Westwood And Poulter Explain Why They Skipped Open Championship Qualifying

Ian Poulter explained that scheduling was a factor behind his decision not to try and qualify for the Open Championship, while Lee Westwood had hoped to play in the Senior Open before he was denied entry.

The fact that Final Qualifying for the Open was staged in between LIV Golf events at Valderrama and at Centurion Club outside London was a factor for the European veterans.

Playing 36 holes of tough links golf sandwiched between big LIV events was not something Poulter, 47, and 50-year-old Westwood really fancied taking on - even as much as they'd like to have teed it up at Royal Liverpool.

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Poulter still feels that he should have had a chance of qualifying through Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR) points - that LIV is currently being refused due to the format.

"Look, I've missed lots of Majors through the years," said Poulter. "I've missed the Masters. I've missed lots of opportunities. When you're not top 60, you're not in the US Open; you're not top 50, you're not in the Masters; you're not top 50 or earn it through an Order of Merit position to get in the Open Championship. 

"It's not the first time. It won't be the last time unless we can get some World Ranking points and move back up into a position where I can automatically qualify.

"I've got 14 events on my calendar season. There will be a couple of addition to see that. It's a shorter season than what I have played in the past.

"I feel better, fresher, stronger, when I'm competing here on LIV, and as Lee said, if the qualifying date wasn't the date it was, maybe I'd have qualified or attempted to try and qualify. 

"But to sandwich 36 holes right in the middle of two tournaments that I'm working hard to play well on didn't make sense for me at the time."

Westwood unhappy with Senior Open snub

For Westwood, he fancied taking on the Senior Open having celebrated his 50th birthday, but he was denied entry due to the ongoing fallout from LIV Golf, which upset his schedule.

"I sit down at the start of the year, do a schedule, and see when the qualifying was for the Open Championship," Westwood explained. 

"I knew this was going to be a busy week, knew that I played Valderrama, thought it was a good opportunity to play my first ever seniors event and it be the Seniors Open Championship, which is the week after the Open.

"So I'd entered and committed to that. Unfortunately, the Seniors Open doesn't look to be as open as the Open Championship, so was barred from playing in that. So now got three weeks off, and then I'll go into more LIV events.

"My idea and goal was to go and play in the Seniors Open Championship the week after, being 50 and it be my first opportunity. I thought that was going to give me the best opportunity to perform well and have a chance at winning that."

Westwood did not rule out trying to qualify for the Open again next year if the scheduling fits in - as this year will be the first he's missed in 28 years.

"The Open Championship is the greatest championship in the world as far as I'm concerned," he added. "I've played 29, 30 in a row. I had a lot of fun playing in them. But as you get older, things come to an end, and you can't just keep playing.

"Maybe I'll try and qualify next year. See when it is.

"It's just that I knew that I was in this event and not for sure in the Open Championship, so you've got to plan for what you know or tournaments that you think you're going to be in without other things kind of transpiring.

"You can't always be right. There's always ifs and buts in there."