Westwood will battle back from Open exit – Foster

Worksop’s Westwood was a surprise casualty of the halfway cut at Royal St George’s last week despite leading the tee-to-green stats and only being eight shots adrift of the leaders after two rounds.

Many people’s favourite to end his long wait for a major on home soil, Westwood had to head home early before watching his stablemate at International Sports Management, Darren Clarke, claim the Claret Jug.

But his bag man for the last two years Foster – who has been linked with becoming Tiger Woods’s new right-hand man – believes Westwood will come back stronger than ever at the US PGA Championship at Atlanta Athletic Club next month.

“Obviously Lee was very disappointed last week, especially having led the greens in regulation statistics,” said the Bingley caddie. “He just got nothing going with the putter.

“But he’s gone away and worked on a few things and we all know Lee; he’s there or thereabouts most weeks and it will already be behind him.”

Clarke’s victory was the third major victory of the year for Chubby Chandler’s ISM, creating the possibility of the ‘Chubby Slam’ being completed at Atlanta next month.

Much was made of the feelgood factor generated by Charl Schwartzel’s Masters win and Rory McIlroy’s US Open triumph rubbing off on Clarke and the rest of the Chandler stable.

As world No 2, Westwood is the highest-profile player on ISM’s books to still be majorless, and his most trusted lieutenant on the course expects him to tap into the positive vibes.

Foster said: “The whole group have fed off the last few months and I know Lee can feed off what Darren achieved at Sandwich.

“If Lee keeps doing what he has been doing, keeps knocking on the door, his time will come. He works as hard as anyone, as Darren does, and his time has come. Hopefully, it will be Lee’s next.”

Westwood’s early departure from Sandwich meant Foster was unable to join Clarke in his night-long celebrations on the south east coast on Sunday.

Foster carried Clarke’s bag for many years until leaving to join Sergio Garcia at the end of 2007.

And Foster finds himself at the centre of speculation surrounding the identity of Woods’s new caddie following the former world No 1’s decision to dispense with the services of his long-time bag man Steve Williams.

Having also caddied for Seve Ballesteros, Foster is renowned as one of the best in the business and the fact that he once stood in for Williams to carry Woods’s bag at the 2005 President’s Cup has only increased the speculation. Woods said of his partnership with Foster in ‘05: “I like his personality it’s very competitive. Very feisty!”

But Foster last night said he had had no contact from the Woods camp, was not looking to move on and remained very happy in the employment of Westwood.

Williams, meanwhile, admits he has lost “a tremendous amount of respect” for Woods after the star ended their 12-year partnership.

Williams caddied for Woods as the American won 13 of his 14 major titles, but Woods announced it was ‘time for a change’.

Their relationship had been strained by the sex scandal surrounding Woods which broke in November 2009, and New Zealander Williams said: “I think anybody in my situation would say they didn’t have total respect and that respect would have to be earned. Obviously this situation is certainly not earning my respect.

“I told him when we first met back up in 2010 at Augusta that he had to earn my respect back. He was aware of that and he would know right now I’ve lost a tremendous amount of respect for him.

“I stuck with Tiger through his difficult period. That was the most difficult period that I’ve ever been through. I took it probably a lot better than my wife and family did, but there’s no way that I should have been put through that.

“I never really got pardoned from that scandal so the timing of it is extraordinary. You could say I’ve wasted two years of my life.”