Westwood turns to Faldo's guru

Former European number one Lee Westwood has turned to David Leadbetter in a bid to revive his flagging career and admits he is “open to suggestions”.

Westwood has not won a tournament in over two years since claiming his sixth title of the 2000 season, which saw him end Colin Montgomerie’s seven-year reign at the top of the Order of Merit.

He finished a lowly 75th on the money list last season and from a high of fourth in the world rankings has slipped to 180th, below such unknowns as American Harrison Frazar and Korea’s Kim Jong-Duck.

The 29-year-old is unlikely to completely dismantle and rebuild his swing under Leadbetter as Nick Faldo famously did in the late 1980s, but he will spend at least 10 days at Leadbetter’s academy in Florida later this month after competing in this week’s South African Airways Open and the Dunhill championship.

“I’m just playing these two weeks and then I don’t know when I’ll play again,” Westwood told the Press Association.

“I’m going to see David at the end of January in Florida and then I’ve not got any tournaments scheduled until Dubai (March 6-9) maybe. We’ll see how it goes.

“I didn’t feel like I was getting anywhere with Pete (Cowen) and I’ve not really done much for the last couple of years and felt like I needed a change.

“I’ve been to see him before at the beginning of 2000 and liked what he had to say. He knows his stuff obviously, coaches a lot of good players and I thought he was the best guy to go and see.”

Asked about the possibility of a complete swing change, Westwood added: “You never know what will happen when I get there. I am open to suggestions after the last couple of years.

“My ambition is to get back where I was. I’m not thinking about majors because my position in the world ranking is such that I’m not in them. It’s a case of building it up slowly and getting back into the top 50 and going from there.

“I can still remember the good years well and it would be nice to play like that again.

“In 2000 things were going that well I had a lot of confidence and sat back and didn’t work on things when I needed to. It’s hard to change when things are going well.

“I had a long break between the end of 2000 and the start of 2001 (when his first child was born) and lost my timing and confidence. It doesn’t take a long time for it to go, but a long time to get it back.”

Westwood appeared to have regained some of his old form in last year’s Ryder Cup, particularly in his partnership with Sergio Garcia, but he confessed: “My tee to green wasn’t great, but I holed more than my fair share of putts that week which made it look better than it was.”

Despite his trials and tribulations of the last two years however, Westwood is keen to get back on the golf course and start his season earlier than normal at the £500,000 South African Airways Open – the second oldest Open in the world - at Erinvale Golf Club near Cape Town.

“I’m looking forward to it,” added Westwood, who also won the Dimension Data Pro-Am in South Africa in 2000 to add to his six official tour victories.

“It’s a bit earlier than I normally play so hopefully it will get me into the swing of things a bit earlier this year and maybe build up a bit of confidence. I played a few holes last week but that’s been about it.”

South African Tim Clark defends the title he won last year after coming through pre-qualifying for the event, with a strong European contingent also chasing the £79,000 first prize.

Former Open champion Paul Lawrie, four-time winner in 2002 Justin Rose, Italian Open champion Ian Poulter and Paul Casey are all among the 156-strong field.

Rose will defend his Dunhill championship title in his native Johannesburg next week at the Houghton course which kick-started his brilliant season.

The 22-year-old went on to win another tournament in South Africa, one in Japan and the British Masters at Woburn and his exploits have earned him a first invite to the US Masters at Augusta in April.