Beware of the injured Westwood

PHILIP REIDfinds the world number three nursing an injury and a slight grievance that he hasn't scored better

YOU DON’T expect a man with an injured ankle to move with stealth, but that’s how Lee Westwood has trudged around the Old Course these past two days. Although he is nursing an injury which requires physiotherapy and ice being applied to the area, he heads into the weekend perfectly poised to launch his assault for a first major title.

Yesterday, Westwood put the head down and plodded his way around the old links. The result? A remarkable, bogey-free round, comprising 17 pars and a solitary birdie.

That 71 left Westwood on 138, six under par, and very much in the thick of it. What’s more, the Englishman was a tad disgruntled his good play hadn’t been better rewarded.

As he put it, “I just didn’t get as much out of my round as I should have done, as yesterday was the case too. I shot 67 (on Thursday) and it should really have been a 64, and shot 71 today and it should really have been a 66.

“It felt like I hit quite a lot of good putts that didn’t go in. I’m in a good position for the weekend, I think.”

That, he certainly is.

Westwood ruptured his plantaris muscle in his lower leg a number of weeks ago but only discovered the extent of the injury at the French Open a fortnight ago. He remains clueless about when he actually sustained the injury.

“No, I can’t remember doing it. It’s a rare muscle and not very important, but if you rupture it there’s swelling, and that’s gone down into my ankle.”

In normal circumstances, a patient would be asked to simply put their feet up for six to eight weeks to recover. That was not an option for Westwood.

“If it was anything but a major, I wouldn’t be here,” he said before arriving here this week.

Of how he has had to be careful not to aggravate the injury, Westwood explained: “You have to be wary of it. There’s certain points out there where (you have to be careful), there’s short, steep slopes where my foot gets into that position that it stretches out more. That’s when I get a twinge up in my calf.

“I don’t know what it is doing but it doesn’t feel very comfortable. I’m a bit wary and cautious of it.”

Westwood has defied the injury – while admitting, “I’ve walked six or seven miles today, my ankle swells up and just gradually gets sore as the day goes on”. But he has manoeuvred his way into a challenging position. For a man who has gone 3rd-3rd-2nd-16th in the last majors going back to last year’s British Open at Turnberry, there is a sense that deliverance is overdue.

As he put it, “I’m behind where I ought to be. I should really be 10-under at worst. But I didn’t play last week (he was forced out of the JP McManus Invitational and the Scottish Open due to the injury) and I didn’t really hit any balls, either. But I knew I was hitting the ball well, so there was not really any need to do too much practising. I’m just a bit rusty on the greens, which I might expect. We can sharpen it over the weekend, and no matter what the conditions are, I’ve still got a couple of good scores in me.”