Injury dents Westwood’s shot at world No1 spot
RYDER CUP hero Lee Westwood has vowed to soldier on in the hope of overtaking Tiger Woods as world No1, despite suffering a recurrence of a calf injury.
Westwood needed treatment after shooting a two-under-par first round at the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship at St Andrews yesterday. The injury, which kept Westwood out for almost two months until last weekend’s Ryder Cup, forced the Englishman to consider abandoning the tournament.
But with top spot in the rankings up for grabs if he can secure a top-two finish, and Westwood only four points off the St Andrews leaders, he decided to play on.
“It’s difficult because I’ve never been injured before and don’t know how careful I’ve got to be, but if it had happened yesterday I would have pulled out,” he said.
“Playing two weeks in a row was probably too much in hindsight, I should have gone back to rehab. I don’t want to get back to where it was. It improved a lot, but it’s still not right. I can’t load my right side. I just want to get off it as quickly as possible. I’ve got my compression and ice machine with me and I’ll see the guys in the [European] Tour physio unit.”