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Lee Westwood: British Masters win

That he has ma¿e such a huge improvement in such a short perio¿ of time is testament to the ability that Lee has. It is one thing to suggest an improvement to someone an¿ quite another for him to take it on boar¿, take it out on the course an¿ win on the European Tour.

Mark Roe on Lee Westwoo¿.
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Dunhill Links Championship
Live on Sky Sports from Thursday October 3

After a terrific Seve Trophy last weekend we are back to the business of stroke play again, albeit with a little difference, as our cameras head to St Andrews for the Dunhill Links.

The difference is that the professionals are playing with amateurs, many of them celebrities, but there is still the serious business of winning the largest share of a $5million prize fund.

One guy who will be among the favourites to do just that will be the last winner on the European Tour, Lee Westwood, who is enjoying a terrific season in 2007.

While I take great pleasure in watching all of the talent on the Tour these days, I have to confess I have been watching Westwood more closely than the others in recent months.

The reason for that is that I started working with him at the Open Championship back in July. We had a chat in the locker room at Loch Lomond the week before at the Scottish Open and I explained to him that in my new role on Golf Night, whether it had been live golf during the day on Sky Sports or the highlights four times a week in the studio, I had been watching a lot of golf.

I felt that I could now help him a great deal with his short game. I was lucky that my short game was a strength when I played on the European Tour and so when I went to someone like Westwood and offered to help him with his game, it helped that he had played with me a lot and knew I had a good short game.

I thought there were a few shots that I could show him and point out a few reasons why he was dropping shots. And I knew definitively that I could show him ways of playing those shots that would help him to stop dropping those strokes.

What I didn't account for was just how talented he is and how mentally strong he is, to actually change immediately the way that he played most of his short shots. He started trying out the things we talked about on the Thursday of the Open Championship and that is a very brave thing to do; I take my hat off to him in that respect and by embracing the changes, the progress has been swift.

In reports he was saying that it has saved him four, or even five, shots a week and that is a great compliment. I saw the difference immediately and, a few months down the line, I would say his bunker play is 70 per cent better than when we first started.

In all honesty we have only worked together twice, at the Open and at the British Masters at The Belfry. I send him the occasional text message too, telling him the shots that I have seen him play on television, to suggest a certain type of shot he could play in that situation or to congratulate him on good shots, and he can relate that back to a feeling.

It is very hard to teach somebody feel, almost impossible. But if you are able to describe it and demonstrate it, then it can be done. That is the biggest key, that I can play any of the shots that I am trying to teach him and then he can visualise it from me showing him.

That he has made such a huge improvement in such a short period of time is testament to the ability that Lee has. It is one thing to suggest an improvement to someone and quite another for him to take it on board, take it out on the course and win on the European Tour.

It has been a wonderful experience for me watching him do just that, and since I have been working with him he has had three top tens and he won at the British Masters.

It is clear to see from his ball-striking that he is the best tee-to-green player on the European Tour right now. His Achilles heel has been his short game and the lovely thing is that I still have 30 or 40 per cent more to give to him.

The result of an improved short game is the confidence that you have to go at every flag, knowing that no matter where you hit the ball, you will get up and down. At the British Masters he missed four or five greens and found tough sand shots, but he hit every one of them stiff.

You can tell he is excited about what is going on with his game, and when someone is excited, you look forward to practising more and that can only help. You practice longer and harder, and on the right things, and for Lee, that should only mean more success.

I am proud of what he is achieving, and I am proud that he is excited about his game again - it is a huge buzz and commentating on him now and watching him now is a real pleasure. I am so pleased for him, to see him playing so well, but it is pleasing for me too, to see him playing shots that he wasn't playing before.

He is calling me his 'short game coach' in interviews, but that's just a bit of a laugh really. I am just a friend, helping out a friend, and it is something I am more than happy to do. I will also be happy to see him win more and more tournaments, and hopefully that will include a major soon.