Westwood: I’ll race Rory all way to Dubai
Westwood and McIlroy have emerged as favourites for title in the absence of the injured money-list leading duo of Martin Kaymer and Paul Casey.
Westwood is currently ranked fourth behind McIlroy, and Omega European Masters organisers have seized on this by grouping the duo together for the opening two rounds of event starting today at Crans Montana in Switzerland.
The Swiss tournament also signals the start of the 2010 Ryder Cup qualifying process and it also is the first occasion a European Tour event held in Europe proper has been co-sanctioned with the Asian Tour.
McIlroy has returned to Switzerland a year since losing out in a play-off to Frenchman Jean-Francois Lucquin and despite his disappointment, the event heralded a huge turning point in McIlroy’s career.
McIlroy soared from 172nd on the world rankings to end the year placed 36th, and the assurance also of a start of each of the four Majors for 2009.
“When I look back, I have great memories of last year’s European Masters as it was really the start of everything good for me,” said McIlroy.
“I didn’t win the tournament but I took a lot of positives from this event. Of course, I was very disappointed I didn’t win but ever since then I’ve kicked on and it was in Switzerland when I started to play really, really well.
“I was proud to of the way I conducted myself considering the disappointment and though I wasn’t feeling too good about myself, I got over it.”
Westwood is a former European Masters winner but has not tasted success in Europe since capturing the 2007 British Masters, the same event McIlroy elected to turn professional.
But after a pair of third-place results in the closing two Majors of the year, Westwood is now focusing on becoming the inaugural Race to Dubai champion.
“You would never want to wish injury on anyone but certainly if Martin and Paul are not going to play it heightens the chances for people like Rory and myself,” said Westwood.
“So if you don’t play, you don’t earn money and with Martin and Paul absent, Rory and myself will be looking to make up lost ground while the cats are away.
“I asked Rory when we played a practice round here on Tuesday what his schedule was and he said he’s playing in Korea next week, so while we’ve both got Switzerland this week, I’ve Germany next week that he’s not playing.
“I won an Order of Merit in 2000 and while I can’t speak for anybody else but being the first player to win the initial Race to Dubai would be something special.”
Joining McIlroy in the €2m event are Graeme McDowell, Paul McGinley, Darren Clarke, Shane Lowry, Gary Murphy, Michael Hoey and Gareth Maybin,
Maybin was observed yesterday trying out three belly-putters on the practice putting green as he continues to strive for a first Tour win.
The Ballyclare golfer also is excited about the start of the Ryder Cup qualifying process.
“You have to dream big so the start of qualifying for the Ryder Cup has got me also excited,” he said.
Meanwhile, Pádraig Harrington has resolved to stop fiddling with his game and concentrate on playing his best at the Deutsche Bank Championship in Massachusetts this weekend.
Harrington missed five consecutive cuts this season after making changes to his swing.
“I’m a little bit like that,” he said. “I go in fads where I’m interested in playing and maybe other times where I’m interested in changing things and trying to improve things. So I have to be a little bit disciplined at the moment not to get drawn back into what I would have been doing for the first eight months of the year and wholeheartedly changing something.”
Harrington’s mid-season woes came on the back of one of the most successful periods of his career, winning both his second British Open title and the US PGA last year.
And the 38-year-old believes his increased profile has thrown undue focus on the changes in his game.
He said: “I’ve had plenty of times in my career where I’ve made changes, significant changes, far more significant than the ones that I made this year.
“I think what happened this year is as I was making the change, I obviously was higher profile, so it stood out a bit more.
“And secondly, during the change, my short game was poor.
“Normally I’ve done these changes in the past and my short game has hidden them. This year it didn’t and I was more in the spotlight.”
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