Has Lee Westwood Turned it Around?

Has Lee Westwood Turned it Around?
The Former No. 1’s Strong Showing at the BMW PGA in England Continues a Streak of Solid Play, Positioning Him Well for the U.S. Open











Mark McLaughlin May 25, 2013 8:10 PM




COMMENTARY | Lee Westwood has made some bold moves in 2013 to improve his chances in the majors and have more of an impa
ct on the PGA Tour.



The results so far have been mixed as the Englishman has tumbled out of the top 10 of the Official World Golf Ranking. I owe part of the drop to quirks in the system as Westwood has carded four straight top 10 finishes in the U.S., including ties for eighth at both the Masters and the Players Championship.

What Westwood hasn't done lately is win and it will take a trophy to get him back in the conversation. He has a great chance to end a victory drought stretching back to last June at this week's BMW PGA Championship in Surrey, England.

Playing in just his second European Tour event of the season, Westwood fired a 5-under-par 67 Saturday to enter the final round just one shot off the lead held by Spain's Alejandro Canizares.

Despite the string of high finishes, Westwood admits that his ball-striking, long the strength of his game, could be better.

"If my long game starts to come together, I could be dangerous,'' Westwood said Friday before his breakout third round.

A long maligned short game has been the difference of late. In fact, Westwood was so efficient at scrambling for pars in the second round at Wentworth that playing partner Ernie Els remarked, "Bit of a short game wizard now."

The numbers back up Els' description. Westwood ranks sixth on the PGA Tour in scrambling even with a middling putting performance. That compares to a scrambling rank of 189th in 2012.

"Even Johnny Miller last week said something about my short game. I nearly fell over," Westwood said after the third round.

Such touch will come in handy three weeks from now at the U.S. Open at Merion Golf Club, where the USGA is sure to grow the rough around the greens to offset shorter approaches.

Making his first trip to England since moving to Palm Beach Gardens, Florida last fall, Westwood thinks concentrating on the PGA Tour was the correct decision.

"It's pretty cold and wet out there, so I'm not regretting the move right now."

A Westwood win, which would be his first in 20 tries at the BMW PGA, would deflect some of the negative press surrounding the European Tour's signature event.

The controversy started earlier in the week with Sergio Garcia's "fried chicken" comment about Tiger Woods and grew worse when Euro tour chief George O'Grady made matters worse in trying to cover for Sergio. While Garcia got himself back into contention Saturday, several of the tour's biggest stars - Rory McIlroy, Graeme McDowell, Ian Poulter and Luke Donald - didn't survive the cut at a rainy, chilly Wentworth Club.

"The Mechanic" Back in Business

Miguel-Angel Jimenez made his first cut at the BMW PGA Championship since breaking his leg in a skiing accident in December.

Dubbed "The Mechanic" for his love of exotic autos and eccentric behavior, Jimenez shot a 5-under-par 67 Saturday to vault into contention at 4-under through three rounds.

Jimenez still has the game to contend on the European Tour - he won the UBS Hong Kong Open in his last start before the injury - but he could really make an impact on the Champions Tour. The Spaniard turns 50 next May and I could see him winning often as Bernhard Langer has done.

Mark McLaughlin has reported on the PGA Tour for the New York Post, FoxSports.com, Greensboro News & Record, and Burlington (N.C.) Times-News. He is a past member of the Metropolitan Golf Writers Association. Follow him on Twitter @markmacduke.