A CONCERNED Lee Westwood suffered a recurrence of his calf injury yesterday, but is expected to continue his bid to replace Tiger Woods as world number one at St Andrews today.

Three days after enjoying another Ryder Cup victory, Westwood hurt himself a third of the way into his opening round of the Dunhill Links Championship at Kingsbarns.

The 37-year-old battled on to score a two-under-par 70, only four behind leaders Martin Laird, Thomas Bjorn, Ricardo Gonzalez and Maarten Lafeber, but immediately went off for treatment and to speak to his physical trainer Steve McGregor.

At that point he expressed fears that he might be advised to pull out of the event and take another extended break – the Ryder Cup was his first competitive golf since August 6 – but word came from his management company later that he had been told it was okay to carry on.

“I felt it coming off the seventh tee,” said Westwood, who needs a top-two finish on Sunday to end Woods’s reign. “It was a really steep downslope and it’s really aching now like I’m doing too much too soon.

“Playing two weeks in a row was probably too much in hindsight, I should have gone back to rehab. I don’t want to get back to where it was. It improved a lot, but it’s still not right.

“I can’t load my right side. I just want to get off it as quickly as possible. I’ve got my compression and ice machine with me and I’ll see the guys in the Tour physio unit, then give Steve a ring.

“I was playing great before the injury and I’ve not had a chance to practice. That’s frustrating in itself. I’m just not able to work hard.”