Lee Westwood has taken a swipe at Rory McIlroy over his comments on LIV Golf making the move to 72 holes from the 54 it had made its name on.
The Englishman obviously didn’t take too kindly to McIlroy labelling the move to 72 holes as a “peculiar” one, saying “I don’t pay too much attention to what Rory says” when appearing on talkSPORT radio’s breakfast show.
Jon Rahm was quoted in the LIV Golf press release calling it a win for the players, as he’s always advocated for event to be extended by 18 holes.
Team-mate Tyrrell Hatton agrees, but said that only last year the vast majority of players on LIV Golf were against moving away from 54 holes – but now most of the noises from players are positive ones.
That includes Westwood, who says it’s a good move for all concerned.
“I think it was good for the players, good for the sponsors,” Westwood added on talkSPORT. “And good for the fans more than anything. They get to see another day’s golf.”
The former World No.1 says that LIV Golf seeking Official World Golf Ranking recognition was another reason for the change, along with top players wanting more 72-hole action to prepare better for the Majors.
“I think [OWGR points] is one of the angles behind it. I think there were a few different things.
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“Some of the guys focused their whole season around the Major championships. And playing 54 holes was putting them at a bit of a disadvantage.
“I think they wanted to play 72 holes – that represented more the Major championship format.
“But world rankings is one of the things on LIV’s mind. I don’t know whether it’s in the criteria or not because there’s 54-hole tournaments that got world ranking points before.
“But I think the boxes that you need to tick with the world rankings, 72 holes probably helps that.”
McIlroy’s observation that removing the 54-hole format from LIV Golf also removed one big differentiator from mainstream golf is ironically the…
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