'It's all about being fresh for the masters'

DUBAI : After Lee Westwood first won the European Tour Order of Merit in 2000 he quickly, in his own words, "faded into obscurity". There seems little chance of history repeating itself.

Now 36, and with the inaugural 2009 Race to Dubai tucked under his belt, the world number four (and de facto number three in the absence of Tiger Woods) will begin his 2010 campaign in Abu Dhabi today in calm, focused and confident mood.

It will be only the second time he has competed in the first of the annual "Desert Swing" trilogy, but he takes comfort from knowing that two years ago he was pipped to the title only by an exceptional performance from Martin Kaymer.

"Yeah, I can feed off that," he told XPRESS. "From what I remember the course was pretty good to me. It's a course for long straight driving and the rough was up when I played before and it's up this year as well.

"I like that. Accurate players should be rewarded and inaccurate ones should be punished. That's the way it should be and it suits my game."

Westwood will also play in the Qatar Masters next week and the Desert Classic back in Dubai. On Monday he will also turn out in the Al Naboodah Pro-Am at Dubai Creek. It's a very busy start for a man who makes no secret of the fact his focus for 2010 will be on the majors, after coming third in two last year and seeing the Claret Jug slip from his grasp in a heart-breaking Turnberry finale.

"Yes they're a very big priority. I tried to set my schedule, as I did last year, so that all my practice is a build-up for the majors.

"The start of the year is all about being sharp and fresh for the Masters [in April].

"There's a lot of travelling. Here, then Houston, Tucson and Florida and places like that. There's a lot of backwards and forwards so it's a case of getting to Augusta still fresh but sharp.

"You can play too much. It's a juggling act, a fine line. Before you might see me play eight tournaments in a row but now you'll be lucky to see me play four. The end of last year was the only time I did that."

And now he is beginning with three in a row. Why? "It's a great time to be out here. There's not a lot of travelling between the tournaments and the practice facilities are perfect," Westwood said. And having left a snowy Worksop on Friday "the weather's a lot better too" added the Englishman.

Back at Jumeirah Golf Estates this week to open the new Fire course, Westwood recalled his achievement when he conquered Earth at the same complex just two months ago with a virtuoso six-shot victory over the cream of Europe, with just a hint of irony.

"Rory [McIlroy] played the Fire course yesterday and he liked it. He said it's easier than Earth, but I shot 23 under round there so I don't know what he's talking about," said Westwood.

GB and Ire unless stated *Denotes amateur

Hole 1

0850  Othman Al Mulla* (SA), Steven Jeppesen (Swe), Rick Kulacz (Aus)

1155  Soren Kjeldsen (Den), Robert Karlsson (Swe), Martin Kaymer (Ger)

1205  Rory McIlroy, Henrik Stenson (Swe), Sergio Garcia (Spa)

1215  Camilo Villegas (Col), Ian Poulter, Soren Hansen (Den)

1225  Richie Ramsay, Simon Dyson, Edoardo Molinari (Ita)

1245  Mark Brown (NZ), Nick Dougherty, Shane Lowry

1315  Ahmad Al Musharrakh* (UAE), Stephen Gallacher, Marcus Fraser (Aus)

Hole 10

0730  Alvaro Quiros (Spa), Metteo Manassero (Ita), Thomas Bjorn (Den)

0740  Geoff Ogilvy (Aus), Lee Westwood, Paul Casey

0750  Anthony Kim (US), Darren Clarke, Graeme McDowell

0800  Todd Hamilton (US), Colin Montgomerie, Ross McGowan

0810  Francesco Molinari (Ita), Miguel Angel Jimenez (Spa), Oliver Wilson

0820  Gonzalo Fdez-Castano (Spa), Paul Lawrie, Thongchai Jaidee (Thai)

0850  Richard Sheridan, Jose Manuel Lara (Spa), Mikael Lundberg (Swe)

1155  David Howell, Alexander Noren (Swe), Damien McGrane

1225  Jeev Milkha Singh (Ind), Richard Green (Aus), Jamie Donaldson

1255  Ricardo Gonzalez (Arg), Jeppe Huldahl (Den), S.S.P. Chowrasia (Ind)