Chips are down but Westwood survives

By Tim Glover at Royal Birkdale

Friday, 18 July 2008

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GETTY IMAGES

Lee Westwood plays out of a bunker at the second, where his bad start was compounded by a double-bogey six

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One by one they came in weather-beaten, their scorecards bedraggled. Some were so disillusioned they thought they might have been engaged in a round of crazy golf. Not Lee Westwood, although at one point during an eventful morning he was entitled to wonder what on earth was going on.

Westwood, Worksop's finest and one of the great British hopes in the 137th Open, went out when conditions were at their meanest and for the most part he managed to keep his head above water. It was what happened at the sixth that, on the one hand, made him question the meaning of links golf and then, on the other, explained why the game can be so rewarding.

Westwood will never forget it. The sixth is an intimidating par four a few feet shy of 500 yards, although in the conditions most of the fours were playing like fives. His second shot landed on a bank near the green and, from an awkward stance, he almost lost his footing as he dunked the ball into a bunker. From the sand he came out to within 18 feet of the flag. Westwood marked it, cleaned it, replaced it and had walked to the other side of the green to study the line of his putt. What happened next?

A gust of wind blew his ball off the green and down a slope. Enter rule 20-3d: If a ball when placed comes to rest on the spot on which it is placed and it subsequently moves, there is no penalty and the ball must be played as it lies. Given the unreliability of his putting yesterday, the freak event might actually have done him a favour.

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Having faced a putt to salvage a bogey five, Westwood now faced a tricky chip and, lo and behold, the ball disappeared into the cup. "That was a very big moment," he said later. "That's the first time I've faced a putt that turned out to be a 30-yard chip."

The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune wounded Westwood but they did not mortally damage him. Under the circumstances a 75 was semi-respectable. For a time it looked like being a whole lot worse.

Westwood, who finished third in the US Open, just missing out on the play-off that was won by Tiger Woods, began yesterday morning with a bogey five at the first, a hole which turned out to be some introduction to the test that was Birkdale. At the second he recorded a double-bogey six after hitting the fairway with his drive.

He attempted to punch in a low approach shot – he has been experimenting with a lower trajectory to counter such conditions – but he clipped the top of a bunker and the ball died in treacherous, wet sand. He did not get it out at the first attempt and then missed a putt from eight feet.

Three over par after two holes, Westwood dropped another stroke on the third. After six holes he was five over yet his driving was so sound he had not, up to that point, missed a fairway. He went to the turn in 40 and came home in the relative comfort of 35. His one and only birdie came at the 10th where he made a putt of around 20 feet.

"Those were the toughest conditions I've ever played in," Westwood said. "I'm pleased that I played the last 12 holes in level par. It means that I'm still in this. I had five three putts so a 75 was not disastrous. When you're hitting it good from tee to green you want to be rewarded but I didn't really make anything."

As bad as Westwood's start was, it was better than that of Ben Curtis. The American, who confounded the world of golf by winning the Open at Royal St George's in 2003, drove his opening tee shot here not on to the fairway but towards car park C. He was so far out of bounds he could have picked up a parking ticket. Curtis began with a triple-bogey seven and followed it up with a double-bogey six. He did not raise the white flag, although a 78 has left him behind the eight ball and he will have to go some today to avoid missing the halfway cut.

The third member of the group, K J Choi, played so impressively he appeared on the leader board with a 72, two over par. The Korean, who lives in Texas, managed to avoid getting a six on his card. How much did it help having Andy Prodger, Nick Faldo's former caddie, on his bag? "One hundred per cent, definitely 100 per cent," Choi replied. "Just two times today we hit the wrong club, off the green at number five and over the green at 13. Very tough course, but very satisfied."

As for Westwood, he retired to the practice green. "On a day like this you'd like to go and have a bath and watch people struggle on the TV. I'm afraid that doesn't work. I have to go and figure it out for myself."