Rory-Westwood Say Awkward Remarks Of Past Year Are Behind Them...Well Until Rory Added Another

Rex Hoggard on Sunday's anticipated WGC semifinal matchup between Rory McIlroy and Lee Westwood, former stablemates under Chubby Chandler's watch.

“We don’t spend as much time together as we did when we were in the same management group, but that’s understandable,” Westwood said. “But there’s nothing strained about the relationship between the two of us.”

Nor does Westwood imagine the possibility of becoming No. 1 will weigh on him Sunday, an opportunity somewhat mitigated by the fact he’s been there before – for 22 weeks, in fact – while McIlroy has not.

“I’ve been No. 1 a couple of times,” Westwood said. “He may be thinking about it, but my main goal is to play as well as I’ve been playing tomorrow morning and try and win that match.”

McIlroy had a similar take and also dismissed the notion that he would struggle against Westwood, who some considered something of a mentor to the Ulsterman. When asked if he considered the Englishman “a big brother,” McIlroy left no room for ambiguity.

“To be honest not really because you’re going to each tournament to try and win and beat each other. That’s what I always tried to do,” McIlroy said. “I’d look at Darren Clarke or Nick Faldo (as a big-brother type).”

Faldo!? Big brother? More like Grandad!

Brian Keogh reviews some of the past volleys between the two, most of them coming from Westwood.

Many remember his remarks at the Masters last year when McIlroy drove into the cabins left of the 10th and lost the green jacket.

“I’ve played with Rory a lot. When he gets under a bit of pressure he does have a pull hook in his bag,” Westwood said somewhat uncharitably.

Asked about McIlroy’s six shot lead at the halfway stage of the US Open last June, Westwood said: “He’s had leads before.”

Good humoured banter can end in tears sometimes and when asked if he’d always felt the need to take the “precocious” McIlroy down a peg or two over the years, Westwood played the humour card.

“I’d have to go and get a dictionary and find out the definition of precocious first before I answer that question,” he said, flashing a grin.

Comments

[carnaptious and camsteerie]

Hasn't the media obsession with owgr has been done to death yet? At the end of the day, yer only as good as the next event.

[Ivan Morris]

Seve's kill or be killed sentiments are spot on. No wonder he is regarded as the GREATEST match player. Make no mistake about it. It will be all out war between Rors and Westy today. Deep down, neither of them will want to lose. Whoever loses will detest himself. In both of their minds this is THE final. Consequently, I'd fancy whoever comes through a much less emotionally charged other semi to win outright but you never know in match play. Over 18-holes, anything can happen and to define an entire career because of one round of match play golf is foolish.

[thusgone]

who really cares what westwood thinks about rory? and how authentic could their friendship have been if a simple change of management killed it?

[Kevin]

Really don't see any animosity between the two. Lee probably jerked Rory's chain a few times but nothing overboard. I like Rory but I do sense a little bit of oversensitivity in him, similar to Tiger. He'd be smart to let a lot of these comments go by the wayside(ex. Jay Townsend and their tweetgate, old girlfriend statements, Westwood U.S.Open statements,etc...) He's still young so give him time to learn.

[CapSize]

Oversensitivuty combined with arrogance -- don't tell me we are about to go through all that again, just as one exponent seems to be on the fade.

Lee Westwood is a grounded, self-deprecating type; it seems unlikely he was ever an emotional mate of Rory, and he has been around long enough to be able to sight the Tiger-lite tendencies from a mile off. He probably liked the kid well enough to wish him a different path. He may be molre forgiving than I am -- I have already had enough of the McIlroy "personality." I can still wish him well in his golf and root for him in selected outcomes, but I have no more interest in hearing what emanates from his mouth, win or lose. He's a cocky little snipe as far as I am concerned,

[calvin coolidge]

Lee Westwood mocks someone else for poor play in big events? Well, with all his major success I guess he has the right. Jealous pork slab (not that I'm not).

[d.b.cooper]

I think Player rates right there with Seve as a match player, maybe even better.

As far as Westwood getting close to "# 1", again, who cares, it won't be legitimate until he wins a major. Same with Donald.

[Innocent Bystander]

Doubt Lee was kidding about needing to look up the word "precocious" in the dictionary. Wasn't it documented last year that he's never read an entire book in his life?

Other than that, zzzzzzzzzzzzzz. This isn't exactly Tiger vs. Phil.

[elf]

@innocent, this is probably more real than Tiger v Phil. Reality, it's rare for two alpha competitors to get along well during their playing days. All these guys (Lee, Rory and Tiger and Phil) like to apply the needle, and haven't heard they're overly sensitive about taking it. (note needle is diff then people being a jerk)

(and it's Poulter that doesn't read books)

[Ivan Morris]

Rory can have no complaints about losing to Hunter Mahan - he did not play well enough. Final day score, USA 2; Europe 0. It's a warning. The worm could be turning. ITYS - McIlroy or Westwood would not win in the afternoon matches - I said that they'd knock all the jizz out of each other in the morning.

[Innocent Bystander]

Elf,

Westwood not only doesn't read books, he's proud of it. It was in The Times (of London) last year. Not sure how you get more real than Tiger's caddie calling Phil a prick and telling a New Zealand paper that Tiger wouldn't mind that he did. Also, Tiger and Phil are actually all-time greats who made real marks on the history of the game, whereas Lee left his putt to make a playoff at the 2008 US Open two feet short, and that's about it. So, again, yawn.

IB

[Matt Sollis]

Being a big Rory Fan.. Firstly i'd like to congratulate Hunter on what was a great display throughout this weeks matchplay event. Secondly with regards to some of the distasteful comments made above about both Lee and Rory. Having watched the China Golf Challenge where Rory, Lee, Poulter and Liang played, showed the real qualities of what these golfers are about. At the end of the day banter is the British way and a lot of the time isn't understood by our contemporary's over the pond. These players are completely different away from serious golfing competitions and media remarks made are not a true reflection of personalities. I'd much rather watch a cocky young Rory who can actually back it up with stuff most pro's can only dream about than watch a bunch of Americans shown on tv with no personality (Phil aside) who seems the most precocious thing about them is there efficiency to be shown on live tv.. dispensing of spit from their mouths.
Perhaps the course's over there are dry and need the additional watering.. but seriously.. really is disgusting.
As for the coverage of the Matchplay itself... did anyone on the American Tv network understand the format.??