Draw working against Westy

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July 15, 2010

Lee Westwood shot a superb 67 despite playing in the worst of the conditions at St Andrews on Thursday.

World number three Lee Westwood bemoaned the luck of the draw after he got the worst of the conditions in the first round of the 139th Open at St Andrews on Thursday.
Nevertheless, the Worksop golfer still managed a five-under 67 to stand just four shots behind leader Rory McIlroy.
The 37-year-old thought he would be even further behind after waking up to witness calm conditions in the morning which made scoring easier than the wet, blustery afternoon he had to face.
“It was definitely tricky out there for me,” he said.
“This morning was a piece of cake, you could kick it around in a decent score.
“The course was defenceless and I expected someone to shoot 62 for the first time [in a major].
“The difference for the early and late starters was huge.
“As it does around here the wind blows and we (the afternoon starters) got unlucky with the weather – but that’s the nature of links golf.
“One half gets it good, the other doesn’t, so I have to be reasonably happy with a 67 in those conditions.
“Hopefully we might get a break with the weather tomorrow morning.”
Westwood is playing with a calf injury which ideally requires six to eight weeks to heal but the Englishman was not prepared to miss the Open or next month’s US PGA Championship.
His right leg is causing some discomfort and it started to become an issue late on in his round.
“It’s sore as it gets worse as the day goes on and my ankle swells up, that’s really the problem,” said Westwood.
“I started to feel my calf towards the end of the round but I’ll just have to keep having treatment and hope it doesn’t get any worse.
“I’m off to see the physio. I’ve been there every day and I’m going to get them to do some soft tissue work on it.”