Westy chasing 'prestigious' title

Westwood: Worth being there

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Lee Westwood is hoping that both his current strong form and the absence of the two biggest names in golf can help him overcome a poor record in the WGC Accenture Match Play, which starts in Arizona on Wednesday.

The Worksop golfer has never progressed beyond the second round of the event but hopes for more this year thanks to the sort of performances which have placed him fourth in the world rankings.

His cause has also been helped by the decisions of Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson not to play - Westwood therefore being seeded second behind Steve Stricker.

Westwood said he is relishing the chance to play match play, although he admitted that his poor record in the event has led him to consider skipping the event in the past.

"I think it's worth being here because obviously it's a prestigious title, there's plenty of world ranking points and we don't get to play much match play," said the 36-year-old ahead of his first-round meeting with another Englishman, Chris Wood.

"Everybody's quite capable of shooting a 63 or 62 out there and that can happen against you, so you need a few breaks.

"You're going to play poorly one round this week and hopefully when you do the other guy plays a little bit worse.

"But on the reverse side of the coin you can shoot 65 and lose."

Priorities

Perhaps as a result of his poor performances in the past, Westwood has held two of the Match Play's less-than-flattering records.

Five years ago he suffered what was then a record-equalling seven and six defeat to Davis Love III in the second round.

That was while the event was at La Costa near San Diego, where he also lost in 2006 to Scott Verplank at the eighth extra hole - matching the record for the longest ever match in the event.

Westwood's number one priority this season is, of course, a first major but, asked where he would rank a maiden World Golf Championship victory, he said: "Just behind a major and the money list.

"I like the money list (he won that for a second time in November) because it shows consistency over a whole year. But it's certainly only just a tier below that."

Despite his current form, Westwood is not taking his first-round opponent lightly.

While Westwood was securing number one status on the European Tour last year, Wood was establishing himself as the continent's Rookie of the Year.

The 22-year-old from Bristol also made an impression the last time he played match play, at September's Vivendi Trophy in Paris - Wood top-scoring with 4 1/2 points out of five in Britain and Ireland's victory over Continental Europe.

They are two other all-European duels in the first round, with Luke Donald playing Graeme McDowell and Oliver Wilson up against Miguel Angel Jimenez, who beat Westwood in a play-off for the Dubai Desert Classic two weeks ago.