Westwood wants to earn wins

2008-01-29

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By Andrew Mullen Special to PA SportsTicker

Dubai Order of Merit leader Lee Westwood is confident of continuing his recent run of form at this week's Dubai Desert Classic and finally converting an impressive run of top-10 finishes into victory.

The Worksop golfer has made an excellent start to the Ryder Cup year and is reaping the rewards of a new fitness regime after picking up his 10th top-10 finish in 11 outings at last week's Qatar Masters.

After back-to-back second places finishes in Shanghai and Abu Dhabi, Westwood claimed fifth place in Doha to move up to 19th on the world rankings and is ready to take on another strong field, including world number one Tiger Woods, at the Emirates Golf Club starting on Thursday.

"My confidence is as high as it's ever been. I am playing very well and week in, week out I'm in contention," said Westwood, who leads both the world and European Ryder Cup points list. "I got another top 10 last week so I am delighted with the way things are going.

"Dubai is one of the best tournaments we play on tour, all the players look forward to it. A lot of the players do their winter practice here because the facilities are that good. The tournament is usually fantastic, the greens are normally immaculate and it's a good test. It's a great feel because Tiger is coming over, which means lots of world ranking points."

After being disappointed with his starts in Shanghai and Abu Dhabi, where he came just sort of chasing down substantial final-round leads, Westwood led after the first round in Doha before again slipping off the pace with a one-over-par third round.

He responded with seven-under-par 65 but was unable to match the pace of immaculate winner Adam Scott.

"I am very satisfied with my two weeks' work so far, I have been hitting the ball well," added 34-year-old. "I'm just trying to carry on as I am going. I would like to be stroking the ball a bit better, I know what I have got to work on."