Lee Westwood is taking advantage of an exemption via his previous Ryder Cup participation to play in this week’s U.S. Senior Open.
It is the Englishman’s first start in a senior event for players age 50 and older and he’s joined in the field by fellow LIV Golf player Richard Bland, who recently won the Senior PGA Championship.
Westwood, 51, was eligible last year but decided not to play due to scheduling difficulties and is looking forward to playing at Newport (R.I.) Country Club, which was the home of the first U.S. Amateur and first U.S. Open in 1895.
The former world No. 1 who represented Europe 10 times in the Ryder Cup spoke with reporters Tuesday in advance of the championship, and the inevitable questions about LIV Golf and a possible unification of the sport were broached.
“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,” he said. “We need to somehow figure a way that we can get the best players playing against each other more often. For sure.”
Westwood has previously been outspoken in his belief that he could still support the DP World Tour, where he won 25 times, while playing a LIV Golf schedule. Westwood contends that it’s no different than branching out to the PGA Tour or other tours around the world, as he did often in his career.
Coming off a third-place finish at the LIV Golf Nashville event Sunday, Westwood said events this year including Bryson DeChambeau winning the U.S. Open and contending in the other majors is an example of how the best should be together more often.
“The consensus of opinion of everybody that I talked to said it’s great to see myself and Richard playing here,” Westwood said. “I think, when you look at the U.S. Open two weeks ago or the Masters or the PGA Championship, people are happy to see Bryson or Cam (Smith) or Jon Rahm coming and playing in those big events. 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.”
Westwood is frustrated that the negotiations between the PGA Tour, DP World Tour and Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia—which backs LIV Golf—have yet to result in a deal that would allow players to compete outside of LIV Golf more often.
Bland, for example, is not permitted to play in any PGA Tour Champions event, even though his Senior PGA victory came with a one-year exemption. Westwood and Bland are unable to play in next week’s Senior British Open due to DP World Tour restrictions.
“I think at any level it’s disappointing they can’t resolve it,” Westwood said. “But the Champions Tour for me is important because people have watched myself 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. Because, from what I’ve seen, watching a bit of the tournament last week, Padraig (Harrington) is still playing some great golf and it’s entertaining. At the end of the day, we’re in the entertainment industry.
“It’s nice that the USGA and PGA of America and the R&A are trying to find a way to get everybody together more often.”