Friday 29 September 2017 15:14, UK
Lee Westwood admitted he was benefitting from his inside knowledge of the course after shooting a five-under-par 65 in the second round of the British Masters supported by Sky Sports.
The tournament host has yet to drop a shot after 36 holes at Close House Golf Club after he followed up his opening 66 with another flawless round to move to nine under for the tournament, three shots behind leader Tyrrell Hatton.
The 44-year-old Englishman shot up the leaderboard on Friday - after starting on the 10th hole - with three successive birdies from the 13th, the last of them coming via a 15-foot putt on the 15th.
His fourth birdie of the day arrived at the first hole thanks to a superb approach shot and he added another gain at the fourth, before finishing off his round with five straight pars.
"I'm very pleased, obviously," Westwood told Sky Sports. "I haven't made a bogey yet. I've played pretty solid stuff.
"Obviously I know my way around the golf course fairly well and I know the greens pretty well as well. I think a few of the lads will struggle because they are quite subtle, but I've putted on them a lot so I generally know which way they break and I've used that to my advantage.
"Some of the greens have got quite big undulations but others are quite subtle and you just have to know which way it goes, because sometimes it goes in the opposite direction to the hill.
"Even the shorter ones can sometimes move in the opposite direction to what you think so there is certainly home advantage."
Despite having plenty of experience of the course, Westwood revealed he has changed his game plan for it a little this week.
"You obviously play it a lot more conservatively, whereas teeing it up Saturday afternoon with the lads, the driver comes out a lot more than it has the few days here," he added.
"I've just been hitting three-wood and rescue off tees to try to find position, and just plot my way around from there."
Westwood is now looking forward to the weekend as he goes in search of his 24th European Tour victory.
"I'm in a good position," he said. "Obviously I would have liked to have picked up a couple more shots coming in there but didn't birdie the par-five up the hill and missed a couple of other chances.
"Yeah, nine-under is a good spot and I'll have a lie-in on Saturday morning."
Watch the British Masters throughout the week live on Sky Sports Golf. Live coverage continues on Saturday from 11.30am.
