Westwood lets his golf do the talking

Lee Westwood aimed to make his actions speak louder than his words again as he took a one-stroke lead into the second round of The Masters.

A five under par opening 67 matched Westwood’s best-ever score at Augusta National and it came just two days after he advised people not to think that the week was all about Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy.

“I was just trying to be a voice of common sense,” said England’s world number three, runner-up to Phil Mickelson two years ago and five times in the top three in his last nine majors.

The 38-year-old is making his 56th attempt to win one, however, and the pressure is bound to increase as the tournament progresses.

The size of the task is easily measured. Since 1984 Trevor Immelman is the only first round leader to go on to victory three days later.

Westwood’s start left him one in front of Ryder Cup teammate Peter Hanson and South African Louis Oosthuizen, who was the only player to beat him in the 2010 Open at St Andrews – by seven shots.

McIlroy birdied the last two holes for a 71 and was delighted with that after kicking off with a double bogey, but Woods finished with back-to-back bogeys for a 72 and said of his driving: “I hit some of the worst golf swings I’ve ever hit.”

He took penalty drops in the trees at the second and 18th, but did at least avoid a big number – unlike Mickelson, whose lost ball on the 10th led to a triple bogey seven, the same score McIlroy had on the hole in his closing 80 last April.

The three-time winner’s 74 was still one better than Luke Donald, but at least the world number one is still alive in the event.

It was thought for a while that he might have signed for the wrong score – his bogey five on the fifth was changed on the scoring system to a birdie three after he finished – but it turned out to be “an administrative error”.

Westwood admits the majors are “my primary focus”, but is still trying to stay as relaxed as he can about them.

“I was just trying to cruise my way into the tournament,” he said. “It’s nice to get off to a good start and have a platform to build from.”

He was prepared for it to be a tough day after receiving a text from caddie Billy Foster as others battled earlier on.

“He had walked around the golf course and said that the pins were tough. He used slightly more flowery language than that, but we’ll stick to tough!

“So I knew it was a day for patience, but this course gives you a chance if it’s soft.”

He had four successive birdies from the fifth and took over at the top after Henrik Stenson crashed from six under to one under by three-putting the short 16th and having a quadruple bogey eight on the last.

“I have been in contention a lot recently,” added Westwood. “I’ve also done a lot of fitness work – there are a lot of hills out there.

“You’re concentrating all the time. It’s mentally draining and physically draining.”

That, though, came after he had some fun in Wednesday’s par three competition with Ant and Dec caddieing for him and Thomas Bjorn.

“They are keen golfers. It’s like Disneyland for adults this place. You can’t wipe the smiles off their faces, but it’s serious stuff for me.

“Obviously if I sit down at the end of my career and there’s no major championship wins I’ll be disappointed. If there’s five or six I’ll be delighted.”

McIlroy, who came back from his nightmare finish last year to win the US Open by eight, is expected by many to far exceed six majors by the time he is finished.

“There were a couple of tee shots out there that I wasn’t quite that comfortable with,” he said. “But the finish will make dinner taste a lot better.

“I need to drive the ball in the fairway a little bit more. That will be the key for me the next three days.

“I stayed very patient and didn’t try and force things. That paid off with two birdies at the end, which was nice.”