- Open Championship, Round Three
Yes, Westy has major demons to face - but so do rivals
Lee Westwood does not have a good record in the final round of majors.
It makes little sense to skirt around the elephant in the room, especially when it is screaming at you (can elephants scream?) even louder than the orange shirt Westwood wore on Saturday. The Englishman is considered one of the best players never to have won the major for reasons as good as bad - yes, he is a great golfer, but he's never quite got it done when it really matters.
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That criticism, implicit to the moniker, is perhaps why Westwood, like Phil Mickelson before him and (depending on how things pan out on Sunday) Sergio Garcia after him, have always shown a healthy distaste for it.
"I know what it takes [to win a major]," Westwood said in his first post-round interview - an odd statement, considering his CV pretty clearly suggests he does not.
"It's about believing you're good enough to win. Tomorrow is just another 18 holes. I've just got to go out with composure and try to believe I can win a major tournament."
A two-shot lead is an advantage, but it is no guarantee of Claret Jug glory for the 40-year-old. Conditions being what they are, that lead could be erased with one poor swing - especially when we are talking about Westwood, a player who has more major scar tissue than perhaps any of his rivals.
After all, the last time he had a genuine chance in the final round, at the 2012 US Open, his challenge was effectively ended after his drive at the fifth hit a tree … and never came down.
The binoculars he borrowed from a marshal on that occasion, while ostensibly to try and identify his ball in the canopy, might as well have been to better watch his aspirations float away for another championship.
There have been other heartbreaks, some even closer to the moment of victory. In 2010, he saw Phil Mickelson overhaul him the final group at the Masters to collect another green jacket then, months later, was the best of the rest as Louis Oosthuizen seemingly came from nowhere to absolutely dominate the Open Championship.
Perhaps the nearest he has come to actually tasting victory came at the 2008 US Open. Coming to the last hole, in the last group, Westwood needed to birdie the par-five last in order to force a play-off with Rocco Mediate.
He couldn't quite do so, his pitch approach from 60 yards leaving him too far away to have a realistic chance of making his four. His playing partner, in the exact same situation, fared better - canning a 15-footer to force Mediate into an extra 18 holes the next day.
It was a play-off Tiger Woods would win.
That, of course, is the last major Woods has won - and that might be the biggest source of comfort for Westwood. The Englishman will have to face his demons on Sunday … but then so will every one of his closest challengers.
Woods, of course, is trying to end a five-year major drought that runs back to that Monday (when he only had one fully-functioning leg) in California. In the intervening period he has lost his marriage, lost his swing, and then lost his form on the weekends at majors.
Woods has been in contention at the business end of the biggest tournaments a few times since 2011, but he has then proceeded to play absolutely terrible.
The 14-time major champion has looked a lot more composed this week, but he still has to trust his swing - against that uncertain backdrop - on one of the most exacting layouts of the year, if not the decade.
"I'm a couple back and there's one guy ahead of me," was Woods' typically unrevealing assessment of things. "I'll have to play a solid round of golf."
Then there is Westwood's playing partner for the final round, Hunter Mahan. Mahan has earned a reputation as something of a choker among golf's observers - a reputation born out of his duffed chip at the 2010 Ryder Cup, but seemingly confirmed by his play when in the hunt on the biggest stage almost ever since.
This will be the second successive major the Texan has played in the final group on Sunday. At Merion, paired with close pal Phil Mickelson (which should really have calmed him down), he shot 75 to slip down the leaderboard, when a 70 (the same score Justin Rose returned) would have seen him lift the trophy.
2013 Open Championship leaderboard
- -3 Lee Westwood
- -1 Tiger Woods, Hunter Mahan
- E Adam Scott
- +1 Angel Cabrera, Henrik Stenson,
Zach Johnson, Ryan Moore
"I don't need any redemption or anything like that, just playing golf," Mahan told reporters on Saturday, almost trying to convince himself as much as them. "I don't play golf for revenge or to make up for anything.
"I'm playing because I really like to play and it's the ultimate challenge playing major golf. So that's the only thing I'm worried about."
Whatever he tells himself, Mahan has never played well in a major when it has really mattered (and he's hardly ever played well at an Open). His nerves on Sunday, understandable as they will be, might actually serve to calm Westwood down.
Elsewhere, there are other demons at play. Adam Scott may have found salvation in his victory at Augusta National in April, but he is nevertheless still just 12 months removed from his meltdown at this tournament, where he blew four shots in the final four holes to lose to Ernie Els.
Is the Australian mentally tough enough to purge that Royal Lytham disaster from his memory, if a similar opportunity presents itself on Sunday?
Beyond that, there is the mix of players unfamiliar to this experience - Henrik Stenson and Ryan Moore, for example - and former major champions whose record could lead them to be feared (Angel Cabrera and Zach Johnson).
Key Sunday Tee Times
- 14:10: Lee Westwood & Hunter Mahan
- 14:00: Adam Scott & Tiger Woods
- 13:50: Angel Cabrera & Ryan Moore
- 13:40: Henrik Stenson & Zach Johnson
- 13:30: Phil Mickelson & Francesco Molinari
Who knows, maybe Westwood's nemesis Mickelson (five shots back) will spoil the party once again.
But they are all some way adrift, and have a lot of ground to make up. This is the key point to focus on for Westwood; Yes, he has his demons at major championships, but his closest rivals will all be fighting their own as well come Sunday.
It's a level playing field ... except Westwood has a two-shot lead.