Lee Westwood has hit out at his critics, suggesting those who said he was disloyal for joining the breakaway LIV Golf League are ‘hypocrites’.
“Lee Westwood has criticized individuals who accused him of being ‘disloyal’ for leaving the traditional golf scene to join LIV Golf, calling them ‘hypocrites’.”
Westwood shared his thoughts in the latest episode of the Fairway to Heaven podcast hosted by Su-Ann Heng and Jerry Foltz.
In June 2022, the Englishman was one of the initial players to sign up for the Saudi-funded tour.
Westwood and several other former Ryder Cup Europe legends faced harsh criticism.
After being a professional athlete for three decades, I have learned to not care about anyone’s opinions,” he stated. “Betrayal is a significant term, laden with heavy implications that can challenge your character and integrity, which I find deeply offensive.”
He stated that he has been a part of the European tour for almost three decades and has achieved victory in the United States on two occasions, but chose not to become a member there and instead remained on the European Tour.
“I enjoyed playing in Europe and that’s where I felt like I belonged.
“I stayed in Europe and played European tour events, to support them and you know add to those fields I suppose so I clearly have a very different idea about loyalty than people who have said stupid things.”
Westwood said his critics were ‘brainwashed’ by individuals with financial ties to the PGA Tour.
“I think a lot of those people are now starting to understand that they were being brainwashed by certain people with just purely financial motivations in their mind,” he said.
Westwood’s comments come at a time when the future of elite men’s professional golf is still very much up in the air.
We are led to believe the PGA Tour are continuing their discussions with the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia to ratify last June’s framework agreement.
There were reports the two sides had exchanged terms earlier in the summer and all that was left to do was for an army of lawyers on both sides to dot the i’s and cross the t’s.
The PIF bankrolls the LIV Golf League.
In other parts of the podcast, Westwood expressed his regret over the ability of LIV players to participate in competitions that are not within their specific circuit.
He was disappointed that he and Richard Bland could not participate in the Senior Open at Carnoustie last month due to their connections to LIV.
The Senior Open is a tournament that is jointly sanctioned by the DP World Tour and the Royal & Ancient.
Their complaints were irrelevant as the main event clashed with LIV’s event in Staffordshire.
“Bland explained to GolfMagic last week that he would not have requested a tournament release from LIV if he had been eligible.” He mentioned that it might lead to a complicated situation.