Shell Houston: a test for Lee Westwood prior to entering into the Masters Tournament – Golf Feature
The Shell Houston Open is going to be the last event before the Masters Tournament starts in the first week of April. Many players are giving a final touch to their games in order to enter the field of Augusta National with boosted morale.
The tournament is featuring some of the big names of the golfing world, such as Phil Mickelson, Ernie Els, Charl Schwartzel, Keegan Bradley and many more.
Lee Westwood, the world number three player, is also among the players who are tuning up their game in order to perform their best in the first major event of the year.
According to Westwood, he has improved substantially in the past few months, especially in the short game playing.
Therefore, he can test his skills at the Houston Open and take them to the Masters next week.
“You look at the short game stats, the scrambling stats and bunker stats and things like that, and if you’re high up in those then you can maximize your scoring chances,” said Westwood, who has yet to register a win in the major championships.
“If you miss greens and you’re able to get up and down then you’re going to bring your scores down. That’s led to more consistency for me,” the 38-year-old Englishman added.
He is currently sighting a lift through the Houston Open, as it is believed that the Redstone Golf Club Tournament Course is very much similar to the course at Augusta National.
Therefore, Westwood will be trying his best to use the tournament as a practice event for the Masters.
He has not been able to record a single victory in the major championships throughout his career. Therefore, he plans to end his major title drought this year.
He believes that he is currently in perfect form to turn his dream of a major title victory into a reality. A little more work on his game will help him achieve his target.
In the 2012 golf season, he has played a total of six events, collectively on the PGA and European Tours.
Among them, he succeeded in making top-four finishes in four events, which speaks of his great form in the current season.
Last week, he contended in the Trophee Hassan II, where he tied for the 25th position. Yet, it cannot affect his overall performance in the season.
He started his campaign at the Redstone Golf Club in an impressive way, carding four-under par 68 in the opening round on Thursday, March 29, 2012.
He managed a total of five birdies against a lone bogey to tie for the 10th position on a rain affected day.
The key aspect of his performance in the current year is his consistency in all the four rounds that he plays in the tournaments.
However, the only problem he faces is the low scores in the rounds. Most of the time he is seen struggling with making a number of birdies required to take the lead.
That is why he has not been able to record a victory in any of the tournaments that he has played so far.
Therefore, Westwood needs to test his skills completely at the Houston Open field and try to tune up his short game, which he is already good at.
This way, he will be having a comparative advantage over his rivals in the Masters Tournament, scoring low scores in each of the rounds that he will play.
The views expressed in this article are the writer's own and in no way represent Bettor.com's official editorial policy.
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