Lee Westwood endured a rollercoaster third round at The Open Championship on Saturday, and the former world No. 1 was motivated by some brutal words from his wife

Lee Westwood was spurred on by some harsh truths from his wife – and a tuna sandwich(Image: Andrew Redington/Getty Images)

Lee Westwood produced a sensational back nine at The Open Championship to boost his hopes of qualifying for next year’s tournament, and a brutal comment from his wife and a tuna sandwich midway through the round might have been the turning point.

Westwood started the third round at Royal Portrush at three-under-par, but the LIV Golf star would quickly fall to one-over by dropping four shots in his opening six holes. Somehow, the former world No. 1 steadied the ship and came home in 29 to finish the day in a tie for 14th place at five-under-par.

The top 10 finishers in Northern Ireland on Sunday will receive an invitation to next year’s Open at Royal Birkdale, a huge prize for Westwood, who had to earn his ticket to Portrush in a 36-hole final qualifier due to his plummet down the world rankings.

The 52-year-old has his wife, Helen Storey, on the bag this week, and she had some harsh truths for her man after a nightmare start on Saturday before a welcome offer of sustenance that lifted his mood.

“Yeah, there were some pearls of wisdom coming out of Mrs. Westwood’s mouth today,” the Ryder Cup legend revealed. “What did she say? Something about not expecting to be four-over through six. But there’s a few birdie chances, I think she said.

“And then on the 10th tee it was the key one: ‘Do you want half a tuna sandwich?’ If you start appealing to my stomach, then there’s only one way for me. That’s that way.”

A roar of laughter emanated from the mixed zone when Westwood added: “Nothing gets me going like a tuna sandwich. Yeah, I’m going to have a tuna sandwich on the first tee tomorrow.”

Westwood soaked up the adulation after a sensational back nine at Royal Portrush(Image: Andrew Redington/Getty Images)

Westwood knows this could be his last appearance at The Open, and he was philosophical throughout his early-round struggles.

“I’ve set no goals for this week at all whatsoever,” he said. “That’s why I really wasn’t that disappointed when I was four-over through six because I thought, it’s The Open Championship, how many more am I going to get to play? You might as well enjoy it.

“There’s no point in being four-over through six and sulking and being miserable and thinking, ‘there goes my Open Championship chance this year.’

“You might as well just enjoy the surroundings, enjoy the feedback from the crowd because they’re great, and just plot along and try and figure out what was going wrong with my swing and why I was four-over through six, [and] turn it around.

Westwood had a long relationship with his former caddie Billy Foster, but in recent years, he has often had his wife carry his bag.

He explained the decision to call on her services at Portrush earlier in the week, telling reporters: “She caddied for me in the qualifying, and I prefer to have her caddying for me whenever she can.

“We have a good record around 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.”

Westwood will start Sunday’s final round nine shots adrift of runaway leader Scottie Scheffler, who at 14-under-par holds a five-shot lead over second-placed Haotong Li. Matt Fitzpatrick and Rory McIlroy will play in the penultimate group, starting at nine-under and eight-under respectively.