WE CAN’T PLAY THE RYDER CUP IN FRONT OF EMPTY STANDS
LEE WESTWOOD EXCLUSIVE
Lee West Wood thought he’d be playing in san Antonio last week near the site of the Battle of the Alamo, not at home in Newcastle doing a jigsaw re- enacting the Battle of Waterloo.
this week, he was due at the Masters for the first time in three editions, the latest episode of his remarkable renaissance. Alas, the only episodes he will be enjoying are of the box-set variety.
Few golfers had more cause for a feeling of emptiness, therefore, at the postponement of the season’s first major, and particularly given the englishman will celebrate his 47th birthday later this month. Westwood, typically, does not see things this way.
Indeed, the only trace of angst during a cheerful phone call came when conversation turned to his forthcoming nuptials to fiancee Helen storey in August at Adare Manor in Ireland.
‘Yeah, we’re both a bit nervous about that one,’ he conceded. ‘We were over there doing some food and wine-tasting just before everything was about to shut down, so we had to get out in a hurry. Now it’s up in the air, like everything else at the moment.’
As for the clubs, they’ve been replaced by cooking utensils, although Helen is keen to ensure Lee doesn’t go off on a flight of fancy. Asked for his cooking speciality, a chirpy voice can be heard in the background.
‘He’s very good at the washing and tidying up,’ said Helen.
It’s good to see Westwood back enjoying life. A painful divorce and an acrimonious split from his long- time manager Chubby Chandler left one of the nation’s most popular players at a low ebb for several years. Naturally, it all came out in his golf, as he plummeted in the rankings. With time against him, he looked done as a leading force.
‘It just built up over a period of time,’ he said. ‘When you’ve been doing something so long, you accept your ups and downs, but I was not competitive and I wasn’t enjoying it.
‘Mentally I was never in the right place, and always getting in my own way. It got to the point where I was dreading going out there because I wasn’t comfortable with my game or in my life. I knew that I had to approach it from a different angle, mentally.’
Meeting dr steve Peters — author of bestseller
— two years ago began the process of mental revitalisation that has been taken up by sports psychologist Ben davies.
‘Ben has given me clarity of thought, and a freedom to play that is very different from where I was a couple of years ago,’ explained Westwood.
‘He has told me a lot of truths and realities. the mistake I was making was getting caught up in things too much, making them bigger than they were.’
Finding happiness with Helen, a fitness consultant who occasionally acts as his caddie, has made an enormous difference, too, while there have been technical changes to accompany the mental.
Fellow european tour pro Robert Rock has Westwood swinging with the freedom of old, and top putting coach Phil Kenyon has restored his confidence on the greens courtesy of the claw grip.
two top 10 finishes in his last three events of 2019 were followed by a heart-warming win in Abu dhabi in January that demonstrated Westwood’s nerve had survived the fraught years.
earlier this month, his Augusta preparations began with a tied fourth finish at the Honda Classic. ‘the pleasing thing about my run of form is everybody else’s view of it,’ he said.
‘I don’t know if they see me in my late forties still competing and think it gives them hope, but the reaction of other players has been really nice.
‘It’s good to meet the young guys as well and watch them play, although we don’t have much in common. If I bring up music and mention bands from the 1980s, they start looking for their parents to find out what I’m on about.’
His form has raised the possibility of swapping his vice-captain’s role at the Ryder Cup in september for a player’s shirt, thus equalling sir Nick Faldo’s record of 11 appearances in europe colours.
Like his captain Padraig Harrington, Westwood hopes the match gets played. ‘I think a postponement has to be the worst- case scenario, with the proviso that if we do play it, we do so with fans,’ he said.
‘the Ryder Cup is all about the atmosphere. I’ve always said you could play it in a field, as long as the field is surrounded by 20,000 fans. You can’t hole the winning putt and turn to a grandstand with no fans.’
With that, it’s time to leave Westwood to his cooking and his puzzle. ‘It’s all very exciting, we’re very rock ’n’ roll here, you know,’ he says, drily. ‘this jigsaw is really testing us. We’ve been at it for four days and wondering whether we might have to jack it in.’
suddenly, a solution springs to mind. ‘I’ve imposed a weekday ban on alcohol, so perhaps if we wait until the weekend and the vision becomes hazy, everything will start to make sense.’