Light-hearted Lee bares his darker side

DUBAI : Lee Westwood was so at ease with himself during the Dubai World Championship that every press conference turned into a laugh-a-minute banter-fest with the world's golf writers.

But his jovial nature on the outside disguised a ruthless, darker side which enabled the player to make a flawless capture of the $2.75m prize for winning both the tournament and the inaugural Race To Dubai.

The manner of his victory was imperious - 23-under-par, a five-shot winning margin and a course record final round of eight under par 64 - and all achieved against the cream of the European Tour.

SUN spot

It had been knockabout stuff all week with Westwood, who had the normally staid European Tour press corps rolling in the aisles when he told The Sun's golf correspondent that his grinding second-round 69 was down to "intestinal fortitude".

He quickly added: "Now there's quote for you. Get that in your paper," to more laughter.

To his credit, the man on the receiving end, David Facey, rose to the challenge and Westwood's jibe appeared in the UK's biggest selling paper the next day.

After his victory, when asked if it was tough on Rory McIlory, the 20-year-old who he pummelled into submission with four rounds of immaculate golf - 66, 69, 66 and 64 - Westwood paused for a second and then said wryly: "What's he got going for him? Twenty years old. Millionaire already. Hits it miles. Nice-looking girlfriend. Drives a Lamborghini. Yeah. It's hard, isn't it?"

Westwood also revealed he had no problems sleeping the night before the biggest payday of his life. "Me? Never. I'm known on tour as half-man, half-mattress."

Shoe sale

Then on his plans for the cheque - "seems like a large one" - he glanced at his wife who was sitting at the back of the room. "I don't know. What are the plans Laurae? Jimmy Choo have got a sale on, haven't they? We'll find something to do with it."

Behind all the quips, Westwood, who had bestrode the fairways of Jumeirah Golf Estates for four days with the calm swagger of a man fulfilling his destiny, revealed that caddie Billy Foster had helped put the steel into his game.

"Billy said, and it's a terrible word to use, ‘you've got to bully them on the golf course'. And it felt like it, yeah. It was a massive feather in my cap when Rory said he was glad to get away from me after the first day," Westwood said, at last being serious.

"Rory will learn from that. There's nothing better for me than for a competitor to say they are glad they are not playing with me.

"Billy said that if I started playing like he knew I could play, they would be the ones looking up at the board worrying about me. And that's what I tried to do.

"Other things have gone on. On the first day Ken Brown [former tour player] walked across the course and said it was like watching a machine because I was hitting every fairway. Little things like that I fed off."

The ease with which Westwood dominated the chasers, including multiple major winners in Padraig Harrington and Geoff Ogilvy, McIlroy, Sergio Garcia and weekend playing partner Ross McGowan, who rattled off five birdies in a row on the back nine on Sunday and still couldn't make an impression, was Tiger Woods-like in its execution. So does Westwood know how Tiger feels now? "Yes. If he plays like that every week," he said.

Now world number four, the 36-year-old has Tiger in his sights, though he doubts he can overhaul him quickly. "You think I can outstay him? Maybe when I'm about 60."

And, like he had been all week, the new steely Westwood was suddenly back on the banter.