Lee Westwood to win the Open Championship if he relaxes
The Open Championship is about to start in few days’ time. This year’s tournament is taking place in Lancashire, at Royal Lytham Golf Course.
In the past few days, considerable speculation and predictions have been floating in the air. The consensus is that Lee Westwood is the favourite to win this year’s tournament.
No British player has ever won the Open Championship on the English soil since Tony Jacklin won back in 1969. Nick Faldo was the last Englishman to win the Open Championship but that was played in Scotland.
Many pundits and greats of the game have tipped Lee Westwood to win this year’s Open Championship. Lee will be featuring in his 58th major in his 19-year-old career, but Lee has never won a major.
Nevertheless, he has come close to lifting the major trophy on many occasions.
He has been the runner-up twice in the majors but that famous green jacket has always eluded him. Tony Jacklin, Maria Olazabal and Ernie Els all have backed Westwood to end the English drought at the Open Championship.
All of them have said that Westwood’s game suits the golf course perfectly. Royal Lytham is a links golf course, which has been bombarded with bunkers and to avoid them one has to have perfect control over the ball.
This is precisely Lee’s expertise, as he has the best control over the golf ball currently. Apart from controlling the ball, Lee will have to putt well in order to nail the championships. Putting well means that he must relax on the course.
Lee, most of the times, fades away on the greens. That may be because he becomes tense but he must calm himself on the greens if he has to win his first major.
"If he gets hot with his putter and gets into the lead, I think he will win," said Tony Jacklin while giving an interview to the BBC Sports.
Jacklin has been full of praise for the fellow Englishman. He said that he is the most consistent player out there at the moment, who has perfect control over the golf ball.
Tony believes that time is now on Lee’s side and this is probably his best chance to land his first major of the career.
Jacklin feels that Lee Westwood has all the experience needed to bring home his first major but this time around, he must take his chances especially on the greens.
“Lee is probably the best player never to have won a major, which is not a reputation you want, and he is very aware of that. It must be frustrating for him.” Such praise from a legend will surely help Lee in preparing for the Open Championship.
“He has had his chances but just does not seem to have taken full advantage. It is difficult - you can only observe and I am not criticising,” said Tony.
When asked about Luke Donald, Tony expressed that he is not one of the best drivers around and on links course such as this, one must be an excellent driver in order to make a good approach shot.
Tony has, on a few occasions, played with Luke and he feels that his real strength is his short game. Luke’s approaches and putts are simply sublime.
If Lee hopes to end the English drought at the Open Championships, then he must firstly remain calm in tight situations and then putt well.
The views expressed in this article are the writer's own and in no way represent Bettor.com's official editorial policy.
Tags: