Golf veteran Lee Westwood voiced his frustrations with the current landscape of the sport after the R&A and DP World Tour.
Westwood was declined entry into the Senior Open despite meeting the 50-year-old age requirement due to alleged fines owed to the DP World Tour following his move to LIV Golf last June. He was among several players who faced bans and financial sanctions from the DP World Tour, shattering his plans to participate in the upcoming Senior Open at Royal Porthcawl in July.
“The only [senior major] I can’t play is the Seniors British,” Westwood expressed on the Rough Cut podcast, hosted by Peter Finch. “It’s half owned by the European Tour, and the R&A won’t put their foot down and say, ‘No, this is an Open championship; Lee and Richard Bland, for that matter, should be able to play.’
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“They pander to the European Tour and say if we pay our fines – I think my outstanding fines are £850,000 or something like that," he continued. "I’m not paying them. I disagree with the way they’ve been handed out. So that’s why I can’t play in the Senior Open Championship. I think the fans lose out personally.”
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Westwood and 51-year-old veteran player Richard Bland had intended to make their Senior Open debuts at Royal Porthcawl last year, but both had their applications dismissed. An email rejection was sent to several players, including Westwood, Bland, Ian Poulter, and Sergio Garcia, leading them to resign their DP World Tour membership cards.
"The committee has considered your application and is not willing to approve it because you have outstanding fines imposed on you by the DP World Tour for breaching its Conflicting Tournament Regulations. You will, therefore, be removed from the entry list, and your entry fee will be refunded with immediate effect," read the email sent in May of 2023.
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Lee Westwood believes Senior Tour panders to the European Tour (Getty)Westwood has recently participated in several LIV Golf events in 2024 with mixed results. In the LIV Golf Mayakoba event in February, he finished tied for 32nd place with an overall score of 214, 1 over par. The following week in Las Vegas, The British golfer tied for 40th place with an even overall score of 210.
At the LIV Golf Jeddah tournament, his performance resulted in a 50th-place finish with an overall score of 213, which was three over par. In the LIV Golf Hong Kong tournament, he ended up tied for 45th place with an overall score of 209 (-1). In Miami, Westwood finished tied for 45th place with a 223 (+7) score.
At the LIV Golf Adelaide event in April, he finished tied for 34th place with an overall score of 208 (-8), which marked his best performance of the year. Yet, he encountered difficulties again during the Singapore event in May, shooting +4 for the course.
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