Westwood hits out at abuse
Lee Westwood hit out at the “shameful” abuse hurled at him during the Ryder Cup at Valhalla.
“That’s the only negative part of the week for me,” said Westwood after the United States completed a 16 1/2 to 11 1/2 victory to deny Europe a fourth straight success.
“I have been abused from start to finish. Some of the stuff that’s been said to me this week is shameful. To me that’s not golf.”
The United States’ previous victory at Brookline was also marred by abuse from the spectators but Westwood added: “1999 was fine for me. The last day it got a little out of hand but before then it was largely fine.”
Westwood, who complained on Friday about Boo Weekley whipping up the crowd while European players still had shots to play, failed to win any of his four matches, and also saw Padraig Harrington and Sergio Garcia fail to shine.
None of the trio won a match – Harrington gaining just half a point for the second Ryder Cup in succession and Garcia one point – but Westwood was quick to pay tribute to the American side after losing to Ben Curtis in the singles.
“I thought the pairings were pretty well sorted, we rotated well and when I saw the singles draw I quite liked it,” added Westwood, joint top points scorer in the previous two contests.
“Hats off to the Americans for playing good. Ben certainly played well today, he must have been five under par in winning.
“And I thought Steve Stricker’s putt on 18 last night was crucial (he holed for birdie on the 18th to deny Paul Casey and Garcia victory in the fourballs). We would have been within a point rather than two.”
