Lee Westwood has fired shots at the PGA Tour following the report that it is set to restructure with more limited-field, no-cut events in response to LIV Golf.
A Golfweek report (opens in new tab) stated that the PGA Tour will look very different in 2024, with its designated events reduced to 70-78 man fields with no halfway cuts.
Westwood posted three quick-fire tweets after the Golfweek report emerged, firstly in reference to the reported introduction of no-cut events. He said: "I’ve spent the last year reading how good full fields and cuts are!"
He then took aim at the Strategic Alliance between the PGA and DP World Tours, hinting that it favors the US-based circuit, while also making a dig at the Official World Golf Ranking being too heavily-weighted towards the PGA Tour.
"So.. Do away with the WGC’s. Load the OWGR in your favour. Create 10 limited field events for just PGA tour members (like WGC’s). Add to that 4 majors, Players, FedEx cup. That’s a full schedule for a top player," he said,
"That’s growing the game. What Strategic Alliance?"
Westwood then joked: What positions are @SharkGregNorman & @PhilMickelson in the PIP???"
The Englishman last year said he wasn't convinced by the strategic alliance and that the PGA Tour has "always been bullies."
"I’m not convinced by the strategic alliance because I’ve seen how the PGA Tour has behaved over the years," he told the Telegraph. "There’s not been much ‘give.’ They have always been bullies.
"I have been telling Keith [Pelley - DP World Tour CEO] and other members of his board how this is all going to go for 12 months now. I told him that getting into bed with the PGA Tour was a mistake."
Westwood is part of the Majesticks GC franchise in this year's LIV Golf League, which got underway in Mexico last year. LIV features 48-man fields with 54-hole, no-cut events where guaranteed prize money is on offer.
His fellow Englishman Eddie Pepperell, a two-time DP World Tour winner, also voiced his concerns on the news. He described removing cuts in pro golf as "one of the worst things to happen to the game in the last 12 months."
So whether it’s LIV or now the PGA Tour, as someone who has played competitively for years now, removing the cut is one of the worst things to happen to the game in the last 12 months. Rant over.March 1, 2023
