Lee Westwood said he had sensed he was in trouble when his mother phoned him shortly after he had finished playing thePing Anser Forged Irons
of the Qatar Masters on Sunday.


He had been caught swearing on television after hitting his driver off the 16th tee and the first person to call him after he signed for the closing 3-under par 69 that put him in a tie for 12th place was his highly concerned mother.

"My mum was the first person on the phone, and she said, you might want to apologize," said Westwood, who actually went on to birdie the 16th.

He said he had no idea that TV had captured what he had said, opining, "It's amazing how sensitive these microphones are."

And then he quickly turned to Twitter to help him make his apology widely known Ping Anser Forged Irons


"Sorry about swearing on the 16th tee. Came off like a rocket and thought it was going further! Wash my mouth out! Perils of live TV," he tweeted.

Westwood, who is in the Emirates ahead of Thursday's tee-off in the Dubai Desert Classic on the third and final leg of the Gulf swing, preferred not to comment when asked if he would care to repeat what he had said.

"There are worse words, actually," was all he would say.

Westwood, currently No 3 in the World, is one of the strong favorites to win in Dubai this week, almost certainly because of his solid record at the Emirates Golf Club. It includes a second-place finish two years ago in the Dubai Desert Classic Ping Anser Forged Irons

But against the 38-year-old Englishman winning this week is his so-far sluggish entry into the 2012 season.