I'm trying to play like I don't care, Westwood says

Atlanta: Lee Westwood has proclaimed the 93rd PGA Championship the major of laughter and weight loss. Having tried everything else to get across the line in a major the world No 2 is playing this one for laughs, and comes in nine pounds lighter than he was at last month's Open.

The insouciance of Tuesday's PGA press conference was a marked improvement on Westwood's melancholic deliberations at Royal St George's, where he missed the cut by a shot and then undertook a radical review of his approach to the game. "I'm a lot more light-hearted, relaxed," Westwood said.

"It's difficult to put into words, really, other than to say I'm trying to play the tournament like I don't care." The opposite is true, of course. Westwood has been brought to this paradox by Dr Bob Rotella, who has cornered the market in solving the problem of golfing neurosis. In Westwood's case the affliction manifests itself on the greens. Westwood had a session on the couch on Tuesday, working towards a future free of mental friction.

His 65 at the final round of the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational suggests progress is being made. To the naked eye there is no discernible difference to the putting stroke, save for a loosening of the grip and a slight adjustment in the positioning of his left hand. The shift is in attitude. "You'll see a routine that I'm comfortable with, but you'll see me not trying," he said, before apologising for reaching the limit of his vocabulary.

"There are no words in the English language to articulate not trying any better. Sorry. I've been trying to think of some but I can't. Without swearing, I don't think it is possible."

Westwood has returned to the gym to aid the feel-good process. He is more than half a stone lighter and has posted a personal best in the dead lift, 354lb, or a "Chubby [Chandler] and a quarter" as he put it.

We are used to Westwood's dead-pan delivery, but not two days before the last major of a season. It helped him cope with the inevitable question about his majorless status couched in the familiar way: "Do you mind being referred to as the best never to have won a major?" To which he replied: "It's good to be the best at something, I suppose."