04 May 2023 , 10:07
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Lee Westwood hit out at the DP World Tour after resigning, maintaining he never knew about the punishments that would come his way.
The veteran found himself in hot water when he became one of the first men to sign up with LIV Golf, which remains at war with the DP World Tour and the PGA Tour. Westwood was hit with a hefty fine by the DP World Tour, which has since been held up in court.
Westwood has now joined several other stalwarts in Sergio Garcia and Ian Poulter in giving up their cards. The 50-year-old began competing on the tour in the 1990s and has enjoyed huge success, but is no longer a believer in its direction, accusing it of "jumping into bed with the PGA Tour".
He told the Telegraph : “People say I knew exactly what would happen, but nobody told us the extent of the punishments and they continue to do that. The way I view it is that, as a European Tour member, I was allowed to be a member of the PGA Tour without any problem for all those years. Tell me, what is the difference? Just because LIV is funded by the Saudis – a country where my tour used to play and where we were encouraged to play?"
Westwood went on to say: “Sorry, I don’t want to play under that sort of regime. Like, I always played on the Asian Tour, and got releases no problem. But then they said I shouldn’t play in the Indonesian Open at the end of last year. Come on. No thanks, I don’t want to play that game. Anyway, I’ve said all this before. It should be obvious why I’ve resigned.”
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His decision means he is no longer eligible to play in the Ryder Cup, which will return to Europe later this year. Westwood has played in 47 matches since making his debut in the tournament way back in 1997. He had been tipped as a future captain having previously served as vice-captain.
Lee Westwood can no longer feature in the Ryder CupHis departure from the DP World Tour now means he cannot be picked as a player or a captain despite his long-standing relationship with Luke Donald, who will lead Europe in Rome later this year.
Westwood added: “Could you imagine them allowing Luke [Donald, the Ryder Cup captain], to involve one of us, no matter how well one of us might be playing?”.
“I don’t want to talk about other LIV players who might not be eligible anymore, but there will be so much experience lost now, all because the tour has gone into bed with the PGA Tour. That’s not the way it was. And not the way I think it should be. Like I said, it’s time for me to move on.”
Henrik Stenson had originally been picked as captain for this year's Ryder Cup but renegaded that right last year when he too joined LIV Golf.