Lee Westwood takes blame for defeat

• Englishman takes responsibility for 5&4 hammering
• Paid price by being dropped for afternoon session
• “I played poorly and Thomas played well”

Lee Westwood has taken the blame for he and Thomas Pieters’ 5&4 thrashing at the hands of Dustin Johnson and Matt Kuchar in this morning’s Ryder Cup foursomes.

The English/Belgian pair – two of European captain Darren Clarke’s three picks – trailed from the very first hole of their match, covering the front nine in 40 blows in the alternate shot format.

Read more -> Westwood starts mind games with USA

Consequently, despite being in the anchor match, they were beaten with two other matches still on the course, as Europe slumped to a first-ever 0-4 whitewash in the opening session of the match. Indeed, you have to go all the way back to 1975 to find the last time a team representing this side of the Atlantic was shut out in the opening session.

“I played poorly and Thomas played well” – Lee Westwood

As the most experienced Ryder Cup player on the European side, Westwood was expected to lead by example for his young teammate but failed to deliver.

CONTINUES BELOW…

He ultimately paid the price for his poor performance by being dropped by his best pal Clarke for this afternoon’s fourballs matches. Pieters kept his place but in the company of Rory McIlroy.

To Westwood’s credit, however, he has come out and shouldered the blame for the defeat, the heaviest of the morning.

“I hit a couple of wild drives early on and you can’t afford to do that” – Lee Westwood

“I will take responsibility,” said the Englishman. “I played poorly and Thomas played well. He made some putts when we needed to. I hit a couple of wild drives early on and you can’t afford to do that. It’s a tough game to play and you want to get momentum.”

It’s unclear when Westwood will next feature but it will need to be tomorrow if he wants to have any hope of overtaking Sir Nick Faldo as the all-time record points-scorer in the match. He is currently two shy of the six-time major winner’s haul of 25 points.

Follow @BunkeredOnline

Lee Westwood: When will we see him again?

When do you think we will see Lee Westwood feature again in this year’s Ryder Cup? Tomorrow morning? Tomorrow afternoon? Or Sunday’s singles session? Leave your thoughts in our ‘Comments’ section below.

Michael McEwan is the Deputy Editor of bunkered and has been part of the team since 2004. In that time, he has interviewed almost every major figure within the sport, from Jack Nicklaus, to Rory McIlroy, to Donald Trump. The host of the multi award-winning bunkered Podcast and a member of Balfron Golfing Society, Michael is the author of three books and is the 2023 PPA Scotland 'Writer of the Year' and 'Columnist of the Year'. Dislikes white belts, yellow balls and iron headcovers. Likes being drawn out of the media ballot to play Augusta National.

Deputy Editor