Relaxed: Lee Westwood says he will try his hardest not to care when he plays the PGA Championship Photo: ACTION IMAGES The insouciance of Tuesday's PGA press conference was a marked improvement on Westwood’s melancholic deliberations at Royal St George’s, where he missed the cut by a shot to prompt a radical review of his approach to the game.
“I’m a lot more light-hearted, relaxed,” Westwood said. “It’s difficult to put into words, really, other than to say I’m trying to play the tournament like I don’t care.”
The opposite is true, of course. Westwood has been brought to this paradox by Dr Bob Rotella, who has cornered the market in solving the problem of golfing neurosis. In Westwood’s case the affliction manifests itself on the greens.
Westwood had a session on the couch on Tuesday, working towards a future free of mental friction. His 65 at the final round of the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational on Sunday, suggests progress is being made.
To the naked eye there is no discernible difference to the putting stroke, save for a loosening of the grip and a slight adjustment in the positioning of his left hand. The shift is in attitude.
“You’ll see a routine that I’m comfortable with, but you’ll see me not trying,” he said, before apologising for reaching the limit of his vocabulary in the attempt to describe the process.
“There are no words in the English language to articulate not trying any better. Sorry. I’ve been trying to think of some but I can’t. Without swearing, I don’t think it is possible.”
To counter the idea that he could not give a ----, Westwood has returned to the gym to aid the feel-good process. He is more than half a stone lighter and has posted a personal best in the dead lift, 354lb, or a “Chubby [Chandler] and a quarter” as he put it.
For those not familiar with gym mores, the exercise requires one to bend at the waist with legs only slightly flexed and to lift a bar bell off the floor until one is in an upright position. Do not try this at home.
“I felt like I was starting to get a bit heavy and just needed to lose a bit, so I’ve been training pretty hard, up to five times a week, and, you know, cutting out all the stuff that tastes nice. If you are working out and feel good about yourself, mentally that’s good for you as well.”
We are used to Westwood’s dead pan delivery, but not two days before the last major of a season. It helped him cope with the inevitable question about his majorless status, couched in the familiar way: “Do you mind being referred to as the best never to have won a major?” To which he replied: “It’s good to be the best at something, I suppose.”
World No 1 Luke Donald finds himself in the same position as Westwood, but is unlikely to laugh his way around the major problem in the manner of Westwood.
What he does share with his Ryder Cup colleague is the belief that the solution is ultimately to be found on the greens. Donald looked mighty impressive in tying for second place at Akron, and this after struggling on the greens in the opening two rounds.
“People put a lot of pressure on the guys who haven’t won, like myself, Lee and Adam [Scott] and whoever else it might be. Sometimes you can go to these events and just try too hard,” Donald said.
“A little like my putting last week. The first two days I was working on a few things and there was just too much concentration standing over the ball and less focus on hitting it on the right line and holing the putt. I putted a lot better over the weekend through fewer thoughts and less trying.”
So there you have it; the secret of winning majors. Just turn up and give it a biff. Funny old game, golf.
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