Lee Westwood's Downfall

Lee Westwood is one of the best golfers in the world, a former World Number One player, multiple time winner of a victorious European Ryder Cup team where he has become talismanic as his countryman, Ian Poulter.

Yet one thing still remains missing from the Englishman's resume, a golfing major. In recent years, Westwood has been knocking on the door only for the door to be firmly shut.  Yesterday at Muirfield, he probably had his best chance ever of winning, leading by two strokes after the third round, Westwood knew if he could go round in level par or maybe a shot or two under par it would take something pretty magical from someone else to overcome him.

As luck would have it, even if Westwood did go round in level par it would only have been good enough for a play-off with eventual winner Phil Mickleson, whose final round 66 was the best round of the week and rightly deserving of winning his first Claret Jug.

Unlike last year, when Adam Scott's personal implosion of bogeying the last four holes gave the title to Ernie Els, this was more a matter of Mickelson winning the trophy rather than Westwood losing it.  Yet the question must be asked what does Westwood have to do to get the monkey off of his back, and why does he keep falling short.

Westwood did not do the things right, he missed fairways off the tee, failed to make greens in regulation and yet he made putts to save par when he needed to.  So often his putting has let him down, for once it empowered him and it was his play off the tee - wayward and rash - which cost him his chance.

This is now 63 majors without a success, is Westwood destined to be like Colin Montgomerie the best player year-in, year-out who cannot win the big one.

Golf is as much a sport of exterior circumstances, as opposed to your own play.  The performance of fellow competitors can affect your own performance, if you notice a leaderboard changing and a certain player making a charge of birdies it can cause you to become distracted.

Westwood may have been guilty of thinking that maybe this was not going to be his day, which leads to bad decision making and poor shot selection, leading to negative thought patterns such as blaming yourself when really an excuse can be made that the weather was not the best for Westwood's game.  His tendency to hit the ball high and long was not best suited to the windiest conditions of the week, in contrast to Friday and Saturday when the dry still wind led to him being able to control his ball flight.  Look at Mickelson, who used the elements to his advantage due to his imagination.

Westwood could have gained momentum from several par saving putts, yet it all came a cropper when he found a bunker on a Par 3 which took two strokes to escape from, leading to a bogey saving putt.  Yet a stroke was dropped, meaning the overnight leader came closer to the chasing pack, so Mickelson who was five strokes adrift all of a sudden looked capable of getting close.  Mickelson birdied four of the last six holes, the same six holes that people claimed were the hardest of the course.

Westwood needed to remain in control of his emotions and avoid making mistakes, perhaps emulating a hero of his - Nick Faldo's memorable Par 71 round in 1987 which led to his first major would have been the way to go - yet once dropped shots came before the turn and thereafter it was an uphill battle. Even the sight of playing partner Hunter Mahan making an eagle 3 on the par 5 9th must have been disheartening.

With the continual attempts to regain momentum suffering due to bad shots and failure to find the fairway, doubt can start to creep into any erstwhile competitor with the same questions of 'Will I ever win? What can I do different?' repeating themselves in your mind.

Westwood is still capable, and the employment of Sean Foley (Tiger Woods' swing coach) may well add a few strings to his bow, yet the chances are coming shorter yet the success of players after the age of 40 (Angel Cabrera, Ernie Els and Phil Mickelson) in being able to win majors can fill him with confidence.

The only question is, how much of a battering has his confidence taken after this recent collapse at the final hurdle?

This was my first blog for www.impresscoaching.co.uk, the link is here

Rickie Fowler Blossoms

Last year during Darren Clarke's victory at the Open at St.George's I wrote a piece on the Friday afternoon whilst I watched the pairing of Rory McIlroy and Rickie Fowler fight the elements as well as each other.  Many suspected the newly crowned US Open champion to rip up the Southern England course.

Yet McIlroy was found to be guilty of extreme naivety as his plan of bombing the ball down the course and overpowering the links did not come to fruition.  Yet you saw the younger (by a year) Fowler, a young man still learning his trade navigate the alien links course with poise and character.  He used shots of originality and creativity more akin to fellow countryman, Phil Mickelson, as he carded a sub-par round to move into contention.

Eventually Fowler fell away as Darren Clarke marched to his first major victory but the composure Fowler showed on his Open debut, made some heads turn and made some friends on these European shores.  He already came to prominence as the first US PGA tour rookie to be selected as a wildcard Captains pick for the  Ryder Cup in Wales in 2010.  He birdied the last four holes of a foursome tie to gain a halve point which almost became important as America nearly overturned a large deficit.

Yet he had still not won a tour event in America.  That all changed as he got his maiden US tour win at Wells Fargo, Quail Hollow winning a three man playoff with D.A. Points and one, world number one Rory McIlroy birdied the formidable pin position with hole 18 to garner a deserved win.

Heads were turned by again the composure and assuredness beyond his years that Fowler showed; he goes about his business quietly and does not draw attention to himself; the only time he does is with his Sunday best - a top to toe orange outfit in honour of his alma mater, Oklahoma State University where he got his college education.

Yet Fowler, a 23 year old Californian, has made many friends on tour who like the way he treats people and  is for want of a better word, approachable.  An odd trait in a world that is at times strictly private and cut off from the layman and common fan - many players once they get the big money, get the big house, the course in the back garden, the flashy cars. As if they live in Hollywood, or is that Holywood.

Fowler now can look to enjoy the remainder of his season, and be considered a contender for many tour events and maybe even the majors.  He has the length for the US Open, the composure and imagination for the links of Lytham St.Annes in July, whilst the PGA in August remains a pin a tale on a donkey contest.

Also in late September is the Ryder Cup - an event that needs young blood - an event that Fowler has already performed admirably in, and will look to regain the Samuel Ryder trophy and he will be a member (automatically or a wildcard by captain, Davis Love III) of a team that is starting to take shape - US Masters champion Bubba Watson, consistent Hunter Mahan, Phil Mickelson, USPGA champion Keegan Bradley and a guy with the initials TW if he turns out of his current dead end.

There seems to be a resurgence occuring in America in terms of golf interest thanks to Watson's popular Masters win, but 16 of the 20 US tour events thus far have been won by Americans - whilst the European team whilst good in years go by seems more than likely to be built upon the trifecta of McIlroy, Luke Donald and Lee Westwood. Stalwarts such as Graeme McDowell, Henrik Stenson, Ian Poulter are out of form and not figuring in the business end of tournaments.  The team will take shape once the summer of majors is out of the way, and the team usually consists of those in form so do not fret just yet.

However, should Fowler and other Americans continue this purple patch of tournament wins then the Ryder Cup in Illinois may be a long weekend (Sept 28-30th) for Jose-Maria Olazabal and his compatriots.