Lee Westwood finally proves LIV Golf worth with rare $1m win

Lee Westwood finally had some joy on LIV Golf on Sunday, earning his first top-five finish in two years and banking a seven-figure pay-day in the process.

The former world No. 1 has struggled for form since joining the breakaway circuit as a founding member in 2022, and he would have been relegated last season had he not been a co-captain of the Majesticks team – with a clause in his contract guaranteeing his place in the league regardless of his place in the standings.

This season got off to a dismal start, too, failing to earn any points through the first seven weeks of the season, with a best finish of tied-32nd in that stretch. But after an encouraging tied-18th at LIV Golf Houston earlier this month, the Englishman delivered his best performance since joining LIV.

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Westwood carded a final round of five-under-par at The Grove in Nashville, finishing in a four-way tie for third place with Jon Rahm, Joaquin Niemann and Bryson DeChambeau. Westwood’s Majesticks teammate Sam Horsfield was one shot better off at 13-under for the tournament, although he finished six shots adrift of runaway winner and fellow Englishman Tyrrell Hatton.

Despite not contending for the win, Westwood’s finish in Tennessee was a welcome return to form almost two years on from his previous best outing at LIV – a tie for fourth in Boston in September 2022.

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With his share for third place, Westwood earned a cool $1million (£788,000) in individual prize money. But although it was a solid week for the Majesticks, with Ian Poulter and Henrick Stenson finishing just inside the top 25, they narrowly missed out on a slice of the team prize fund, with Hatton and Rahm’s Legion XIII squad splitting the $3m (£2.36m) after taking top spot ahead of Torque and the Crushers.

Westwood, 51, was languishing near the bottom of the season standings before teeing it up at The Grove, but a welcome haul of ranking points has seen him leap into 33rd place, clear of the relegation zone.