Lee Westwood’s reveals some decision on £850,000 for his LIV Golf
Despite being a player at the US Senior Open, Lee Westwood has decided not to pay the £850,000 he owes the European Tour as a result of his LIV defection.
Former LIV Golf player Lee Westwood has reiterated his reluctance to settle his £850,000 debt to the European Tour. Westwood was one of the first group of players to leave the established circuit and play in the LIV Golf series, which is supported by Saudi Arabia.
As a result, the European Tour assessed him fines totaling a healthy six-figure amount. Westwood has insisted time and time again that he has no intention of paying the sum in question.
That’s even though he still wants to play on the senior circuit run by the PGA Tour, where he is making his debut this week. The seasoned golfer, who turned 50 last year, was qualified to play on the senior circuit in 2023 but was unable to do so because of PGA Tour regulations.
Athletes who have participated in the LIV Golf League during the last 12 months are prohibited by the organization from competing in PGA Tour or PGA Tour Champions events. Because to his participation in the Ryder Cup last year, Westwood is allowed to continue playing for LIV and is featured in this week’s US Senior Open despite these limitations.
The golfer, who was born in Nottinghamshire, did not back down when questioned about his enormous fines before to the competition at Newport Country Club, according to The Mirror. He told reporters, “We’ll have to figure out a way around that.”
It’s unfortunate that they can’t figure it out on any level. For me, the Champions Tour is significant because, over the course of the last 30, 40 years, people have watched me and the other guys here play, forming relationships with those players and witnessing our growth as individuals and athletes.
“It’s true that people want to see the younger generation, the newcomers to the scene, succeeding. But they also want to see the guys that they have gotten to know over the past thirty, forty, or more years.
Despite losing his first year of eligibility because of his association with LIV, Westwood has stated that he feels he has every right to participate on the senior circuit. The Englishman, who co-captains the Majesticks team with Ian Poulter and Henrik Stenson, two other dissidents, has not celebrated a victory with his team yet this year.
Although there have been some progress in the ongoing talks, the PGA Tour and LIV’s potential merger has repeatedly failed to materialize. Still, Westwood is all about the fans, highlighting their significance in the midst of the current golf divide.
“At the end of the day, we’re in the entertainment industry,” he stated. “I believe that if the top players in the game don’t get together and play, then there’s only one loser, and that would be the spectators, regardless of the caliber of golf.” We must find a means to get the top players competing against one another more frequently.
Westwood made his US Senior Open debut, finishing the first round in a tie for fifth place with a four-under total that put him just three shots behind leader Hiroyuki Fujita. If Westwood wins in Rhode Island, it would be a major setback for the PGA Tour, particularly since he hasn’t indicated that he will pay the penalty levied by their sister organization.
