Westwood drops Stockton as putting coach

JOHNS CREEK, Ga. -- Amidst the flurry of recent major champions under the International Sports Management umbrella, the most notable absentee from a list that includes Louis Oosthuizen, Charl Schwartzel, Rory McIlroy and Darren Clarke is Lee Westwood. In the run-up to this PGA Championship, the world number two turned to sports psychologist Bob Rotella and putting guru Dave Stockton, himself a two-time PGA champion.

Already, however, that has changed. Westwood has decided to "dump" Stockton's more technical approach in favor of what Rotella calls "total unconsciousness" over the ball.

"I heard Frank Nobilo talking about Lee's work with Dave," says Rotella. "But he's dumped all of that. We're going for totally unconscious. And he's really rolling the ball nicely.

(Related: Dave Stockton demonstrates his putting method)

"I want Lee to have the same attitude with his short game that he has with his long game. And he is feeling good about his chipping and pitching. I think he really understands that he won a lot more when he wasn't so obsessed about the technical aspects of everything."

-- John Huggan