While making his 30th season appearance on the tour back in January 2023, Lee Westwood voiced concerns regarding the tour’s strength. The golfer took a jab at the DP World Tour, and Keith Pelley, the CEO of the European Tour, wasn’t the one to sit back and relax. He bluntly stated how Westwood’s comments were harsh and unfair to his staff.
In addition, Westwood mentioned that Shane Lowry was the only player under the top 20 to tee off at the Abu Dhabi Championship. Moreover, the golfer referred to this as Keith Pelley’s propaganda. As a result, Pelley went ahead and expressed his disapproval in the course of action.
“It was staggering how many people came up to me and said they were disappointed with the comments made by a player earlier in the week and that it was unfair to the staff…I wasn’t quite aware how upset the staff were.”
In the same interview, he continued to stress that OWGR ranks cannot serve as the only standard to assess the fields of tournaments. He highlighted how the Abu Dhabi Event served as a championship, which would be like social gatherings. Hence, a varied range of golfers were welcome at the event.
“The Abu Dhabi event now has become like the DP World Tour Championship, we have always thought of it like F1, where it is a social happening. It’s on the calendar. That doesn’t demean top players but it is another metric for success.”
Additionally, the DP World Tour CEO also criticized the LIV defector’s stance by reflecting on the fact that Westwood had no negativity about LIV. Pelley’s rejoinder, rather pertinently, revealed the depth of his dissatisfaction with the golfer’s remarks.
Lee Westwood’s triggering comments at the Abu Dhabi Championship
Lee Westwood questioned the management of the DP World Tour and how poorly they selected a field for a heralded event like the Abu Dhabi Championship.
“I’m not sure where the Tour is now…If you’d have told me that I’d be playing in a $9m tournament on Tour I’d struggle to believe you but then if you told me there’d only be one member of the world’s top 20 in the field, I’d think you were mad.”
He went on to say that there were not enough strong fields at the DP World Tour events. It was evident from the English golfer’s comments that he harbored resentment towards his previous circuit, and his comments emanated from a place of rage. His rage was also warranted given that the OWGR application by the Saudi-backed league was still pending and Keith Pelley, along with PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan, didn’t want to partake in that matter.
LIV Golf currently hangs by a thread as the final negotiations with the PGA Tour are underway. The resentment that LIV players have towards their previous tours is probably a strong reason behind their switch. It is also why players like Phil Mickelson had to leave the PGA Tour after their repeated calls for change fell on deaf ears. This rebellion has, thus, pushed the PGA Tour into doing better and beating the competition that it now has in the form of high prize money events and relaxed schedules.
