Lee Westwood is still not happy about Ryder Cup resignation

Moving to LIV Golf cost Lee Westwood his Ryder Cup career, but he believes he’s being “treated differently” to others who made the same decision…

Lee Westwood believes he has “not been treated the same way” as other LIV Golf players when it comes the Ryder Cup – despite resigning his European Tour membership that immediately made him ineligible for the biennial showdown.

Westwood has represented Team Europe on 11 occasions – only Phil Mickelson has played more Ryder Cups – and put 24 points on the board – a number bettered by only Sergio Garcia and Nick Faldo.

The Englishman was a shoo-in for captaincy before LIV came calling. As was Garcia. As was Ian Poulter. As was Henrik Stenson. Indeed, the latter was appointed before his decision to defect cost him that particular role. But they quit the European Tour after they lost their appeals against the fines imposed and, as a result, ruled themselves out of any kind of Ryder Cup role.

By the time he handed back his card, Westwood had racked up more than $1 million in fines that, he has told The i Paper, he is “not prepared to pay”.

For others, though, it’s been different. Jon Rahm and Tyrrell Hatton, who joined LIV following the last Ryder Cup in Rome, have kept their memberships active and remain in the frame to pull on the yellow and blue at Bethpage in September.

Garcia, too, has made a last-ditch attempt to get into Luke Donald’s team by rejoining the DP World Tour and paying off his fines.   

And while Rahm and Hatton’s appeals have been put on the back burner as the framework agreement between golf’s warring tours is thrashed out at a glacial pace, Westwood still believes that the Wentworth-based circuit has come down harder on some more than others – notably his Majesticks teammates.

He added: “They have not treated Rahm and Hatton the same way they treated me, Poults, Stenson and the like.

“They have manipulated the situation. They haven’t paid their fines either, but their appeal dates have been pushed back until after the Ryder Cup. They have basically kicked the can down the road for those players.

“They keep fining them but they will be eligible for the team. This is another aspect that has to be addressed if we ever sit around the table.”

In response, the DP World Tour said: “We have been consistent in our administration of our members’ regulations which, as the Sports Resolution Panel stated, is ‘necessary and proportionate’ to protect the rights and collective interest of the Tour’s membership.”

“The fact remains, any player is able to be a member of the DP World Tour provided they comply with the members’ regulations each player signs up to. Some players have done that and remained in membership, while others have returned to membership and fulfilled their outstanding sanctions. 

“In terms of appeals, our disciplinary process, set out in our members’ regulations, gives a member the right to appeal against any sanctions imposed and continue to play while that appeal is pending. Some players have exercised that right recently, the same as a number of players did in 2022/23, including Lee Westwood.”

As for ever getting the top job, Westwood said he would “love to be Ryder Cup captain”.

He added: “They sounded me out for Italy. I thought you can’t go from playing in one to being captain in the next. I feel you should at least give yourself a chance to play another one.

“Also, I knew LIV was on the horizon, so I didn’t want to put myself in the position Henrik found himself in. So, for a few reasons, it didn’t feel like the right time.

“If I was asked to be captain at Adare Manor [in 2027], I would jump at the chance. But certain things have to change. Rapprochement is necessary.

“I would love to sit down with them and carve a way to come back together. I have supported the Tour since the early 90s. During Covid I was one of the few to support their tournaments. Everybody was going back to America to play there because it was easier. I played all the little ones, but they just seem to have forgotten that.”