"You know you're going to be on the wrong side of it [the draw] often enough, so when you're on the right side of it, you've got to try to make the most of it."
Thursday 1 October 2020 19:09, UK
Lee Westwood admitted that the later starters had the better side of the draw after grabbing the early lead at the Aberdeen Standard Investments Scottish Open.
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Westwood made two eagles and five birdies on his way to a blemish-free 62 in the Rolex Series event, giving the Englishman a one-shot advantage.
Cold and damp conditions made for challenging scoring conditions for the morning wave, while Westwood was the standout performer when the weather improved for afternoon groups.
The 25-time European Tour winner followed a close-range eagle at the third by birdieing the fifth and holing a 25-footer for another eagle at the seventh, before making three birdies in a row from the 12th and picking up another at the par-five 16th to move top of the leaderboard.
"I didn't put myself under too much pressure all day," Westwood said. "I played solidly. We got the good end of the draw, there's no doubt about that, in the afternoon lot.
"But you've got to make the most of it when it does happen to you. That's links golf and you know you're going to be on the wrong side of it often enough, so when you're on the right side of it, you've got to try to make the most of it.
"Drove the ball well. Iron shots were good. I've been in a good groove since the US Open, where you had to be disciplined. I took that discipline from there to here, aiming away from flags when I needed to and gave myself a lot of nice looks uphill for birdie today."
Westwood's closest challenge comes from Joost Luiten and Sweden's Alexander Bjork, who birdied five of his opening six holes and added four birdies in a six-hole stretch on his second nine to post a eight-under 63.
"It was kind of a bit of a weird round," Bjork said. "I started like a flyer with five birdies in a row the first six holes and then I missed a couple of short putts.
Got out of it a bit, then all of a sudden I made two really long ones and then I was back in. I missed like a three-footer on my 8th hole and then I made like two in a row that were like 20 meters. So you never know what's going to happen."
Watch the Aberdeen Standard Investments Scottish Open throughout the week live on Sky Sports. Live coverage continues on Friday from 11.30am on Sky Sports Golf and Sky Sports Main Event.
