Lee Westwood has let rip at Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy by insisting the PGA Tour ‘copied’ the LIV series. The feud between the two golf organisations continues to heat up and Jay Monahan and co fired the latest shot with the announcement of a new tournament.
The competition is called TGL and is regarded as a ‘high-tech golf league' where events will be completed in under two hours and will begin in January 2024. The PGA-accredited contest will showcase six teams each consisting of three players and will be played in a 'custom-built venue'. Other changes come in the form of Elevated Events having guaranteed prize funds of $20 million. Westwood has responded to the new initiatives and claims the PGA took a page from LIV’s playbook.
"I laugh at what the PGA Tour players have come up with," he said, via Eurosport. "It’s just a copy of what LIV is doing. There are a lot of hypocrites out there. They all say LIV is ‘not competitive.’ They all point at the no-cut aspect of LIV and the ‘short fields.’ Now, funnily enough, they are proposing 20 events that look a lot like LIV.
“Hopefully, at some point they will all choke on their words. And hopefully, they will be held to account as we were in the early days." Westwood was one of the biggest names to sign up for the Saudi-backed series and elected to resign his membership of the PGA as a result, citing scheduling as the reason behind that decision.
“My age was obviously part of my decision-making process,” Westwood told Golf Digest. “Then there is the fact that the LIV tournaments are 54 holes, not 72. I saw that as a benefit. I also had a look at the senior tour schedule. Even there they are encouraging guys to play as many as 25 events.
“And there are two pro-ams every week, unless you are in a certain category. That’s a lot for a senior. And, of course, the LIV events are offering 10 times the prize money.” Despite giving up his PGA Tour status, like Sergio Garcia, the 2010 Open runner-up is hopeful he can remain part of the DP World Tour.
"Anyway, the end result is that I’ve done exactly what I said I was going to do at the start of all this,” Westwood said. “I’ve given up my PGA Tour card. There was no way I could ever play in all the events required to keep it.
“I am going to play in the (BMW) PGA Championship at Wentworth next month, which will be my fourth DP World Tour start of the year. I do want to retain my membership there.
“Outside of my LIV commitments, I will play another four times on the DP World Tour next year.
“Right now, I’m not sure what those events will be. But it’s most likely I’ll turn up in the places I have most enjoyed over the last 25 years or so. Or where I think I’ve still got a realistic chance to win."
