Thursday 3 November 2016 16:14, UK
Nick Dougherty looks back at a solid start to the Turkish Airlines Open for Danny Willett and reflects on Lee Westwood's brutal assessment of his opening round.
Danny Willett has been looking for some confidence and to finish his round on a high note would have been exactly what he was looking for.
I saw Danny privately on the golf course early this week and he was disappointed with how things went for him last week, plus the fact he has fallen from top spot having had that Race to Dubai lead for so long.
"I thought at the start of play it was possible that we might see a 62 or 63 round this week and I think we still might."
He has also been feeling a bit vulnerable because his game is not quite where he wants it, but today he looks to have picked up a lot of that confidence he has talked about needing.
Quite a few of Willett's birdies were tap-in birdies, which just goes to show how in control he was of his iron play. It was good to see him finish on a high rather than fall away like he seems to have done.
Two under par may be a little bit behind at the moment but he's still in great shape heading in to the second round and, if he can find some fire here this week, he can still push those guys all the way.
Difficult day
I admire Lee Westwood's honesty after his round and how he says things how he sees it. He was disappointed with his long game out there but what he showed was his frustration at not being able to tie it up and finish off what could have been a good round of golf.
I think his new putting routine is simplifying things for him and taking his mind away from some tough times on the greens at the Ryder Cup and in recent months.
He has gone and done something about it and finished third in the first week he worked with the psychologist at the British Masters, but today really wasn't about his putting.
When he calms down he'll be able to pick some of the good things from his round and there were some positives from his day today.
Looking ahead
I thought at the start of play it was possible that we might see a 62 or 63 round this week and I think we still might, but the European Tour will play a big part in that.
When there's a new course on the European Tour there's always a little bit of uncertainty about how easy they want to make it, but I think they've done a good job with that so far.
Watch the Turkish Airlines Open throughout the week live on Sky Sports 4 - your home of golf. Live coverage begins on Friday from 9am.
