AR
Former European Tour stalwart Lee Westwood has said that he is “slightly worried” about the future of the DP World Tour (European Tour), his former stomping ground which he supported for 29 years and where he captured 25 titles.
In a live radio interview with talkSPORT, at last week’s LIV Golf UK event, the 52-year-old LIV golfer appeared alongside fellow Majesticks GC team member and co-captain Henrik Stenson. The pair were interviewed about the Majestick’s brand and the future of LIV Golf by radio host and former Crystal Palace chairman Simon Jordan.
The interview took place around the same time that news broke via The Telegraph that the Saudi-backed LIV Golf League will no longer pay DP World Tour fines for its players after this year. The Telegraph also reported that LIV Golf has already paid more than $20 million to the DP World Tour, with around $10 million more in outstanding fines for the likes of Jon Rahm and Tyrrell Hatton.
Tyrrell Hatton and Jon Rahm – Maddie Meyer/PGA of America
Maybe this turns the needle towards the long-awaited deal between the tours, where fines won’t be needed anymore. Or, as an anonymous source told The Telegraph, the DP World Tour will break its strategic alliance with the PGA Tour and go all-in with LIV Golf.
That theory seems to line up with what Westwood touched upon in the interview about the overall state of golf.
“Well, I think it’s healthy for the game that LIV has come on the scene, the PGA Tour have had to up their game,” said Westwood.
“I’m slightly worried about the European Tour getting lost in all this a little bit. But with a few frank discussions with them, I think we could change the way their future looks as well.”
Lee Westwood’s last professional victory came at the DP World Tour’s Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship back in 2020.
Westwood, who took the decision to join LIV Golf in the summer of 2022, was suspended from the PGA Tour after playing in the inaugural LIV Golf London event. This was followed in May 2023 when the DP World Tour announced he had resigned his membership after serious breaches of the tour’s Conflicting Tournament Regulation. Since then, Westwood has only played in six Official World Golf Ranking events, outside of the majors, and is now sitting 933rd in the world.
“If you look at the money now coming into the game, it’s very healthy,” continued Westwood. “Where it’s lacking is the fact that people haven’t accepted LIV as a serious product.
“I think all sports have to evolve with the times, and I think golf realised it was a bit set in its way and was going a bit stale, and the whole establishment has thought it’s going to have to change with the times.
“Franchises are only increasing all the time, which shows the attractiveness people get from watching team sport and franchise sports, so this is the first step into golf for franchises.
“The PGA Tour have jumped along with their TGL and followed in our footsteps of teams, so that seems to be the way that it’s going. For the game of golf, it’s moving pretty quickly.”
Asian Tour
As for Westwood’s form on LIV in 2025, he is currently ranked 46th on the 2025 LIV Golf Individual Ranking, sitting three spots above the “Drop Zone.” Stenson is one place worse in 47th, while co-captain Ian Poulter is currently on the wrong side of the line in 51st. Players finishing 49th or below are relegated from the league. The fourth member of the Majesticks team, Sam Horsfield, sits in 37th place and in the “Open Zone”. Players ranked 25th to 48th are at risk of being traded or released by their teams.
Just two regular-season events remain in the 2025 LIV Golf calendar: Chicago and Indianapolis.
As a team, Majesticks GC are currently 12th out of 13 in the league.
Follow Golf Digest Middle East on social media
Main Image: LIV Golf
