W

orld number two golf player Lee Westwood plans to celebrate his 38th birthday with a victory at the Indonesian Masters starting Thursday.

The Englishman will celebrate his birthday on Sunday, April 24, which is also the final day of the inaugural US$750,000 showpiece staged at the Royale Jakarta Golf Club.

“It will be nice to win because my birthday is on Sunday but it will be difficult as there are a lot of strong players out here in Asia and you have to play well to win,” Westwood said in a release sent to The Jakarta Post.

The former world number one will headline a stellar field of Asian Tour stars with three-time Order of Merit champion Thongchai Jaidee of Thailand, Gaganjeet Bhullar of India and Siddikur of Bangladesh.

Westwood has won more than 30 international titles with victories in Malaysia, Macau and Japan and he will be looking to extend his stellar record with a win in Indonesia this week.

“It has been quite a while since I played in Indonesia. This is a big tournament in Asia. I like to play all over the world and consider myself a global player. I’m playing in Korea next week so it is good to start my Asian campaign this week. I like to play everywhere in the world if I can,” said Westwood, who was crowned Europe’s number one in 2000 and 2009.

Westwood played a nine-holes practice round with 16-year-old prodigee Miguel Tabuena of the Philippines and Rory Hie of Indonesia on Tuesday and tipped his hat to the young Filipino and the Indonesian ace who he predicts will have a bright future.

“I enjoyed playing with Miguel. We went out to play nine holes and he looks to be a very good player.
I also played with Rory [Hie] and they are both young men with a lot of talent.”

When asked if they were the future of Asian golf, Westwood replied, “You have to think so but I don’t like to put too much pressure on the lads. They should go out there and enjoy themselves. They got enough talent to be around for a few years.”

Rory Hie, who will lead the local challenge this week, hopes to put the experience of playing with Westwood to good use this week.

“There are a lot of really good players but I’m pretty excited to see how my game compares to these legends. It was nice seeing how Westwood hits the ball in practice.

“It was a good learning experience for me and if I play my best, I think I will finish in the top-10,”
said Rory, who in 2009 became the first Indonesian to earn an Asian Tour card.