Lee Westwood speaks out about decision to have his wife caddie for him at The Open

LIV Golf star Lee Westwood has opened up on his call to have his wife, Helen, caddie for him. Westwood, 52, looks to be rolling back the years at The Open, currently being held at Royal Portrush in Northern Ireland. Aftera solid start on Thursday, he is currently finding himself tied for 21st on one under as day two gets underway.

Westwood, who came under fire for joining the Saudi Arabian-backed league in 2022, will be hoping to go one better than he did at St Andrews in 2010 when he came runner-up. That result is his joint best ever in a major, with Westwood also finishing in T2 at the Masters in 2010 and 2016, as the game's most prized trophies continue to escape him.

Yet there's one aspect of his golfgame that's generated almost as many headlines as his near misses, and that is his choice of caddie. Westwood and Helen Storey are believed to have started dating in 2015, and in 2017, Helen stepped into help her partner on the fairway.

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Speaking of the union, Westwood said to the BBC recently: "She wanted to do it. She loves the weather over here, the fact that she needs two pairs of hands and sometimes three."

He added: "No, she caddied for me in the qualifying, and I prefer to have her caddieing for me whenever she can. We have a good record round here from finishing fourth six years ago.

"Yeah, it was an easy decision for me to make. Probably harder for her. She'd probably rather be at home riding a horse."

Speaking on The Therapy Crouch podcast, Helen explained what drew her to the task of carrying the bags for her husband, despite not being all that familiar with the technical side of the sport, saying: "I knew I could handle the weight of the bag and what have you, but I didn’t have a bloody clue what I was doing."

It was a professional marriage that drew instant success, with Westwood claiming his 24th European Tour victory in their third tournament as a partnership. Westwood has also described how his wife's guidance helps to calm him down when things aren't going his way on the links.

"Sometimes, when I’m kicking off and having a bit of a moan and a whinge, she looks at me and goes, ‘Are you finished?’" Westwood said.

It's a pair that clearly works, as observed by US star Bryson DeChambeau. The two-time US Open winner, 31, described Helen as Westwood’s "secret weapon" back at the Players Championship in 2021.

"I think Helen is a big part of his (recent) success," he said. "She’s keeping him steady and level-headed and she’s a rock. Keeps his mind focused on the right things, and she’s been awesome for him, and that’s one of his secret weapons, I think."

Westwood’s 28th Open marks his first since 2022, the same year he left the PGA Tour to defect to LIV Golf. Targeting his maiden major, Westwood recently touched upon his love for Royal Portrush.

"I love The Open Championship and I love Portrush," Westwood said Thursday. "It’s one of the golf courses where if it wasn’t The Open and somebody said, ‘Do you want to go and play Portrush this weekend?’ I’d probably go. And there’s not many courses like that."