Golf
LIV Golf pro cracks Russia joke to explain why tide ‘has turned’ on Saudi league
Lee Westwood says he knows the narrative around LIV Golf is changing because he’s getting fewer questions about playing in Russia.
Westwood was among an contingent of ageing European Ryder Cup stars who bolted from the establishment for the rival league in 2022.
He received his fair share of criticism, with some accusing the golfer and his peers of being complicit in sportswashing Saudi Arabia’s human rights abuses.
Memorably, both Westwood and Ian Poulter were involved in a tense exchange with reporters before LIV’s inaugural event at Centurion Club.
Both players refused to engage in the hypothetical question of whether they would play a golf tournament in Vladimir Putin’s Russia.
“I don’t need to answer that question,” Poulter said after taking a sip of water with his hand visibly shaking.
Westwood offered a similar rebuttal when asked if he would play in apartheid South Africa.
Fast-forward to 2024 and LIV are in their third campaign.
Talks are still ongoing between the PGA Tour and LIV’s backers to unite the men’s game.
Few would have believed it possible, given the early days of golf’s ‘civil war’.
“The tide seems to have turned on LIV Golf,” Westwood told reporters before LIV Andalucia.
“It feels like it’s been more accepted. I get fewer questions about playing in Russia nowadays.
“It seems people are understanding what it’s about now and starting to see it as a different form of golf and, you know, starting to enjoy it more, I guess.”
A common critcism LIV players have faced is the frequent use of the term ‘growing the game’.
Westwood appears to think this is unfair.
“We are growing the game,” he said.
“But myself and Ian and a lot of other players, we’ve been growing the game for 25 years.
“I’ve had golf schools, academies, junior golf tournaments.
“Since the early 2000s, you know, this is not a new thing, ‘growing the game’.
“This is just us focusing more on that now, and having home courses and home academies speeds up that process. We don’t want to miss out.
“Somewhere like the UK, kids have a lot of choices of a lot of different sports, and golf is probably fifth or sixth on that list.
“In the United States, they’re drawn towards American football and basketball and hockey, and golf is probably low down on that list.”
Westwood continued: “We’ve got to elevate golf further up that list for kids and give them an easier route into it and a better chance of taking it up.
“That’s where you grow the game, and you find all this new talent.
“People get hung up on this ‘LIV Golf trying to grow the game’, and it seems to wind them up a little bit.
“I don’t know why it should wind them up to try and do a good thing.
“But we have literally been growing the game for a quarter of a century.”
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