Lee Westwood For A Major This Year

[tigerfish]

i happen to think that mr westwood has what it takes to lift one of the four majors up for grabs this year and go onto bigger and better things in his golfing career. i think he is of the wright age and maturity, has the experience of dealing with the big occasion and has put in over the last 2/3 years the work on the small parts of his game that needed to be addressed. that is the difference and puts him apart from being a nearly contender, to a winner.

he hasnt just run off to the states, in search of mega bucks, flat greens, easy bunkers and par 5s that should be called par par 4s, like so many other pros, i.e garcia, goosen, poulter etc, but has plied his trade worldwile from the far east, arabia, europe and the states, and has learnt from the process.

i also happen to think that his near miss experiences in the u.s and british opens last year will stand him in good stead for the future. in retrospect it would be all very well to look back and say if he had only done this and done that, not been so aggressive or taken that choice of club. that is not the point and will get most players knowhere,(especially in cases such as montys career) its how you take it and turn it into a possitve. he has the wright mind set and mentality to do that now in my honest opinion.

interested to here your views and chances of lee, maybe lifting one of prestigious majors this year.

[Checker]

Any one of 30 players could win any of the big four this year. With the uncertantitiy of Tiger there is no clear cut standout. As we know it is extremeley difficult to win a major as everything has to go right for four rounds. That is why you will see the winner winning by one lousy shot. To try and select a winner is really a lucky dip at this stage. I however do feel that players from Europe, Asia/Australia will be more prominent then in the past.

[keithsimmonds]

Lee Westwood like the bloke but not me for me.There is something missing from his game,ie if he comes to the 18th and he needs to make that one good shot or that one putt it ain,t gonna happen, unlike Paddy Harrington, he,ll make it just out of pure anger or frustration,he,s got guts. We have some great players in England, Casey Poulter Fisher Wilson and Lee of course and some very good players as well,but i can,t see any of them winning a major. Ernie Els for the Masters next week for me and 2 fellas from the British isles to finish in the top six.

Thats my two Bob,s worth.

[lingnoi1977]

Westwood top 5

Ready for a major but not the Masters.

[Forethat]

Not a chance, if you ask me. Not that he doesn't have the game for it. In fact, he's got potential to become the worlds best golfer ever to win a major, including Sergio Garcia...

It's a brain thing.

[thehop]

Short game is not good enought to win a major. Look at the masters final round, tee to green he was far better than Mickelson, but still couldn't get the job done.

Doesn't seem to have that little spark needed for a major. His best bet is the US Open where there is a real advantage to driving the ball long and in the fairway.

[Forethat]

Short game is not good enought to win a major.

Sure it is. The problem is he can only execute it for 3,5 rounds.

[Siam Simon]

When he started winning worldwide around fifteen years ago I had him down for winning at least half-a-dozen majors in his career. There is still time for him to do this, but i think he has a different version of the same mental block that Monty always suffered from in the majors: Monty always let his tension erupt by falling out with the golf course, the day's weather or a spectator coughing at the wrong moment; Lee just seems to shrink mentally on the closing stretch as a way of expressing his tension. Both are classic examples of the Thai saying 'Don't think too much'. The major winners are able to just switch to autopilot and close out the task.

[tigerfish]

o.k. he didnt win a major this year, but he did come mighty close by being runner up at both the masters in augusta and the open at st andrews.

to top it off though, he did become world no. 1 today. the first european to do so since nick faldo in 1994.

not bad for a lad thats been stricken with injuries for most of the year.

[golfho]

Short game is not good enought to win a major. Look at the masters final round, tee to green he was far better than Mickelson, but still couldn't get the job done.

Doesn't seem to have that little spark needed for a major. His best bet is the US Open where there is a real advantage to driving the ball long and in the fairway.

+1. Actually anyone of the top 100 guys can win a major at anytime. Just takes four days of great play and that includes the most important part of the game (at the highest level) putting. Clock is ticking on westwood and what i mean is the longer he goes without winning a major the less likely he is to get it done. After a certain age the what if i don't do it this time, i may never get this chance again, etc thoughts start to creep in and make it harder. Tick tock tick tock.....

[chuckd]

o.k. he didnt win a major this year, but he did come mighty close by being runner up at both the masters in augusta and the open at st andrews.

to top it off though, he did become world no. 1 today. the first european to do so since nick faldo in 1994.

not bad for a lad thats been stricken with injuries for most of the year.

Jack Nicklaus came in second on 19 occasions in major championships, but everybody remembers him for the 18 times he won.

Westwood is good but he will only be considered a major champion when he becomes one.