WGC-HSBC CHAMPIONS TOURNAMENT:LEE WESTWOOD was delighted to show exactly why he is the new world number one after the 37-year-old carded an excellent opening round of 66 at the WGC-HSBC Champions tournament in Shanghai to trail leader Francesco Molinari by a shot.
Westwood, who on Monday ended Tiger Woods’ 281-week reign at the top of the world’s rankings, fired seven birdies and a bogey in his six-under-par effort at Sheshan International GC to stay hot on the heels of Ryder Cup team-mate Molinari.
While Woods’ well-documented off-course problems may have contributed to the American’s decline, Westwood’s place at the pinnacle of the game is reward for a consistent couple of years that have seen the 37-year-old from Worksop also come agonisingly close to landing his first major.
“It’s nice to go out there and show everybody that there is a particular reason why I got to that stage. I think I did that today,” said Westwood.
“The target was just to go out there and enjoy myself and see what happened. But I was pleased with the way I hit it despite not having played a lot.”
Starting on the 10th, birdies at the 13th, 15th and 16th quickly saw Westwood moving in the right direction in Shanghai and he almost moved to four under at the par-five 18th but an eight-footer lipped out.
He maintained his momentum on his back nine and birdied the first before planting his tee shot at the par-three sixth to within six inches of the flag for a two.
Westwood’s only bogey of the day came at the next but he bounced back to drain a tricky putt on the ninth and finish with two consecutive birdies to end the day on six under par, one back from Molinari.
Westwood has also been hampered by ankle and calf injuries this season that had kept him sidelined for almost a month prior to the HSBC Champions, making his achievement all the more impressive.
However, he revealed he now has much more confidence in his body.
“My ankle’s better, and my calf feels about 85 to 90 per cent there,” Westwood added. “As the round goes on, it starts to ache and I start to feel like I’m losing my control and power.
“But it’s there. I’ve still got the power in it, something which I didn’t have a few weeks back. I can still sort of mentally do that and keep control of my swing.”
Molinari just edged out the Englishman at the top of the leaderboard following the first round as a seven-under-par 65 proved to be the best round of the day.
The 27-year-old also picked up three shots over his opening nine holes before chipping in for a three at the third, sparking a run of four consecutive birdies that lifted him clear of the field.
“Whenever I come over here, I always play on great courses. I played here twice before and it’s just the golf course that I like. I think that’s what it is,” said the Italian. “I holed that chip on the third hole after missing it long with my second shot. It was a tricky, downhill chip, so it was a very good shot.”
Japan’s Yuta Ikeda, Swede Henrik Stenson and Korean Noh Seung-yul are tied for third on five under following rounds of 67 while Woods is also in the hunt a shot further back after a solid 68 opened his account.
The American lies in a tie for sixth place alongside Luke Donald and Spaniard Pablo Martin on four under par.
Defending champion Phil Mickelson shot a 69 to lie in a group of nine players that also features Ross Fisher, Richie Ramsay and British Open champion Louis Oosthuizen, but two bogeys in his final two holes soured what would have been an encouraging start for Pádraig Harrington.
Having reached the turn in 34 courtesy of three birdies and one dropped shot, the Dubliner made further headway at the second and sixth to move to four-under but a six-five finish pegged him back for a 70.
Rory McIlroy also opened with a 71 while US Open champion Graeme McDowell could only manage a 74. Martin Kaymer shot 72.
First round scores
at Sheshan International GC, Shanghai (Irish in Bold, British unless stated, par 72)
65 Francesco Molinari (Ita)
66 Lee Westwood
67 Seung-yul Noh (Kor), Yuta Ikeda (Jpn), Henrik Stenson (Swe)
68 Tiger Woods (USA), Luke Donald, Pablo Martin (Spa)
69 Richie Ramsay, Ross Fisher, Adam Scott (Aus), Ryan Palmer (USA), Louis Oosthuizen (Rsa), Katsumasa Miyamoto (Jpn), Phil Mickelson (USA), Fredrik Andersson Hed (Swe), Y.E. Yang (Kor)
70 Hunter Mahan (USA), Richard S Johnson (Swe), Retief Goosen (Rsa), Ian Poulter, Pádraig Harrington ,
71 Michio Matsumura (Jpn), Anders Hansen (Den), David Horsey, Matteo Manassero (Ita), Jaco Van Zyl (Rsa), Heath Slocum (USA), Robert Karlsson (Swe), Ben Crane (USA), Rory McIlroy , Rickie Fowler (USA), Carl Pettersson (Swe)
72 Nick Watney (USA), Martin Kaymer (Ger), Kyung-Tae Kim (Kor), Bill Haas (USA), Ernie Els (Rsa), Edoardo Molinari (Ita), Jason Bohn (USA), Marcus Fraser (Aus), Stuart Appleby (Aus), Michael Sim (Aus), Ryo Ishikawa (Jpn), Robert Allenby (Aus), Miguel Angel Jimenez (Spa), Tetsuji Hiratsuka (Jpn), K J Choi (Kor), Shunsuke Sonoda (Jpn), Richard Green (Aus), Tim Clark (Rsa)
73 Peter Hanson (Swe), Anthony Kim (USA), Arjun Atwal (Ind), Paul Casey, Gregory Bourdy (Fra), Andrew Dodt (Aus), Darren Fichardt (Rsa)
74 Pariya Junhasavasdikul (Tha), Charl Schwartzel (Rsa), Graeme McDowell , Alistair Presnell (Aus), Alvaro Quiros (Spa)
75 Camilo Villegas (Col), Rhys Davies, Thaworn Wiratchant (Tha), Kang-Chun Wu (Chn), Hiroyuki Fujita (Jpn), Mardan Mamat (Sin)
76 Brendan Jones (Aus), Shigeki Maruyama (Jpn), Simon Khan
77 Danny Willett
78 Kiradech Aphibarnrat (Tha), Bill Lunde (USA)
79 Li Chao (Chn), Hao Yuan (Chn), Liang Wen-Chong (Chn)
