Lee Westwood apologises for his reckless outburst at Qatar Masters
Lee Westwood might be the world number three at the moment, but he is not far from a rigid admonishment from his mother in case he dwells in speaking profanity and being caught.
The Englishman uttered some bad words at the 16th tee at Commercialbank Qatar Masters and was immediately called in by his mother who asked him to apologise for his reckless swearing.
Westwood said, "My mum was the first person on the phone, and she said, you might want to apologize”.
Westwood had little realisation that his comments, which although he said to himself, would go all the way to the live TV camera microphones which would record his swearing.
The drive shot had gone a little wayward than what the Englishman might have anticipated and that also, at a time when he badly needed some good approach shots to make up for his early losses in the final round.
He added, "I didn't think it formed a part at that stage of being on TV. It's amazing how sensitive these microphones are”.
Listening to his mom like an obedient kid, Westwood immediately tweeted his apology for the incident and said,
"Sorry about swearing on the 16th tee. Came off like a rocket and thought it was going further! Wash my mouth out! Perils of live TV”.
The 38-year-old Englishman is now engaged in his third European Tour event of the year, the Dubai Desert Classic after a painstakingly slow start of the year.
He managed to stay afloat at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship, where he constantly battered a neck and elbow injury, still finishing for a joint 17th.
He entered the Qatar Masters instead of taking a break for a quick rehab and finished for a disappointing 12th with a final round of three-under, 69 behind the leader Paul Lawrie.
Westwood is known for a slow start of the year and normally warms up towards the end of the season. He has not won a major title in his otherwise stellar career and has vowed to bag one before turning 40.
Westwood said. "I'd say if I was making an appraisal of the first couple of weeks, I've hit it a lot better than I normally do. Short game is a little bit sharper than normal”.
Dubai Desert Classic is all set to kick off this week with a strong field of some of the top-ranked international players.
Defending champion Alvaro Quiros will be returning to retain the title he won 12 months ago in a jaw-dropping final round performance.
Quiros has a knack of playing tough on the windy Middle Eastern courses and will provide a stiff challenge to the grizzled field including the likes of Rory McIlroy, Martin Kaymer and Westwood.
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