a 73 to finish sixth, which, coupled with his tie for 12th at the US Open, would indicate he has turned a corner after the struggles that followed his 2016 Masters triumph.
Rejuvenated careers all over the place.