European number one Lee Westwood speaks exclusively to Michael Stoneman about near misses in the Majors, and his Ryder Cup ambitions.

Q. You've probably been the most inform player in the world over the last year or so - how pleased are you with how you're playing at the moment?

A. I'm pleased - I work hard, so it's nice to be getting the benefits from that hard work. If you look at the major championships recently, I don't think there's anybody with as good a record as mine in them. I haven't won one, but four top threes from the last five Majors is pretty good form and I've had a few other wins as well, so it's all been good.

Q. You mention your recent record in Majors - when are you going to make that breakthrough and finally win one?

 A. You don't know really - it's an unanswerable question. All I can keep doing is working hard and working on the things that have made me play well recently and hopefully if I can keep improving then the natural progression will be to win one.

Q. At the back of your mind, with all these near misses, do you ever think that it might not happen - that you might always be the bridesmaid and never the bride?

A. No, not really - I don't have that kind of attitude. My attitude is that if I keep getting in there with a chance, why shouldn't it happen?

Q. Is there anything you feel you might have to change to finally get over the line and win one, or is it just a matter of continuing to do what you're already doing?

A. I think it's a case of continuing to do what I'm doing at the moment. Small improvements all the time and I think itwill lead to a win.

Q. Looking ahead to the Ryder Cup this October, European golf looks stronger than ever at the moment - do you think we can be confident of regaining the trophy?

A. I think we can be confident that we've got a great side - we're going to have one of the best sides that we've ever had. The thing that shows that to me more than anything is the fact that Monty's got three wild card picks and it's going to be very difficult to pick from the players that aren't in the team at the moment. It shows how strong European golf is at the moment.

Q. Why do you think it is so strong at the moment? Do you think it goes back to Padraig's major victories giving everybody else a bit of a kick up the backside?

A. Yeah, it may do. It may just go back to the good European team performances against the Americans in previous years. You never know. It goes in cycles and I think we've got to enjoy it while it's here. I don't think enough is made of how good European golf is at the moment. I think we focus too much on other sports - and sometimes on mediocre displays in those sports - and we don't pick out how good golf is and celebrate it.

Q. Justin Rose said recently that he thought Great Britain and Ireland would have such a strong team that they could probably take on the US on their own again - do you agree?

A. I think we've had too many good European players over the past few years and there was a time when Great Britain and Ireland weren't strong enough and we got the Europeans involved and it kept the Ryder Cup going really. I think he was just highlighting the fact that Britain and Ireland are really strong at the moment and the majority of that European side is going to be British and Irish players - there's only going to be three or four continental Europeans.

Q. The Ryder Cup is obviously very different to regular tour golf - is it something that you look forward to as a player?

A. Yeah, you do look forward to the Ryder Cup. It's a great week and it's nice to be in that team atmosphere, as opposed to being an individual like the rest of the year. It's a great atmosphere on the golf course as well because the crowd are either for one side or the other.

Q. Obviously the result two years ago was very disappointing, but from a personal point of view, how do you look back on the 2008 contest?

A. All Ryder Cups are special. Obviously you have better memories of them when you've won, but you remember great things from all the Ryder Cups you play in.

Q. Is there anything specific that you feel went wrong two years ago?

A. No, not really.

Q. Were you surprised not to be picked for the foursomes on the Saturday?

A. The captain does what he thinks is right at the time, and if he thought he needed a change then you've got to go with what the captain thinks.

Q. Nick Faldo said at the time that you were suffering from blisters - was that really a factor?

A. It wasn't a factor to me. He'll have had his reasons and that's why the captain is the captain.

Q. Do you have any aspirations of being Ryder Cup captain yourself one day?

A. Yeah, I would like to be one day. It's a bit far off in the distance for me at the moment, but it's something I'd obviously love to do. It's a great honour to captain the Ryder Cup side.

Q. With your experience, do you feel that you'll have an important role to play with the younger members of the team, such as Rory McIlroy, by offering them advice this year?

A. Hopefully, yeah, but a lot of the young players are more experienced than rookies maybe were in the past. The likes of Martin Kaymer and Rory are going to have lots of experience of playing in big events, so there's not quite as much to do for them as maybe there used to be, but certainly when you go into your first one you don't know what to expect and you can fall back on the players who have got the experience and I'll probably be the most experienced player in the team.

Q. You're running a series of kids' golf academies for the second time this year - how are they looking?

A. They're looking great. We did nine last year and there are 18 this year, so there was a demand for more, which is very pleasing. The coaches have said how good the kids are and the kids have said how much they enjoy the three days. This year we've also got some five-day residential ones, so kids from abroad have come over as well. I'm really pleased with the way that they've gone. They're a nice bunch of kids - very enthusiastic.

Q. What made you want to set them up in the first place?

A. I wanted to give something back. As a professional golfer you get a lot out of the game - it's a good life - and so I wanted to put something back into junior golf and get kids involved in the sport. I think with the state of European and British golf at the moment - how good it is and how many people we've got up at the top of the world rankings - it's a good time to be doing these things, as the kids have got someone to look up to.