Westwood breaks course record at St Jude
Lee Westwood's hopes of breaking his major hoodoo at next week's US Open look well within his grasp, as the Englishman broke the course record at TPC Southwind yesterday, taking the lead at the St Jude Classic with a first round seven-under-par 63.
Westwood carded five birdies and an eagle to finish a stroke ahead of America's Casey Wittenberg, the one-time much heralded US amateur who is yet to win a tournament on the PGA Tour. Like Westwood, Wittenberg eagled the par five 16th to stay a hair's breadth behind the leader.
Padraig Harrington was close behind, five-under after a flawless round that yielded five birdies, but Northern Ireland's Rory McIlroy had a slow start; the 21-year-old is currently tied for 44th place on one-under, after a steady but hardly dramatic round that saw the world No. 10 pick up just one solitary birdie - on the 16th.
Ian Poulter's round could hardly be called uneventful, but the Englishman will be disappointed with himself after a late collapse. Poulter had carded three birdies over the front nine, but five bogeys over six holes on the latter half of the course meant he finished two-over-par 72, and tied for 96th place.
With Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson both absent this week, Westwood is the highest ranked player in the field - and the world No. 3's game would appear to be in tremendous shape as he gears up to banish the memory of a trio of near misses in his last three major appearances.
Westwood was third at last year's Open and PGA Championship, and this April he finished second to Phil Mickelson at the Masters. The 37-year-old would dearly love to claim his first major at Pebble Beach in a week's time. For now though, his focus remains in Memphis.
Westwood hasn't won on the PGA Tour since 1998 - maybe he can produce his first victory on US soil for more than a decade this weekend.
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