Sir Alex Ferguson inspires Westwood at Castle Stuart
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SIR Alex Ferguson watched Lee Westwood blast into action at Castle Stuart – before the Englishman swept to a leading round of 65 at the Barclays Scottish Open.
The 38-year-old, whose seven under par sees him in pole position with Chilean Mark Tullo, is thrilled to have started so promisingly in the Highlands.
The world number two, who is a huge Manchester United fan, shook hands with the legendary United manager at the third green, now he’s setting his sights on landing the silverware in the Highlands ahead of next Thursday’s Open Championship at Sandwich in Kent.
He said: “I like playing the week before a Major championship because I like being competitive and the aggression of making putts when you can make them, and it’s even better if you’re in contention and the position I want to be in a week on Sunday. The more pressure I am under this week, the better.”
Westwood admitted, as he was trying to get his bearings around the course on his first visit, he got a tad lost.
He said: “I couldn’t find a couple of tees, I lost direction, so there was a nice naivety to my play.
“It’s a great start. You never know quite what to expect when you come to a golf course that you have never played before and I managed to play 10 holes and practised on Wednesday as well. I hit a lot of good shots, hit a lot of fairways and made some nice putts.”
Apart from a heavy burst of showers over lunchtime, the weather was pretty favourable at the first-ever day of the Scottish Open’s new venue after 15 years at Loch Lomond.
Outside the course, there were no major traffic or transport problems in or out of Castle Stuart.
