England’s Lee Westwood, a LIV Golf defector, claims watching fans are the losers in golf’s continuing dispute between LIV and PGA Tour; PGA Tour’s policy is LIV golfers have to wait one year from their last appearance on Saudi-backed circuit to play in PGA Tour/PGA Tour Champions events
Lee Westwood claims the only losers in the ongoing dispute between LIV Golf and the PGA Tour are the watching fans.
The Brit, a two-time Masters runner-up and former No 1 golfer in the world is at the Newport Country Club this week for the US Senior Open, making his over-50 tour debut a year late in part because of a PGA Tour ban on LIV Golf defectors.
The 51-year-old received an invite to the Senior Open, which is run by the USGA, as a recent Ryder Cup participant. Richard Bland has also earned an invitation for winning the Senior PGA Championship. The only other LIV golfer over 50 is Phil Mickelson.
“At the end of the day, we’re in the entertainment industry,” Westwood said on Tuesday.
“No matter what the level of golf is, I think if the best players at every level don’t come together and play, there’s only one loser, and that’s the fans watching.
“We need to somehow figure a way that we can get the best players playing against each other more often.”
Westwood ascended to the No 1 ranking in 2010 after finishing in the top three in four of the previous five majors. That ended Tiger Woods’ record run of 281 weeks as the world’s top-ranked golfer; the Englishman held the No 1 ranking for 22 weeks.
Although Westwood has never won a major, he has finished in the top five a dozen times.
The PGA Tour’s policy is that LIV golfers have to wait one year from their last appearance on the Saudi-backed circuit to play in PGA Tour or PGA Tour Champions events.
In addition, the European tour has fined Westwood £850,000 – a fine he repeated on Tuesday he has no intention of paying. “We’ll have to find a way around that,” he said.
“At any level, it’s disappointing they can’t resolve it. The Champions Tour for me is important because people have watched me play and other guys out here play for the last 30, 40 years, and they build relationships with those players and they’ve seen us grow as players and people.
“Yes, people want to see the youngsters, the new guys on the block coming through and contending. But they also want to see the guys they’ve made a bond with over the last 30, 40 years.”
Westwood is coming off a tie for third at last week’s LIV event outside of Nashville, Tennessee – his best result of the season. He said he didn’t feel like he needed a strong performance in Newport to make his larger point.
“Everybody I talked to said it’s great to see myself and Richard playing here,” Westwood said, adding that he thought the victory by LIV’s Bryson DeChambeau in the US Open was good for the sport.
“It’s basically getting all the best players together in one tournament to compete against each other, and that’s what you want at the highest level. You want all the best players there.”
What’s next?
The next LIV Golf League event takes place at Real Club Valderrama from July 12-14, ahead of The 152nd Open at Royal Troon the following week. Stream the PGA Tour, majors and more, without a contract, with NOW.