Golf: Westwood fired up for desert battle

Jan 30 2008 Western Mail

ORDER of Merit leader Lee Westwood is confident of continuing his recent run of form at this week’s Dubai Desert Classic and finally converting an impressive run of top-10 finishes into victory.

The Worksop golfer has made an excellent start to the Ryder Cup year and is reaping the rewards of a new fitness regime after picking up his 10th top-10 finish in 11 outings at last week’s Qatar Masters.

After back-to-back second-places finishes in Shanghai and Abu Dhabi, Westwood claimed fifth place in Doha to move up to 19th on the world rankings and is ready to take on another strong field, including world No 1 Tiger Woods, at the Emirates Golf Club starting tomorrow.

“My confidence is as high as it’s ever been. I am playing very well and, week in, week out, I’m in contention,” said Westwood, who leads both the world and European Ryder Cup points list.

“I got another top 10 last week so I am delighted with the way things are going.

“Dubai is one of the best tournaments we play on tour, all the players look forward to it.

“A lot of the players do their winter practice here because the facilities are that good. The tournament is usually fantastic, the greens are normally immaculate and it’s a good test.

“It’s a great feel because Tiger is coming over, which means lots of world ranking points will be on the line for the competing players.”