magic moments - westwood's bow (1997)
Westwood and Faldo - key pairing in 1997.
By Phil Casey, PA Sport
Lee Westwood & Nick Faldo v Justin Leonard & Jeff Maggert, Valderrama 1997 Two years ago at Oakland Hills, Lee Westwood was one of the key figures in Europe's record victory over the United States. Winning four-and-a-half points out of five, Westwood became one of only six European players to remain unbeaten in all five matches in the Ryder Cup. Yet just seven years earlier he was a nervous rookie with only one European Tour title to his name, looking to the legendary Nick Faldo to steer him safely through his debut at Valderrama. Like most golfers of his generation, Westwood looked up to six-time major winner Faldo and captain Seve Ballesteros decided to pair the two Englishmen together, rather than play Westwood alongside close friend Darren Clarke. "It was good, that week Nick set the all-time points record as well so that's in the back of your mind, he has more experience than anyone else of winning Ryder Cup matches," Westwood told PA Sport. "He was very easy to play with, and very easy to relax with. He said if there was anything I needed to know, feel free to ask him. We'd played practice rounds together and I knew that if I had any questions he was the man to ask." Play on the opening day was delayed by a massive thunderstorm which left parts of the course under water, and there was no chance of getting back on schedule when the first three fourball matches all went to the 18th hole. Westwood and Faldo were beaten on the last by Fred Couples and Brad Faxon, but Ballesteros kept faith with the pairing for the afternoon foursomes, which saw them pitted against Justin Leonard and Jeff Maggert. "We were one up most of the day and then we stole a hole when we were getting close to finishing," Westwood added. "I hit a good tee shot down the 16th and Nick hit a great iron shot, I think a six iron, to what I thought was about 15 feet. The Americans were about 40 feet away." With the light fading fast there was no time to finish the hole however, and Westwood was left to sleep on what looked certain to be a putt to win the match. "It's not too bad when you are two up and they are not threatening a birdie and you're quite close, it never stopped me from sleeping anyway," he insisted. The following morning Westwood duly practised a similar length putt on the putting green, only to discover there was one small problem. "I practised that putt on the green beforehand the next morning and got out there and it was the wrong distance!" Westwood added. "It was only about 10 feet and I suppose it was a result to see it five feet shorter than I thought it was. It was getting a bit dark, I didn't realise it was as short as it was." Undaunted, Westwood duly holed the putt to seal a 3&2 victory and a few hours later was celebrating another win, over Tiger Woods and Mark O'Meara, as Europe went on to retain the trophy.
