Augusta Makes Me Feel Like 'Someone Who Smokes 60 Cigarettes' - Helen Westwood
Lee Westwood's wife and caddie Helen has described the extremities of the undulations at Augusta National, saying she feels like someone who smokes 60 cigarettes a day after walking the hilly course.
In particular, Helen hates walking the 8th hole as the long par-5, the course's longest hole at 570 yards, is uphill the entire way. "Augusta is definitely the toughest course I’ve caddied on, and the thought of going up 8 always fills me with absolute dread,” she told the Sun. "Honestly, it slopes up at about a 45-degree angle the whole length of the hole. I’m a fitness instructor but by the time I get to that green I’m totally out of breath. I feel like someone who smokes 60 cigarettes a day!”
She also joked how husband Lee's bag was so heavy compared to Shane Lowry's that she thought he put a couple of bricks in it.
“People don’t realize how hilly Augusta is, because you don’t get a proper perception of all the ups and downs from TV. Before we start, I always go through the bag asking stuff like, ‘Do you really need this water bottle? There’s water on every tee’. We played a practice round recently with Shane Lowry and I lifted his bag and mine was much heavier. I’d swear Lee was hiding a couple of house bricks or a few iron weights in there if I didn’t check it so thoroughly.”
Helen and Lee tied the knot in June 2021 in Las Vegas prior to the US Open at Torrey Pines. The Englishman currently ranks 65th in the world.
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Elliott Heath is our News Editor and has been with Golf Monthly since early 2016 after graduating with a degree in Sports Journalism. He manages the Golf Monthly news team as well as our large Facebook, Twitter and Instagram pages. He covered the 2022 Masters from Augusta National as well as five Open Championships on-site including the 150th at St Andrews. His first Open was in 2017 at Royal Birkdale, when he walked inside the ropes with Jordan Spieth during the Texan's memorable Claret Jug triumph. He has played 35 of our Top 100 golf courses, with his favourites being both Sunningdales, Woodhall Spa, Western Gailes, Old Head and Turnberry. He has been obsessed with the sport since the age of 8 and currently plays off of a six handicap. His golfing highlights are making albatross on the 9th hole on the Hotchkin Course at Woodhall Spa, shooting an under-par round, playing in the Aramco Team Series on the Ladies European Tour and making his one and only hole-in-one at the age of 15 - a long time ago now!
Elliott is currently playing:
Driver: Titleist TSR4
3 wood: Titleist TSi2
Hybrids: Titleist 816 H1
Irons: Mizuno MP5 5-PW
Wedges: Cleveland RTX ZipCore 50, 54, 58
Putter: Odyssey White Hot OG #5
Ball: Srixon Z Star XV
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