Lee Westwood sure US Open can see him 'Do a Sergio Garcia' and finally break Major title duck
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England's Lee Westwood is convinced he can match Sergio Garcia and end his lifelong wait for a Major.
With Garcia finally breaking his curse at the Masters in April, Westwood can now lay claim to the undisputed title of current best player never to have won a Major.
The 44-year-old has finished in the top three at the Majors six times.
And at last year’s US Open at Oakmont, he went into the final round right in the mix for glory, only to shoot a painful 80 while playing partner Dustin Johnson went on to end his own wait for that elusive first Major.
This week Westwood would love to follow the example of both DJ and his European Ryder Cup team-mate Garcia.
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And he claimed: “They don’t give me any more encouragement – because I’ve always believed I can win a Major. It’s about turning up at every ­tournament trying to be in the best shape to give myself a chance of winning.
“I had a great chance last year, obviously. I played pretty good for the first three days but didn’t have such a good day on the Sunday beyond holing a ­couple of wedge shots here and there.
“That Oakmont course is one of the toughest tests in US Open golf, which only made the way DJ played in that last round even more impressive.
(Photo: Getty Images)
"It was exemplary stuff to watch. He played great and deserved to win it.”
The encouraging thing for Westwood going into Thursday’s opening round in the company of Graeme McDowell and Ross Fisher is that he feels he is in even better nick than at Oakmont.
He said: “This year my game is in better shape than it was going into last year.
"I’m hitting the ball well, there’s no real weaknesses. Whereas this time last year I didn’t think I was playing that well going into the tournament, I feel like I’m playing better now, so I’m looking forward to getting started.”
(Photo: USA Today Sports)
USGA bosses have denied that player-power forced them to hack back some of the ­notoriously thick rough at Erin Hills.
“We always welcome feedback from the players," said USGA chief Mike Davis said.
"But I can assure you that their ­comments on the rough had absolutely zero effect on our decision to cut it back in places.”