Lee Westwood has revealed that his newly-formed relationship with respected coach Sean Foley has helped his game ahead of the British Open this week.

The English Ryder Cup stalwart has spent some time under the tutelage of Foley, mentor to both Tiger Woods and Justin Rose, to try and improve his chances of ending his major drought at Muirfield.

"The idea of linking up with Sean was to get back to swinging the way I used to," Westwood told reporters.

"I finished with Pete Cowen last August and after so long without a coach I felt I was getting a bit out of synch. So, a couple of weeks ago we had a five-hour session that went really well.

"We spent most of the time working on my posture and my position at address and I feel like I'm hitting the ball a lot better. I'm definitely hitting it a lot further."

Westwood, currently ranked world number 12, has finished in the top three of all four Majors.