Mr and Mrs Westwood honeymoon at US Open

Newlyweds Lee and Helen Westwood will spend their honeymoon at this week's US Open after the veteran golfer and his caddie were married Friday in Las Vegas.

England's Westwood, a three-time major runner-up, plays up the sunny Southern California oceanside view at Torrey Pines, but admits his new bride might later need a post-wedding celebration where she isn't working.

"Should do, shouldn't it? I keep telling her that," Westwood said Wednesday. "But I think she's got her eye on somewhere where I don't take the golf clubs."

Westwood, 48, and Storey, 44, were married at the Bellagio Hotel in Las Vegas after plans fell through for a wedding in England following a three-year engagement.

"This week's going to be new. It's going to be husband and wife, so it might change," Westwood said. "She might give me the elbow a bit more often, but it's a very relaxed relationship anyway. We just enjoy ourselves, trying to have a good time out there."

It wasn't a run-away Vegas wedding, but it helped that the Nevada city is a popular wedding spot.

"There was a huge amount of planning that went into it, about four weeks," Westwood said. "It was amazing how easy it was to do. They obviously have a lot of weddings in Las Vegas, and it's a finely tuned machine.

"Picking up the licenses was no great trauma. I think we were in and out in about 10 minutes. Fortunately, Helen said I do."

Westwood and his wife first worked together as player and caddie in 2017 and she has attended psychologist sessions to get to know him better.

"Mentally she's very good for me. She knows me better than anybody." Westwood said. "She has sat in with sessions with my psychologist and keeps me in the right frame of mind and concentrating on the right things."

- Game at high level -

That has paid off. Westwood, ranked 27th, was runner-up in March in back-to-back weeks at Bay Hill and the Players Championship.

"Every aspect of my game is at a high level," Westwood said. "I putted well in those two tournaments in March, and short game was pretty good, which it feels like it is now.

"I'm hitting the ball well. Mentally, I'm in a good place. There's no reason why I shouldn't play well this week. I know the course well. I've proved myself 'round here before."

In the 2008 US Open at Torrey Pines, Westwood finished third, one stroke out of a playoff between eventual winner Tiger Woods and Rocco Mediate. Westwood missed a birdie putt on the 72nd hole and watched Woods make his to force a playoff.

"That's one of the loudest cheers I've ever heard on a golf course," Westwood said.

Westwood heard screams in Vegas when he went to see his first National Hockey League game, a playoff victory in a packed 18,000-seat arena that revived the thrill of fans at sport for him.

"Everybody was just happy to be there and having missed watching live sports," Westwood said. "So the atmosphere was incredible."