Lee Westwood has mixed feelings on start to 2012

Lee Westwood has rated his start to this season's European Tour as "decent".

The 38-year-old has finished 17th and 12th in his first two appearances this year, at the Abu Dhabi Championship and Commercial Bank Qatar Masters respectively.

"It's been a pretty steady start," said Westwood.

"I'd say if I was making an appraisal of the first couple of weeks, I've hit it a lot better than I normally do. Short game is a little bit sharper than normal. Putts are quite nice, starting to roll a few longer ones in.

"I have just been sloppy. But it's been a decent start. Good for me. I would have normally missed a cut by now and thrown in a 60th place finish or something like that."

Westwood continues his early season campaign in the Middle East at the Omega Dubai Desert Classic this week.