Tag: Lee Westwood

Lee Westwood is hoping to give Greg Norman another trophy (and he took a shot at pace of play)

“It’s such a joy, and it’s so refreshing to play nine holes in two hours in a practice round. It’s incredible.”

Soon after Bryson DeChambeau’s historic victory at Pinehurst No. 2 gave LIV Golf CEO Greg Norman a chance to hold the U.S. Open trophy for the first time, another of the fledgling circuit’s players is circling the waters in the nation’s smallest state, hoping to give Norman more hardware to caress.

Lee Westwood is making his debut at the U.S. Senior Open this week and he’s coming off an impressive third-place finish in LIV Golf Nashville, an event won by Tyrrell Hatton. It marked Westwood’s best finish of the season and a similar effort would certainly get him in contention at Newport Country Club for the Francis D. Ouimet Memorial Trophy, which Norman also never won in three chances.

Westwood’s putter was better than it had been in recent outings, and he attributed the impressive finish to a stronger all-around short game that he’s been sharpening up.

“I went to Nashville and carried on really with that theme, those swing thoughts,” he said. “Played well on the final day, which was good. I haven’t been finishing tournaments off, so fun for the last four holes and finish that tournament off strongly has given me a lot of confidence going into this week.”

Lee Westwood
Lee Westwood of England tees off from the 7th hole during day one of LIV Golf – London at The Centurion Club on July 07, 2023 in St Albans, England. (Photo by Tom Dulat/Getty Images)

Westwood isn’t the only LIV Golf member in the field this week. Senior PGA Championship winner Richard Bland is also playing the course that hosted the first U.S. Amateur and U.S. Open back in 1895. And Westwood said the reaction he has heard has been overwhelmingly positive in terms of getting the best field for players 50 and over.

“The consensus of opinion of everybody that I talked to said it’s great to see myself and Richard playing here. 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 or Jon Rahm coming and playing in those big events,” Westwood said. “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. We’ve been asked to play well this week. Carry on the form of last week.

“I’m looking forward to this week. Looking forward to the first couple of rounds, playing with a couple of old friends, Miguel and Jerry Kelly.”

Westwood, who represented Europe in 10 Ryder Cups and held the number one spot in the Official World Golf Ranking back in 2010, had an interesting observation after chumming around with his senior brethren. Westwood is one of 52 players in the field making their U.S. Senior Open debut.

“I’ve had fun the last couple of days. Meeting a lot of people I haven’t seen in a long time that I played out here with, people that I haven’t seen since my amateur days. I recognized some faces, and then they introduced themselves, and I’m like, wow, yeah, it’s been 35 years,” he said.

“What I have noticed is practice rounds out here are way faster than everywhere else. It’s such a joy, and it’s so refreshing to play nine holes in two hours in a practice round. It’s incredible. If the old guys can do it, why can’t the young guys do it?”

Tyrrell Hatton laughing and cursing about lost clubs on flight from London to Houston will make you smile

When players are forced to fly through traditional carriers, they can suffer the same consequences as everyone else.

This week marks the first LIV Golf event in the state of Texas as play begins at the Golf Club of Houston on Friday.

And while much was made during the circuit’s debut season about a lavish plane provided by the league’s overlords, when players are forced to fly through traditional carriers they can suffer the same consequences as everyone else.

For example, take the social media fun that Ian Poulter dropped on Instagram Tuesday after a few players apparently weren’t accompanied by their golf clubs during a flight from London’s Heathrow Airport to the Golf of Mexico.

Poulter, who leads Majesticks GC, was seen laughing about the mishap and asking Tyrrell Hatton, who plays for Legion XIII, if he knew where his golf clubs were. Clearly, the 32-year-old Englishman did not.

Here’s the clip:

https://www.instagram.com/p/C7zj2CuPhn3/

Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson highlight 12 sponsor exemptions who won a PGA Tour event since 1990

There are five major champions on this list.

Every PGA Tour event has a handful or so of spots in the field to dole out to golfers who didn’t otherwise qualify.

Those spots may go to a past champion. They often are awarded to a rising star in the game. The strategy there is that perhaps the up-and-comer will remember the courtesy later in his pro career and will become a regular at that particular Tour stop.

Sometimes a sponsor exemption gets doled out to someone noteworthy as a means to drive interest in a tournament, such as former NFL quarterback Tony Romo, who got into the Charles Schwab Challenge, or LPGA star Lexi Thompson, who wowed the Las Vegas crowd last October before just missing the weekend cut at the Shriners Children’s Open.

According to the PGA Tour, since 1990 there have been just 12 golfers to win a tournament after getting a sponsor exemption. There’s been over 1,000 PGA Tour events in that time, proving the long odds a sponsor invite faces.

Here’s the list of those who won on the PGA Tour after receiving a sponsor exemption since 1990.

Big money, byes and 2024 eligibility all on the line as LIV Golf returns to Saudi Arabia

A lot is on the line at LIV Golf’s regular-season finale in the Kingdom.

The LIV Golf League returns to action this week with the final event of its regular season in Saudi Arabia, where tens of millions of dollars, first-round byes and future eligibility are all on the line.

At the end of LIV Golf Jeddah, once again held at Royal Greens Golf and Country Club in King Abdullah Economic City, the season-long individual champion will be decided and the winner will take home the lucrative $18 million top prize. Dustin Johnson won the individual title a week before last year’s season finale, but this year’s race is much closer with three players in the mix: Cam Smith, Talor Gooch and Bryson DeChambeau.

Here’s a rundown of what’s on the line this week at LIV Golf Jeddah.

Best of the best: Ryder Cup all-time points leaders for Europe, United States

Brush up on your Ryder Cup history with this list of all-time points leaders for Europe and the U.S.

Over its nearly 100-year history the Ryder Cup has featured some impressive performances from the world’s best players, especially since the competition switched to include all of Europe back in 1979.

From Nick Faldo and Arnold Palmer to Sergio Garcia and Tiger Woods, a handful of players have stood out with their play and find themselves on the all-time points list in the biennial bash.

Of the top 10, six are European players, but when it comes to the top 20 — which includes a handful of active players — the split is right down the middle at 10 a piece.

As the teams of 12 from both the United States and Europe prepare to square off in the next round of matches at Marco Simone Golf and Country Club in Italy this week, take a scroll through the all-time points winners in Ryder Cup history from both squads.

MORE: Everything you need to know for the 2023 Ryder Cup

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Rory McIlroy dishes on Sergio Garcia, Ian Poulter being absent from Ryder Cup team room and replacing leadership

“It’s certainly a little strange not having them around.”

ROME — How does Rory McIlroy feel about a Ryder Cup without Ian Poulter, Sergio Garcia and Lee Westwood, among others?

“It’s certainly a little strange not having them around,” he said on Wednesday during his pre-Ryder Cup press conference.

Garcia, Poulter and Westwood have been stalwarts of the European side, with Poulter and Garcia the heart and soul of the team. While they likely wouldn’t have qualified for the team or even garnered a captain’s pick given the current state of their games, they likely would have been involved in the backroom as a vice captain or in some capacity had they not defected to LIV Golf and renounced their DP World Tour membership, which made them ineligible for the Ryder Cup team. McIlroy mused the consequences of their decision to jump ship for the riches of LIV would be most apparent this week.

“I think this week of all weeks, it’s going to hit home with them that, you know, they are not here, and I think they are going to miss being here more than we’re missing them,” he said. “It’s just more I think this week is a realization that the decision that they made has led to not being a part of this week, and that’s tough. The landscape in golf is ever-changing and more dynamic, and we’ll see what happens and whether they will be part of it in the future.”

He added: “This is a bit of a transitional period for the European Team and there’s people that have been part of the European Team for a long time that aren’t here this week. But I think the guys that we brought in are going to be awesome. Nicolai (Hojgaard), Ludvig (Aberg), Bob (McIntyre), that’s the future of our team and the future of the Ryder Cup.”

2023 Ryder Cup
Rory McIlroy of Team Europe tees off on the 11th hole during a practice round prior to the 2023 Ryder Cup at Marco Simone Golf Club in Rome, Italy. (Photo: Andrew Redington/Getty Images)

But McIlroy’s Euro teammate, Jon Rahm of Spain, said he reached out to some of the old guard, including Poulter and Garcia, who teamed with Rahm to great effect as one of the few bright spots for the Euros at Whistling Straits in 2021.

“I did have a little bit of a chat with him, and with Poulter, as well,” Rahm said. “Not that it’s going to be easy to take on the role that those two had both on and off the golf course, but just to hear them talk about what they thought and what they felt is obviously invaluable information.”

While the Euro side has lost a great deal of veteran leadership – Graeme McDowell and Henrik Stenson deserve mention too – McIlroy contends the void will be filled and the European scouting trip to Marco Simone before the BMW Championship earlier this month laid the foundation for team unity.

“I couldn’t believe that we’ve never done it before,” McIlroy said. “We played a practice round and we got familiar with the golf course but then the sort of time we spent off the course I thought was great. Just sort of sharing stories around the fire pit and sort of describing our journeys in golf and what the Ryder Cup means to us. Sort of just getting to know one another a little better, even people that I thought that I knew for a long time, sort of getting to know them a little better, too, was wonderful.”

McIlroy also shared what he told the younger players about his role in the team room and mentoring the newcomers.

“I don’t want anyone looking up to me,” he said. “I just want everyone looking at the side. I want them looking over to me. I don’t want them looking up to me in any way. I want them to see me like I’m on their level. And there’s no hierarchy on our team. It’s we are all one part of a 12-man team and we all go forward together. I guess that’s the one message I’ve tried to relay to some of the younger guys on the team.”

McIlroy credited Euro captain Luke Donald with setting a proper mood for the team.

“I think Luke and his vice captains have really sort of tapped into that emotional connection around Team Europe this week, and we have all bought into it,” he said. “It’s been an amazing experience so far, and it’s only Wednesday. There’s a lot of great things to come. But couldn’t be more excited to be a part of the team, and to have those other 11 guys be my teammates.”

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Paul Casey on the Ryder Cup, LIV Golf and why caddies bought Padraig Harrington a Rolex

“I’ll tell you how good a captain Padraig Harrington was. The caddies bought him a watch.”

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Former European Ryder Cup stalwart Paul Casey won’t be involved in this year’s match in Rome largely because he jumped to LIV Golf, but it doesn’t mean he doesn’t care anymore about the competition that he played in five times.

Speaking to Golf Digest’s John Huggan recently, Casey opened up on his feelings about this year’s Ryder Cup, which will be held in Rome from Sept. 29-Oct. 1.

The entire article is worth your time, but here are some highlights, starting with touting Padraig Harrington as the best captain he played under despite Harrington’s team suffering a 19-9 defeat at Whistling Straits two years ago:

“I’ll tell you how good a captain Padraig was,” Casey said. “The caddies bought him a watch. They all got together, bought him a Rolex and brought him to tears when they presented it to him in Dubai, a few weeks after the matches. That said so much. Caddies normally don’t like dipping their hands in their pockets for players. But it was actually the flip side of what was going to happen if we won. Padraig was going to buy every caddie a watch. He was so highly respected.”

Casey concedes some of the Euro stars of the past might not have qualified for the team this year even if LIV players were eligible, but their absences will be missed in other ways.

“I would still have [Ian Poulter] be involved. That’s what is going to be missing in Rome, guys like Poulter and [Lee] Westwood in the locker room. I’ve been in those locker rooms. The pundits and the commentators have not.”

Paul Casey of the European Team celebrates holing a long birdie putt to win the second hole in his match against Brooks Koepka of the United States Team during singles matches of the 2018 Ryder Cup at Le Golf National on September 30, 2018 in Paris, France. (Photo by David Cannon/Getty Images)

Casey hopes as the divisiveness in golf is repaired, the Euro LIV players can be brought back into the fold.

“The Ryder Cup is so valuable in terms of what it gives to golf in Europe, not just monetarily. We don’t want that to be damaged any more than it has been already. I don’t watch a lot of golf outside of the majors. But I will certainly watch the Ryder Cup. And I might just have a piece of Euro team clothing on under my top. I won’t have the commentary on though,” he said with a laugh.

Casey said he has no regrets about his move to LIV.

“Moving to LIV has changed me for the better as a person” he says. “I was probably in a spiral before, and not in a good way. There are so many things people don’t necessarily want to hear from pro golfers. Whatever the sport. But I was trying to play multiple tours. Then there were team matches and the Olympics and all the rest of it. It was taking its toll. Look, I still want to do what I do. But something had to give. I just don’t want to do it all as often.”

The whole story can be read here.

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Players reflect on first year of LIV Golf in return to Centurion Club

“It’s exciting just to be a part of something new.”

There has been no shortage of drama, excitement, storylines and plenty more since LIV Golf made its debut last June at Centurion Club in London.

Players choosing to stay on the PGA Tour or go to LIV Golf. Some taking jabs at one another, back and forth. Numerous legal battles. Seemingly every day, there was something newsworthy related to LIV Golf and its attempt to thrust itself into the golf ecosystem.

This week, LIV Golf returned to Centurion Club, where 2023 LIV Golf London begins Friday. It’s the return to the place where LIV Golf began, and it’s the first time LIV has played a course twice.

Last season, it was the first of eight events. This year, it’s the ninth of 14. Although the future of LIV Golf is up in the air since the announcement of the agreement between the PGA Tour, DP World Tour and Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, the financial backer of LIV, players and executives are marching forward as if the circuit will continue.

Only time will tell.

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There are 23 golfers in the field this week who participated in the first LIV event last year. Some of those players and others reflected on the first year of LIV Golf ahead of kicking off Friday’s event in London. Here’s what they had to say.

LIV Golf’s Lee Westwood to miss first Open Championship in nearly 30 years; notables Sergio Garcia, Michael Block enter final qualifying

Just 16 spots are left to fill the field for the final men’s major of the year next month in Royal Liverpool.

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After 117 players advanced from regional qualifying for the 2023 Open Championship, just 16 spots are left to fill the field for the final men’s major of the year next month in Royal Liverpool, July 20-23.

One LIV Golf player will look to earn his spot the hard way, just as he did for the U.S. Open, while another will end a nearly three-decade streak of competing in his national open.

Sergio Garcia has entered final qualifying, while Lee Westwood will miss his first British Open in 28 years. Westwood was also recently denied entrance to the Senior Open due to unpaid DP World Tour fines related to his move to the Saudi Arabia-backed circuit. Ian Poulter has also elected not to enter final qualifying. The Telegraph was first to report.

Garcia will play a 36-hole qualifier on Tuesday, July 4, between a pair of LIV Golf League events in Spain (June 30-July 2) and London (July 7-9). In fact, of the 52 players to tee it up this season for LIV, 21 have entered final qualifying across the four sites:

Dundonald Links

  • Jason Kokrak
  • Sebastian Munoz
  • Andy Ogletree
  • Carlos Ortiz
  • Peter Uihlein

Royal Cinque Ports

  • Dean Burmester
  • Branden Grace
  • Wade Ormsby
  • David Puig
  • Charl Schwartzel
  • Brendan Steele
  • Kieran Vincent

Royal Porthcawl

  • Laurie Canter
  • Matt Jones
  • Anirban Lahiri
  • Marc Leishman
  • Cameron Tringale

West Lancashire

  • Sergio Garcia
  • Graeme McDowell
  • Mito Pereira
  • Scott Vincent

Other notable names to enter final qualifying include Alex Fitzpatrick, Aaron Wise and Matt Wallace at West Lancashire, Thomas Detry at Royal Cinque Ports and Matt Kuchar, Michael Block and Mackenzie Hughes at Dundonald Links.

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LIV Golf team announces crypto exchange company OKX as first global sponsor

Uncertainty swirls around the future of LIV amid the news of a partnership between the PGA Tour and PIF.

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As uncertainty swirls around the future of LIV Golf amid the news of a partnership between the PGA Tour, DP World Tour and Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund to create a new global golf entity, one team is moving ahead like it’s business as usual.

On Wednesday morning Majesticks GC named OKX, a crypto exchange company, as its first global sponsor. The Majesticks are three-way captained by Ian Poulter, Lee Westwood and Henrik Stenson, with Sam Horsfield and Laurie Canter (a temporary injury replacement for Horsfield) filling out the roster. The OKX logo will feature on team uniforms.

“Having been an OKX Ambassador, I know that the company brings passion, technological expertise and creative thinking to everything it does,” said Poulter. “We both have ambitions not only to win but to challenge the status quo.”

The sponsorship is OKX’s latest venture in the sports world after previous partnerships with the McLaren Formula 1 Team, as well as English Premier League giants Manchester City. OKX is not available in the United States due to regulatory and compliance reasons and the press release came with a lengthy disclaimer warning about the high degree of risk that comes with trading digital assets.

With a global sponsor and team principal already in place, the Majesticks are furthest along with regard to team development compared to the other 11 squads in the league. LIV Golf will return to action next week, June 30-July 2, at Real Club Valderrama in Spain.

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