Lee Westwood Replaced By Promising Young Englishman After Pulling Out Of First Two LIV Golf Events

Majesticks GC co-captain Lee Westwood has announced he will miss the opening two events of the new LIV Golf League season.

The PIF-backed circuit is due to kick off its 2026 campaign on Wednesday evening in Saudi Arabia with LIV Golf Riyadh, but the event is already suffering from a lack of star power which has become gradually worse over the past few days.

Not only has LIV Golf lost Brooks Koepka and Patrick Reed to the PGA Tour and DP World Tour, respectively, since the final tournament of last year, but now two of its more experienced faces will be absent.

Phil Mickelson confirmed he would not be appearing in the first couple of tournaments this season due to "a family health matter" which required him to remain in the US, and now Westwood has followed suit.

Unlike Lefty, though, the Englishman has suffered an injury and has been advised to take an additional period of time off before potentially returning to the fold in Hong Kong next month.

In a statement shared via his social media channels on Monday, Westwood revealed he has sustained a wrist injury that was picked up while preparing for the new term.

He said: "Disappointingly, I sustained an injury to my wrist while practicing in preparation for the first event of the season.

"Thankfully, it's nothing too serious. However, I've been advised to manage my rep count over the coming weeks. Therefore, I'll unfortunately be missing this month's LIV Golf events in Riyadh and Adelaide.

"I look forward to starting my season in Hong Kong and wish Majesticks Golf Club all the best under the lights & Down Under!"

In the meantime, Ian Poulter will operate as the sole captain of the all-English line-up and new signing Laurie Canter is set to make his first full start for Majesticks alongside Sam Horsfield.

The fourth member of Majesticks GC's team for Riyadh and Adelaide will be English pro, Ben Schmidt, who finished T16th at last week's Bahrain Championship on the DP World Tour.

Schmidt is a 23-year-old who became the youngest-ever champion of the Brabazon Trophy in 2019, winning by five strokes at just 16 years old.

The current World No.301 is a member of Rotherham GC in South Yorkshire, England and turned pro in May 2021 after collecting two national amateur titles and representing GB&I in the 2021 Walker Cup.

Once he does return, Westwood will begin his fifth campaign with LIV and attempt to lift a first individual or team trophy after he and Poulter signed new contracts during the off-season.

The 52-year-old narrowly avoided relegation last term, instead watching former teammate Henrik Stenson lose his spot as Poulter just about did enough to stick around via the Open Zone.