Westwood Drops Foley as Instructor


Lee Westwood quietly terminated instructor Sean Foley at the end of 2013. The 40-year-old Brit began working with Foley, most notably Tiger Woods' swing guru, only seven months ago.

Westwood revealed the change this week in Pacific Palisades, Calif., where he's entered in the Northern Trust Open at Riviera Country Club. He carded with a 2-under 69 in the opening round Thursday.

Of dropping Foley, Westwood told Golfweek's Alex Miceli, "I just wanted to work on swing positions and stuff like that a bit more. I didn't feel like Sean coached like that, so it didn't really fit what I wanted to do."

Westwood is hoping for a return to his heydays in late 2010 when he held the No. 1 position in golf for 22 weeks. "I felt like I had the game that got me to world No. 1," said the 22-time European Tour winner with two PGA Tour titles.

"And I was working on stuff that I didn't work on back then, so it made sense to go back to what I was working on before."

Westwood hasn't yet appointed another instructor, saying he'll rely on his caddie, Billy Foster, for swing tips. The duo enjoyed great success before Foster lost his job because of injury in 2012.

But starting in December's World Challenge, Foster was looping again for Westwood, who's seeking his first victory since the European Tour's Nordea Masters in June 2012.