Lee Westwood agreed it was right for Luke Donald to be reappointed European Ryder Cup captain but the English LIV Golf pro did have one question.
Lee Westwood agrees it makes ‘perfect sense’ for Luke Donald to remain as European Ryder Cup captain.
However, the Englishman also asked if the ruling class had pressured Donald to decide on the position before the results of the PGA, DP World Tour, and PIF’s framework agreement were known to preclude some LIV players from receiving the chance.
Along with the team’s general managers, James Dunkley and Ollie Banks, Westwood made the remarks in the inaugural Majesticks GC podcast.
After leading Europe to a four-point victory over the United States in September, Donald was given the option to continue in the role. On November 29, he announced that he would stay as the European captain.
With Rory McIlroy in particular, the former world number one proved to be an incredibly popular captain.
The 34-year-old McIlroy recently stirred up new controversy by mocking Donald’s predecessor Henrik Stenson, who lost the title after signing with LIV in 2022.
As far as McIlroy is concerned, ‘the best thing’ to happen to the 2023 European side was Stenson joining the breakaway.
Known for his sardonic sense of humor, Westwood chose to respond to McIlroy’s jab by writing on X, saying something like, “Nice to see the season of good will in full swing! “Happy Christmas!”
Regarding the choice to re-appoint Donald, Westwood said on the podcast: “He did well the last time, didn’t he? There aren’t many obvious candidates for Ryder Cup captain, but all the players praised him.
Many of them were eliminated by becoming members of LIV. It makes perfect sense to me to announce Luke because they have made it very clear that being on LIV prevents you from being the Ryder Cup captain. It provides continuity because of it.
“As I mentioned earlier, the players like him. It seems like he’s reached the point in his career where his playing days are waning and he has to work full-time, so those days of being the Ryder Cup captain are over.”
“You have made your decision three months too early, haven’t you?” Westwood continued, “The only thing you could say with the decision is if a merger does go ahead and you suddenly have to change all of your rules and all of a sudden a lot of lads that are on LIV suddenly became available for Ryder Cup captaincy.”
“Yeah, well, there’s maybe another indication how they feel about our hat then,” Dunkley concurred.
Westwood said: “Maybe that’s why they’ve done it.”
Westwood casts doubt on PIF merger…
Westwood also talked about the LIV Golf Promotions event that took place recently, where three players were awarded spots on the 2024 breakaway tour.
Because the PGA Tour and DP World Tour threatened to sanction their members, the field was not as strong as LIV had hoped.
“In light of that, do we really think the merger will proceed if you’re not going to sanction that tournament?” Westwood remarked.
“It doesn’t seem like the same behavior from the previous two tours where they’re attempting to extend a hand.”
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