Westwood looks to Houston to give him lift-off ahead of Masters

Lee Westwood is seasoned enough to know there is little point in worrying about the form of his rivals at the top of world golf going into the first major of the year.

So while the likes of Woods and Rory McIlroy take their turn to rest up this week ahead of the Masters next Thursday, the 38-year-old Worksop golfer will be concentrating on the shape of his game at the Shell Houston Open, the PGA Tour’s last stop before Augusta.

“I didn’t watch it,” said Westwood of Woods’s long-awaited return to the winners’ circle.

“I had two weeks (off) and I didn’t watch any golf at all. I’m not a big watcher of it.

“I know it’s great for publicity and for the fans watching it to have all the best players playing well at once. It’s a marketing man’s dream and it’s good for golf.”

Westwood has been in strong form himself, with a 29th-place finish at Doral earlier this month his worst return in six events this year. He also has three top-four finishes. He did not place undue stress on his game during his fortnight off, combining short-game drills with fitness sessions in the gym.

“My short game is a lot sharper,” said Westwood, after his bid to win the Dubai Desert Classic in February collapsed when he fluffed a chip on the 72nd hole.

“You look at the short game stats, the scrambling stats and bunker stats and things like that, and if you’re high up in those then you can maximize your scoring chances. If you miss greens and you’re able to get up and down then you’re going to bring your scores down. That’s led to more consistency for me.”

Westwood insists his focus this week is entirely on Houston. He also revealed he did not stop off for a practice round at Augusta.

He said: “It’s a nice place to go and soak up the atmosphere with nobody there and get some work done, but the course isn’t really reflective of how it’s going to be on Thursday morning next week.”

Fresh from a 25th-place finish at the Trophee Hassan that belatedly got him onto the Race to Dubai standings, Danny Denison begins the Sicilian Open today alongside fellow Yorkshiremen Richard Finch and John Parry, the latter making his first appearance on the European Tour since mid-January.