Westwood and McDowell joint leaders at Maybank Malaysian Open

Lee Westwood fired seven birdies for a six-under 66 to share the lead with Major winner Graeme McDowell at the Maybank Malaysian Open at Kuala Lumpur Golf and Country Club. - SS KANESAN/The Star

KUALA LUMPUR: Not even the unpredictable wind conditions could blow a “relaxed” Lee Westwood off course.

And when the dust had settled on the first day of the Maybank Malaysian Open at the Kuala Lumpur Golf and Country Club (KLGCC), the Briton managed to get his title defence off to a fine start – firing seven birdies for a six-under 66 to share the lead with Major winner Graeme McDowell.

The Ryder Cup winning pair hold a slim one-shot lead over England’s Tommy Fleetwood, South Korea’s Kang Sung-hoon and Danny Chia, whose sublime 67 had the home fans dreaming of a local golfer winning the national Open for the first time since its inauguration in 1962.

Two-time European Tour winner Alejandro Canizares was a further stroke adrift in joint sixth after signing for a 66 alongside England’s Richard Bland, Denmark’s Anders Hansen and two-time Asian Tour winner Prom Meesawat of Thailand.

But it was the 41-year-old Westwood who looked every inch a champion as he began his quest for a record-equalling third Malaysian Open crown.

The Englishman, who teed off from the 10th in the morning session, reeled in four birdies on the 12th, 13th, 16th and 17th holes to make the turn at four-under 32.

The 23-time European Tour winner picked up one more shot at the third, but bogeyed the sixth for his only blemish of the day after missing a five-footer.

But Westwood birdied the very next hole before capping his round in style by draining a 20-foot putt for his seventh birdie on the par-4 ninth.

“Really good start, I’ll take that!” said the former world No. 1.

“I putted very nicely and started the ball on line well. I left a couple short in the middle when I was fooled by the grain, but overall I’m very happy. It’s probably the toughest I’ve ever seen this golf course play.

“It’s (the course) in very similar condition. The wind just made it that little bit harder – not the fact it’s blowing particularly hard, but that it’s changing direction. It gets very confusing,” added Westwood, who likes to de-stress by singing on the course.

“I’m always very happy and have a tune ready. It’s usually whatever (caddie) Billy’s (Foster) singing in the morning and we stay with that all day!”

Not one to be outdone, McDowell matched Westwood blow-for-blow. The Northern Irishman’s brilliant round contained seven birdies, including two in his three closing holes, and a lone bogey which coincidentally was at sixth – the same as Westwood’s.

McDowell stressed that it was important for him to keep his emotions in check to cope with playing under humid conditions.

“I’m pretty happy. I hit the ball great today, drove it well and gave myself a lot of looks for birdies,” said the 35-year-old, who won the 2010 US Open. “Generally, I’m very, very happy with that start.

“This morning, I was really trying not to over-react to any mistakes I made. It really is too hot to get mad out there, so you have to keep your emotions under control and obviously stay hydrated and cool and try to embrace it.”
-thestar online.