Westwood hopes to maintain rhythm

Lee Westwood was confident of taking a step closer to his 17th European Tour title today after blowing off a bit of steam.

Westwood went into the third round of the Deutsche Bank Players’ Championship just one shot off the lead held by Sweden’s Robert Karlsson, one of his rivals for a Ryder Cup place in September.

But the former European number one was frustrated not to have been several shots ahead of the chasing pack after failing to capitalise on a superb start to his second round.

Westwood set a new course record with a 63 in the first round and was four under after six holes of his second, but then missed a host of chances and finished with 12 straight pars for a 68.

“I could have shot 61, I was four under after six and had missed from seven feet for an eagle on the third,” said the 33-year-old from Worksop, twice a winner here.

“It was quite frustrating. I hit a lot of good shots and had my chances today. Some days they don’t go in. I’ll try to keep a little bit of rhythm and let the steam out of the ears and come back on Saturday.”

Westwood went three years without a victory after finally ending Colin Montgomerie’s seven-year reign as European number one in 2000, and it is now three years since his last win at the Dunhill Links championship.

But he is confident he still has what it takes to win tournaments after almost 30 victories worldwide.

“I was up in this position at the European Open,” he added. “I finished fourth but I was tied for the lead at one stage. I know what to do when a situation like this arises.

“I played poorly for a couple of years but when you’ve won 26, 27 tournaments you don’t forget how to do it.”

Ian Woosnam would no doubt share that view, the 48-year-old Welshman alongside Westwood on 13 under and in contenion for his 30th tour victory in his 505th event.

Victory on Sunday would be Woosnam’s first in a strokeplay event since 1997 and worth £410,000, more than double his previous biggest cheque, and enough to pay for plenty of the injections he credited with his success.

Woosnam was diagnosed with ankylosing spondylitis back in 1987 and has been taking anti-inflammatories ever since, but revealed a new treatment was working wonders.

“I spoke to Michael King (a former European Tour player) about six weeks ago and after taking these injections he’s like a new man,” explained Woosnam.

“I saw him playing in the Jersey Seniors Open and he walked all three rounds. In the 18 months before that he couldn’t even do 200 yards.

“I decided to take them four weeks ago and it’s mae a big difference. It’s taken a lot of stiffness out of my back and given me the freedom to swing.

“It’s called TNF and was developed about 10 years ago for rheumatoid arthritis I think, and then they started using it on ankylosing spondylitis and I’ve had great success with it.

“It’s once a week, a bit like an insulin injection. You just do it yourself and I’ve seen the benefits already. You can take them as long as you like. There are risks with everything but if I wanted to keep playing to a reasonable standard I needed to do this.”