I`m not best in world, but not far off, says Westwood

Charlotte: Lee Westwood has never been one to blow his own trumpet, so he was pleased to have an opportunity on Tuesday to clarify a recent comment in which he appeared to claim he was the world`s best golfer.

After finishing runner-up to Phil Mickelson in the Masters at Augusta, Westwood was quoted as saying: "I`m playing the best golf of anyone. It`s hard to argue for anyone else. If you are (the best) you might as well say it. It builds confidence."Westwood was asked about that comment during a press conference here ahead of this week`s Quail Hollow Championship. "I`ve been out here long enough to know that things get just twisted around slightly to suit people," the Briton told reporters. "Somebody asked me, `tee to green, do you think you are the best player in the world at the moment`?" "And I said `the way I played at Augusta, which is the last time I played and the last time all the best players in the world got together, I led the greens in regulation, so it was very difficult to argue against that the last time we all played." "At least talking to you here now I can tell you the question I was asked and what I replied." Westwood has enjoyed a leisurely fortnight break since the Masters. Last week`s airline shutdown in Europe scuppered a holiday in Barbados, so he spent the time instead at home in the Midlands in England. Now he is back in the United States for this week`s PGA Tour event, as well as next week`s Players Championship in Florida. "I feel a bit rusty," continued the world number four, part of a star-studded field headed by Tiger Woods and Mickelson."After the Masters, I felt I needed a bit of a rest, so I`ve been switched off the last couple of weeks, but I think I`ll sharpen as the week goes on hopefully." "It`s nice to be back at Quail Hollow. It`s an old, traditional course that makes you think a lot. You have to drive the ball well." "All your game has to be in good shape and once you get on the greens, there`s some really fast putts out there. These are as quick as anything I`ve seen all year." Bureau Report