Dunhill Links: Lee Westwood's frustration eased by hole-in-one
Thursday 26 September 2019 20:26, UK
Lee Westwood was happy to "eliminate the putting" on the eighth hole at Carnoustie as he atoned for a frustrating day on the greens with a hole-in-one.
Westwood's spirits were sagging a little as he covered his first 16 holes of the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship in one under, with two birdies, one bogey and several missed opportunities behind him as he stood on the tee at the 189-yard par-three eighth - his penultimate hole of the day.
After initially pulling a seven-iron, Westwood opted to take one more club and it proved an inspired decision as his perfectly-struck tee shot pitched a few feet short of the flag, rolled out and disappeared into the cup for a thrilling ace.
The English veteran celebrated with Luke Donald, Jamie Redknapp and Ronan Keating, his team-mate for the week, and he admitted afterwards that his girlfriend and caddie, Helen, had some crucial input into the club selection.
"She said a six-iron looked better," said Westwood. "It was just a nice swing, came off bang on line, and if you hit it on line enough often, occasionally they go in.
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"I was a bit frustrated. I played pretty good and hit a lot of good iron shots all day, and I'd not made any putts. And then on eight, I just hit it a bit higher to take a bit of distance off it and it landed perfect on the green, ran out and just caught the right edge. Eliminated the putting on that one!
"I've had two aces playing with Ronan. I had one last year playing at Wentworth on the fifth and one in Austin earlier this year. It's always nice to see them go in. I could see it all the way, so it was very satisfying."
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