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Betfair Big Interview: Lee Westwood talks to Bill Elliott ahead of his Masters tilt

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Betfair's golf columnist talks to Worksop's finest who tees it up at Augusta this week as an [85.0] shot for Masters glory

Sometimes a man just has to be extra patient as he chases significant success. It is a thought appreciated by England's Lee Westwood as he contemplates what just may lie ahead of him in the 2008 United States Masters.

This will be Westwood's ninth Masters. In the eight to date he has a top finish of sixth (1999) and missed three halfway cuts. A year ago he finished in a tie for 30th, not great but not bad either.

The big thought here, however, is that he returns a golfer restored to the world top 20, a flurry of top 10 finishes over the last several months suggesting that he is a damn sight closer to caressing properly the ability that made him an outstanding prospect in the first place. He also returns to Georgia fitter and leaner, his waist reduced and looking good.

"Yeah, I feel good, " he tells me. "Good about my game and my life. Eighteen months ago I weighed 95 kilos and had a 40 inch waist. Now the waist is down to 34 inches and I weigh nearly 98 kilos. I'm heavier but I'm heavier with muscle rather than flab.

"It's a massive difference. It means I don't get as tired sometimes and it means that I'm hitting the ball a lot further, about 15 yards further with my driver and if you're hitting a seven iron in to a green rather than a five iron then it makes this game a lot easier.

"You need distance at Augusta these days. Since they stretched the course (now 7,445 yards) I reckon it's three shots harder than when I first played there. I'll give you a couple of examples...at the seventh I used to hit a three iron down the fairway off the tee, now it's a whack with a wood and at the 17th I'd be hitting a nine iron approach to the green but now it's likely to be a five iron. It's tough, really tough but I love courses that challenge you properly.

"There is proper, penalising rough there now and the upslopes you hit into off the tee really stop the ball. It used to be very much a drawer's course but now a straight drive or a fade is better. I like it. A lot. I like anywhere that tests you to the maximum as a player. I've been playing well since last summer now and so my confidence is good too. I know I haven't won since last year but I'm not bothered about that. I've won enough (29 significant titles so far) to know it's not because I'm afraid of it. I don't think I'll feel like throwing up this time if I'm in contention come Sunday."

Apart from his fitness regime he also has reviewed his coaching options and returned to the man who first set him on his way, his dad John, a former maths teacher. "It was in Dubai early last year that I thought I was having too many thoughts about the way I was swinging it. I had my own feelings and then I had all these others I'd been given so I thought I'd go back to looking after myself and having my dad as well. He's always had a good pair of eyes and, of course, he knows me better than anyone."

He has also employed former Euro Tour pro and now Sky TV analyst Mark Roe who has turned himself into a specialist short game teacher. The results are plain to see. Lee's short game never was a thing of beauty and it still isn't but though not yet world class, it is at least class. The effect this has had on his general confidence is even more significant.

Back in 1999 he discovered what it was like to stand on the tenth tee at Augusta and see his name high on the leaderboard. It was a boyhood dream come true but the next nine holes were more nightmarish than dreamy. An hour after he had limped home, dropping shots here, there and practically everywhere, I came across him sitting forlornly in the clubhouse. I offered consolation and he replied: "You know, when I found myself in with a great chance on that tenth tee I felt like throwing up."

Last week I rather unkindly reminded him of this but he just grinned back at me. "I've never felt as nervous on a golf course before or since but, tell you what, if I get in the same position this time I won't feel like throwing up again. Excited and determined yes, but not sick with nerves. That's the big difference between then and now."