Lee Westwood Criticises DP World Tour After Abu Dhabi Promo Snub

Lee Westwood has voiced his concern at the apparent wiping of himself and other LIV Golf players from DP World Tour tournament media coverage, saying it may put off current and future sponsors.

Some critics first hit out at the DP World Tour when claiming that Spaniard Adrian Otaegui was not getting enough coverage as he led the Andalucia Masters.

The Spaniard became the first LIV Golf player to win on the DP World Tour circuit when he claimed a six-shot win at that Andalucía Masters, but some said his victory wasn’t covered enough due to his allegiances to Greg Norman’s outfit.

Ian Poulter was also unhappy with the DP World Tour last year when he claimed to have been denied footage of him playing in the D+D Real Czech Masters in Prague to show on his social media platforms.

Many have said the PGA Tour is also trying to erase LIV Golf stars from their recent history by not including them in promotional material for upcoming events.

Now, Twitter account @flushingitgolf posted about the DP World Tour’s media release for the upcoming Abu Dhabi Golf Championship, where several previous winners got a mention but not 2020 champion Westwood, who is returning to action on Tour while also being a LIV Golf player.

“The European Tour is following the lead of the PGA Tour and trying to ignore history,” read the social media post. “Lee Westwood is playing and he won in 2020 and has been an integral part of Europe’s Ryder Cup dominance. Ignoring it is playground, “you’re not my friend anymore” behaviour.”

Westwood responded to the post personally on Twitter, saying that while he’s not too concerned about being left out of the promo, he did wonder what the DP World Tour’s sponsors made of the alleged deliberate snub.

“I’ll not lose any sleep,” said Westwood. “I do however wonder what long term sponsors like HSBC & Rolex think of this behaviour. They’re the ones putting the money up and I wonder if their best interests are being served.”

It’s just the start of the season but the back biting and name calling has already started between LIV Golf players and the DP World and PGA Tour – and with more LIV golfers expected to play in regular events while they can, and the Majors, the feud will only get worse.

Fellow LIV Golf players Poulter and Henrik Stenson are also in the field for Abu Dhabi, with Poulter one of the more vocal players who has fought to remain eligible for DP World Tour events, while Stenson of course had to relinquish the Ryder Cup captaincy when he joined the Saudi-backed outfit.