Westwood record boosts Ryder Cup chances

Lee Westwood today carded a course record 63 in the first round of the Deutsche Bank Players’ Championship to boost his Ryder Cup credentials.

Westwood fired nine birdies and no bogeys at Gut Kaden for a one-shot lead over Retief Goosen and Robert Karlsson on a sweltering day in Hamburg.

France’s Gregory Havret, in the first match out at 7.30am local time, had earlier equalled the previous course record set by John Daly in the final round last year.

Karlsson then went one better with a 64 matched 10 minutes later by Goosen, before Westwood went one lower still with his best round since a 63 (-7) in the NEC Invitational last year.

“I’m delighted,” said the former European number one. “I played okay in the final round of the French Open and carried it over to the European Open where I finished fourth.

“The last two weeks I played quite well and it’s just a case of building up my confidence.”

Starting from the 10th, Westwood birdied the 12th after his approach lipped out for an eagle two and after picking up another on the next added four in a row from the 15th to race to the turn in 30.

Finding water on the third threatened to derail the round but he pitched to three feet to save par and birdied three of the next four holes to move into pole position to win here for the third time.

“That’s all I’m concentrating on at the moment,” insisted Westwood, joint top scorer with Sergio Garcia, claiming four and a half points, in the last Ryder Cup at Oakland Hills.

“If I get a win under my belt that will push me into the reckoning and I am very keen to play.”

Victory on Sunday, and the 600,000 points on offer, could lift Westwood as high as 12th in the standings.

Goosen was disappointed with finishing 14th at the British Open last week, the South African lying fourth at halfway but only managing rounds of 72 and 73 over the weekend.

The world number five knew the importance of shooting a low round today with the course playing much shorter than its 7,290 yards.

“I’m happy to get off to a good start. You didn’t want to shoot level par this morning because you knew you’d be nine or 10 off the lead,” said the Ascot-based 37-year-old.

“I got off to a good start on my front nine with four birdies and an eagle but the bogey on the fourth stopped my chances for a really low round.”

Daly could relate to Goosen’s concerns, the 1995 British Open champion struggling to a level par 72 to lie nine off the pace.

The American ran up a triple-bogey eight on the 18th at Hoylake last week, hitting two balls out of bounds to miss the cut by two shots, and unfortunately carried on where he left off in similarly hot conditions this morning.

Four over par after four and three over with six to play, Daly played the final four holes in three under par to at least give him a fighting chance of making the halfway cut.