Jet lagged Lee Westwood joy as LIV star reveals how he defied 90-minute sleep to make The Open
Jet-lagged Lee Westwood defied one-and-a-half hours sleep after his dash from Dallas to Dundonald to fly into The Open.
The 52-year-old produced a brilliant display in Ayrshire to book his place in the 153rd Open Championship.
LIV star Westwood stormed to victory with a seven-under par effort over two rounds to secure a golden ticket to Royal Portrush, despite having only seen the course for the first upon arrival late Monday night.
The Ryder Cup hero will make his 93rd Major appearance and his 28th at The Open having shown desire to get from Texas to Scotland.
Westwood's love for The Open tempted him to take the trip and paid off in style with big crowds following him around to the win.
Afterwards, he revealed the chaotic build-up and, when asked how he felt, he smiled: 'Good, well, tired. It's a while since I've played 36 holes in a day and didn't really give myself the best chance, really. I turned up at seven o'clock last night and I've never played the golf course before, so I had to walk around it.
'I got off it at about quarter past nine last night. Got wet the last four holes. Good old Scotland raining on me there! So the first time I played it was this morning.
'I only made my mind up last week really. I only had an hour and a half sleep last night as well. So if I collapse, then you'll know why. Yeah, it's a strange route, isn't it? Dallas to Dundonald.
'IObviously it's not the ideal preparation, but it's the greatest championship in the world and I felt like I've played well the last few tournaments on LIV with a 62 and finishing 10th in Washington.
'I played solidly last week and there was a bit of breeze blowing and felt like my game was in decent shape. So I thought, come along and give myself an opportunity. You don't want to turn up at qualifiers if you haven't got plenty of game, but I felt like I'd got plenty of game. It was just not knowing the golf course that was really the conundrum for me.
'I've always said it's the greatest championship in golf. As a British player, you get phenomenal support and I really enjoyed Portrush last time. I finished fourth and played nicely, so I'll be looking forward to going back there.
'I'm 52 now, so I've played a lot. I was looking at the course next door and I think I tried to qualify around there in 1994 and I remember hitting a sprinkler and bouncing through the back and then losing out in a play-off.
'IAnd then obviously qualified the following year in 1995 at Leven and then played something like 25 or 26 consecutive Open championships. It's nice to be back playing,'
Westwood admits he won't have big expectations at Portrush, but does concede that an Open offers his best chance to win a first Major. He said: 'I think of any major championship, you can compete on links courses.
'II think Tom Watson proved that around Turnberry in 2009 and then Greg Norman a couple of years later at Birkdale. I think if any form of golf gives seniors a chance, it's links golf because you get a bit of run on the ball and you have to use a bit of cunning and guile with the wind.
'I won't really have any expectations. I'm playing at Valderrama next week in LIV and I'll try and sharpen my game up. I'm looking forward to the next few days having some time off and maybe turn up to Portrush on the Tuesday on the Tuesday afternoon.
'II feel like I've played it before. I can get a practise round in on Tuesday afternoon and then maybe play nine holes on Wednesday and try and be as fresh as possible.
'Qualifiers have won it before, haven't they? But I'm just looking forward to enjoying the week at Portrush and seeing a few old friends and enjoying that golf course. I think for me, it's in the top three links courses in the British Isles.'
An Open triumph would seal his career, but he said: 'Yeah, obviously it would, but I'm not going in there with any preconceived ideas. I've finished second, I've finished third a couple of times. I've finished fourth a couple of times.
'II've had a lot of Top 10s. I really enjoy playing links golf. It tests you like the week in, week out golf doesn't. You've got to use your imagination a lot more imagination around the greens. Obviously you can play the high ones, you can play the low ones, It's fun to play.
'There's no walk like walking down the 18th in an Open championship with the stands surrounding the 18th green.'
Victory would, of course, put Westwood in Ryder Cup contention, but he brushed that talk off as he said: 'No. I've just played 36 holes, That's my 36 holes for at least another year!'
Westwood last played The Open in 2022, but says the absence hasn't been that bad and added: 'Not really that tough. If I'd have wanted to play in them that badly, I would have come along and tried to qualify.
'II can't remember why I didn't try and qualify, but there's a lot of golf around this time of the season and I probably had something booked in. But this time around, I thought, why not?'
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