Westwood says Birkdale is one of fairest Open venues

By Tony Jimenez

SOUTHPORT (Reuters) - Royal Birkdale represents one of the fairest tests on the rota of British Open courses, European Ryder Cup points leader Lee Westwood said on Tuesday.

"It's strengths are it's incredibly fair," the 35-year-old Briton told reporters on Tuesday. "Most of the fairways are flat and it tests most aspects of your game.

"If you're a good driver of the ball, you can take on a few of the holes. It's obviously had some length added to it which makes it quite a demanding test."

Westwood said the 7,173-yard, par-70 links course on the north-west coast of England was one of his favorite British Open venues.

"It's probably in the top three for me personally," said the Englishman.

"Carnoustie is a big favorite of mine and then here and Muirfield would be my other two favorites, with Royal Lytham very close behind."

ONE FLAW

Westwood, however, believes Birkdale has one outstanding flaw.

"I think everybody has accepted something has gone wrong with the 17th green," he said. "It is just out of character with the rest of the course.

"It is not to the standard of the rest of the greens. The rest are brilliant."

Westwood, a winner of 29 tournaments worldwide, goes into Thursday's first round possessing one of the most consistent recent records in world golf.

He has recorded eight top-10 finishes in 12 completed tournaments including third place in last month's U.S. Open at Torrey Pines, California.

"The U.S. Open gave me a good deal of confidence, the fact I got into contention and didn't back off," he said.

"Any time you experience something like that in golf and the experiences and emotions, it's got to be something you can fall back on in future tournaments. I'm hoping to do that this week."

Editing by Mark Lamport-Stokes)