Westwood hoping for hard test

Lee Westwood has fired out a statement of intent ahead of Thursday's 93rd USPGA Championship at Atlanta Athletic Club, Georgia.

With the 7467-yard par-70 course set to provide a stern test, Westwood has insisted his game is ready for the challenge.

Following a solid week and a final round 65 at the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational the Englishman said, "The way I'm hitting the ball, the harder the better really."

Displaying an excellent game from tee-to-green he said, "I haven't hit many bad shots. I've missed probably three fairways so that's good golf round here and I've not missed many greens either."

Taking a leaf out of current US Open Champion Rory McIlroy's book, Westwood has been seeking the advice of putting coach Dave Stockton.

On the evidence at Firestone it seems it is already paying dividends at the right time for the world number two.

He says, "I made a couple of nice 15-footers on the front nine and then made a nice one on the last of about eight feet for par.

"It's moving along nicely. I don't want to get ahead of myself, but today, I felt a lot more confident on the greens and saw the ball setting off on the line I'd picked a lot more often."