Connect with us

News

‘Sport and politics shouldn’t mix’ – Lee Westwood defends Saudi League request

Published

4 years ago

on

Speaking ahead of his start at the British Masters at the Belfry, Lee Westwood confirmed what we’ve been speculating for the past few months.

He has indeed requested for a release to play in the LIV Golf Invitational Series.

In his pre-tournament press conference, the former world number one defended his decision.

“People always have a problem with change and are sceptical. Change and competition are good in any walk of life.”

He also added that he believes the politics of the situation should not be an issue.

“I don’t think sport and politics should mix. The European Tour has been happy to play events in Saudi Arabia. The PGA Tour released players for that. It’s like Wimbledon banning Russian players. For what it’s worth I don’t agree with that, either.”

Westwood spoke to Sky Sports later, and expanded on the reasoning for his decision.

“It’s an opportunity to play in a big tournament and some of the best players in the world, in England, you know? I love playing in England in front of the home fans. So, you know, anytime there’s an opportunity like that, you know, I feel like I should take it.”

Westwood then reiterated what LIV Golf CEO, Greg Norman has been preaching all along.

“I’m an independent contractor that, you know, I work for myself. It’s my job and I have to do what’s right for me.”

One of the main concern from fans in regards to the LIV Golf Series is that the money being used to fund the tournaments is from the corrupt Saudi Government, to which Westwood pointed out the hypocrisy of Saudi hosting events in the past with little blowback.

“We’ve played European tour events in Saudi Arabia. I’ve had releases from the PGA Tour saying that I can go play in Saudi Arabia. So it’s it’s been no problem to them in previous years. The Formula 1 race there, Newcastle’s owned partly by people from Saudi Arabia, there’s been fights there, you know, boxing fights. I think there’s been snooker and darts here as well.”

The 49-year-old also sounded hopeful that the humans rights issues taking place in Saudi Arabia are being addressed.

“I think Saudi Arabia are obviously… they know they’ve got issues. I think you know lots of countries around the world have got issues and I think they’re trying to improve, they’re trying to do it through sport, which a lot of places, you know, a lot of countries do. I think they’re doing it a lot quicker than some countries are trying to do it and you know, that maybe worries people or scares people.”

Related Topics:
16 Comments

16 Comments

  1. Pingback: 16 LIV Golf pros threaten legal action against DP World Tour; DP World Tour responds – GolfWRX

  2. Bleed Out

    May 10, 2022 at 10:52 pm

    Maybe the Saudis can use the bone saw on that Shipshmuck loser.

    Reply Report comment

  3. Nit Lion

    May 10, 2022 at 8:22 pm

    9/11/2001

    Reply Report comment

  4. Nit Lion

    May 10, 2022 at 8:20 pm

    On 9/11/2011 the USA suffered a terrorist attack that has changed the world. 15 of 19 terrorist hijackers were Saudis. In the immediate aftermath of the attacks when all air travel was shut down Saudi Royals were granted exemptions and allowed to leave in droves in their Saudi Royal planes.
    The USA entered into 20 years wars in Afghanistan and Iraq in response to the 9/11 attacks. Somebody financed those attacks and when you stop and think about it, it is damn near impossible to not conclude Saudi Royal money financed those attacks.
    The problem with the Saudi Golf Tour is that the money used to pay for these golf events comes from the same bank accounts that paid for 9/11. That should be enough for people to tell the Saudi Royals to go eat sand.

    Reply Report comment

  5. Professor

    May 6, 2022 at 8:17 pm

    Mr. Westwood, I’d have more respect for your position if you just came right out and said you’re doing it for the money. But to say that sports and politics don’t mix is naive. With that kind of thinking there would still be apartheid in South Africa.

    Reply Report comment

  6. Bob Jones

    May 6, 2022 at 2:34 pm

    But mixing sports and murder is O.K., right Lee?

    Reply Report comment

  7. jgpl001

    May 6, 2022 at 4:28 am

    Didn’t the Saudi’s allow women unaccompanied to drive fairly recently?, now there is equality and human rights, what more do people want….

    Reply Report comment

  8. Bill

    May 5, 2022 at 10:33 am

    It’s about the MONEY!
    Don’t try to hide behind SPORT. When you enter the professional field it is business. One that has allowed you to acquire a net worth of $40 million.
    Some have integrity. You are very happy to take the money.
    I could see it if you needed the money.
    Money..reputation..money..reputation?
    It was your choice.

    Reply Report comment

  9. John Karl

    May 5, 2022 at 8:12 am

    No one has a problem with Biden begging the Saudis to pump more oil. But you cannot play golf there?

    Reply Report comment

    • Hopp

      May 5, 2022 at 8:30 am

      Whataboutism, more disinformation from foreign nation state.

      Reply Report comment

    • Jerry

      May 5, 2022 at 11:49 am

      Stick your opinion right next to brains, watching brainwash tv.

      Reply Report comment

  10. George Vandolder

    May 4, 2022 at 10:49 pm

    The PGA tour and all the manufacturers have no problems doing business with China. Where is the out cry about human rights about this? Also, the USA has over 600 military bases in 120 countries around the World. We have bombed and killed millions of foreign civilians. As Britney Spears once said “I’m not that innocent.”

    Reply Report comment

    • Hopp

      May 5, 2022 at 8:32 am

      What foreign nation state do you work for. Typical posts trying to deflect from the issue.

      Reply Report comment

  11. Rich

    May 4, 2022 at 1:50 pm

    Clownworld: When sports and bone saws mix.

    Reply Report comment

  12. Rob O'Neill

    May 4, 2022 at 12:47 pm

    Saudi t-rists and those who lick their marbles shouldn’t exist, Lee.

    The bone saw cometh.

    Reply Report comment

Leave a Reply

Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

News

2026 PGA Championship betting odds

Published

1 day ago

on

May 12, 2026

By

Scottie Scheffler leads the betting ahead of the second major championship of the year, with the World Number One a +345 favorite to get his hands on a second PGA Championship.

Rory McIlroy who won the Masters back in April is a +800 shot to complete half of the calendar slam at Aronimink Golf Club this week, while Jordan Spieth can be backed at +5900 to become a career grand slam winner.

Here is the full betting board for the 2026 PGA Championship courtesy of DraftKings.

Scottie Scheffler +345 – (Check 0ut his WITB here)

Rory McIlroy +800 – (Check out his WITB here)

  • Jon Rahm +1300 
  • Cameron Young +1500
  • Bryson DeChambeau +1700
  • Xander Schauffele +1850
  • Matt Fitzpatrick +1950
  • Ludvig Aberg +2000
  • Tommy Fleetwood +2600
  • Collin Morikawa +3500
  • Brooks Koepka +3900
  • Justin Rose +4300
  • Russell Henley +4600
  • Si Woo Kim +4700
  • Justin Thomas +4800
  • Robert MacIntyre +5300
  • Patrick Cantlay +5300
  • Viktor Hovland +5400
  • Tyrrell Hatton +5500
  • Jordan Spieth +5900
  • Sam Burns +6000
  • Hideki Matsuyama +6200
  • Adam Scott +6400
  • Rickie Fowler +7000
  • Chris Gotterup +7400
  • Patrick Reed +7400
  • Min Woo Lee +7800
  • Ben Griffin +8000
  • Sepp Straka +8400
  • Shane Lowry +9000
  • Akshay Bhatia +9200
  • Maverick McNealy +9200
  • Joaquin Niemann +9200
  • Jake Knapp +9200
  • Jason Day +9600
  • Kurt Kitayama +10000
  • J.J. Spaun +10000
  • Harris English +10500
  • Nicolai Hojgaard +11000
  • Gary Woodland +11000
  • David Puig +11000
  • Michael Thorbjornsen +12000
  • Jacob Bridgeman +12000
  • Keegan Bradley +12500
  • Corey Conners +14000
  • Alex Fitzpatrick +15000
  • Sungjae Im +15500
  • Sahith Theegala +15500
  • Harry Hall +15500
  • Alex Noren +16000
  • Thomas Detry +16500
  • Marco Penge +16500
  • Kristoffer Reitan +17000
  • Alex Smalley +17000
  • Wyndham Clark +17500
  • Sam Stevens +17500
  • Keith Mitchell +17500
  • Daniel Berger +18500
  • Ryan Gerard +20000
  • Nick Taylor +20000
  • Rasmus Hojgaard +21000
  • Dustin Johnson +21000
  • Pierceson Coody +23000
  • Aaron Rai +24000
  • Jordan Smith +24000
  • Angel Ayora +24000
  • Bud Cauley +25000
  • Matt McCarty +26000
  • Jayden Schaper +26000
  • Brian Harman +27000
  • Taylor Pendrith +27000
  • Ryan Fox +27000
  • J.T. Poston +27000
  • Cameron Smith +29000
  • Ryo Hisatsune +29000
  • Michael Kim +29000
  • Max Homa +29000
  • Denny McCarthy +29000
  • Tom McKibbin +30000
  • Rico Hoey +32000
  • Matt Wallace +32500
  • Ricky Castillo +33000
  • Haotong Li +33000
  • Michael Brennan +34000
  • Max Greyserman +36000
  • Stephan Jaeger +37500
  • Christiaan Bezuidenhout +37500
  • Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen +39000
  • Aldrich Potgieter +40000
  • Andrew Novak +42000
  • Patrick Rodgers +42500
  • Daniel Hillier +42500
  • Max McGreevy +46000
  • Billy Horschel +48000
  • Chris Kirk +48000
  • Ian Holt +49000
  • Casey Jarvis +49000
  • William Mouw +50000
  • Steven Fisk +50000
  • John Parry +50000
  • Nico Echavarria +52500
  • Garrick Higgo +52500
  • John Keefer+55000
  • Matthias Schmid +57500
  • Austin Smotherman +57500
  • Sami Valimaki +60000
  • Andrew Putnam +60000
  • Lucas Glover +62500
  • Daniel Brown +62500
  • Jhonattan Vegas +75000
  • Emiliano Grillo +80000
  • Mikael Lindberg +85000
  • Adrien Saddier +100000
  • Bernd Wiesberger +100000
  • Elvis Smylie +110000
  • Stewart Cink +130000
  • Kota Kaneko +130000
  • David Lipsky +150000
  • Chandler Blanchet +150000
  • Andy Sullivan +150000
  • Joe Highsmith +180000
  • Adam Schenk +200000
  • Travis Smyth +200000
  • Davis Riley +225000
  • Martin Kaymer +400000
  • Brian Campbell +400000
  • Padraig Harrington +450000
  • Kazuki Higa +450000
  • Jordan Gumberg +450000
  • Ryan Vermeer +500000
  • Austin Hurt +500000
  • Tyler Collet +500000
  • Timothy Wiseman +500000
  • Shaun Micheel +500000
  • Y.E. Yang +500000
  • Michael Block+500000
  • Mark Geddes+500000
  • Luke Donald+500000
  • Bryce Fisher+500000
  • Jimmy Walker +500000
  • Jason Dufner +500000
  • Jesse Droemer +500000
  • Jared Jones +500000
  • Garrett Sapp +500000
  • Francisco Bide +500000
  • Zach Haynes +500000
  • Paul McClure+500000
  • Derek Berg +500000
  • Chris Gabriele +500000
  • Braden Shattuck +500000
  • Ben Polland +500000
  • Ben Kern +50000

Continue Reading

Tour Photo Galleries

Photos from the 2026 PGA Championship

Published

2 days ago

on

May 11, 2026

By

GolfWRX is on site for the second major of 2026: The PGA Championship from Aronimink in Newtown Square, Pennsylvania.

The tournament’s location, just outside Philadelphia, and its status as a major championship mean GolfWRXers are in for a treat: WITBs from a strong field, custom gear celebrating the PGA Championship, and the rich culture of the City of Brotherly Love — we have noted a relative absence of cheesesteak-themed items thus far this week, but most of the rest of the usual suspects are well represented.

Check out links to all our photos below.

General Albums

WITB Albums

Pullout Albums

Continue Reading

News

How much each player won at the 2026 Truist Championship

Published

2 days ago

on

May 11, 2026

By

Kristoffer Reitan held his nerve at Quail Hollow on Sunday to claim his first PGA Tour victory and the $3.6 million winner’s check that came with it. The Norwegian fended off a packed leaderboard on a dramatic final day, with Rickie Fowler and Nicolai Højgaard both taking home $1.76 million for their runner-up finishes.

With a total prize purse of $20 million up for grabs, here’s a look at how much each player won at the 2026 Truist Championship.

1: Kristoffer Reitan, $3,600,000

T2: Rickie Fowler, $1,760,000

T2: Nicolai Hojgaard, -$1,760,000

4: Alex Fitzpatrick, $960,000

T5: Tommy Fleetwood, $730,000

T5: Sungjae Im, $730,000

T5: J.J. Spaun, $730,000

T8: Ludvig Aberg, $600,000

T8: Harry Hall, $600,000

T10: Patrick Cantlay, $500,000

T10: Matt McCarty, $500,000

T10: Cameron Young, $500,000

13: Justin Thomas, $420,000

T14: Min Woo Lee, $360,000

T14: Chris Gotterup, $360,000

T14: Nick Taylor, $360,000

T17: Alex Smalley, $310,000

T17: Gary Woodland, $310,000

T19: Austin Smotherman, $242,100

T19: Rory McIlroy, $242,100

T19: Keegan Bradley, $242,100

T19: Sudarshan Yellamaraju, $242,100

T19: Kurt Kitayama, $242,100

T24: Patrick Rodgers, $156,643

T24: Pierceson Coody, $156,643

T24: Adam Scott, $156,643

T24: Andrew Novak, $156,643

T24: Harris English, $156,643

T24: J.T. Poston, $156,643

T24: David Lipsky, $156,643

T31: Brian Harman, $114,416.67

T31: Viktor Hovland, $114,416.67

T31: Alex Noren, $114,416.67

T31: Tony Finau, $114,416.67

T31: Nico Echavarria, $114,416.67

T31: Corey Conners, $114,416.67

T37: Sam Burns, $82,187.50

T37: Maverick McNealy, $82,187.50

T37: Akshay Bhatia, $82,187.50

T37: Taylor Pendrith, $82,187.50

T37: Matt Wallace, $82,187.50

T37: Andrew Putnam, $82,187.50

T37: Bud Cauley, $82,187.50

T37: Lucas Glover, $82,187.50

T45: Justin Rose, $60,000

T45: Daniel Berger, $60,000

T45: Ryo Hisatsune, $60,000

T48: Denny McCarthy, $50,000

T48: Aldrich Potgieter, $50,000

T48: Webb Simpson, $50,000

T48: Michael Kim, $50,000

T52: Mackenzie Hughes, $45,187.50

T52: Max Homa, $45,187.50

T52: Brian Campbell, $45,187.50

T52: Jhonattan Vegas, $45,187.50

T52: Matt Fitzpatrick, $45,187.50

T52: Chandler Blanchet, $45,187.50

T52: Jordan Spieth, $45,187.50

T52: Jacob Bridgeman, $45,187.50

T60: Xander Schauffele, $42,500

T60: Robert MacIntyre, $42,500

T60: Ricky Castillo, $42,500

T63: Ben Griffin, $41,250

T63: Sepp Straka, $41,250

T65: Ryan Gerard, $40,250

T65: Si Woo Kim, $40,250

67: Ryan Fox, $39,500

68: Jason Day, $39,000

69: Sahith Theegala, $38,000

70: Sam Stevens, $37,500

71: Hideki Matsuyama, $37,000

72: Tom Hoge, $36,000

Continue Reading

Announcement

Our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use have been updated as of January 29th, 2026. Please review the updated policies here Privacy Policy | Terms of Use. By continuing to use our site after January 29th, 2026, you agree to the changes.

WITB

Whats in the Bag2 days ago

Alex Fitzpatrick WITB 2026 (May)

Driver: Ping G440 LST (9 degrees) Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 6 X 3-wood: TaylorMade Qi4D (15 degrees) Shaft: Fujikura Ventus...
Whats in the Bag3 days ago

Kristoffer Reitan’s winning WITB: 2026 Truist Championship

Driver: Ping G440 Max (9 degrees) Shaft: Mitsubishi Tensei 1K White 60 TX 3-wood: Ping G440 Max (15 degrees) Shaft:...
Whats in the Bag1 week ago

WITB Time Machine: Rory McIlroy’s winning WITB, 2021 Truist Championship

Rory McIlroy’s victory at the 2021 Wells Fargo Championship 2021 (now the Truist Championship) marked a significant return to form,...
Whats in the Bag1 week ago

Collin Morikawa WITB 2026 (May)

Driver: TaylorMade Qi4D LS (8 degrees) Shaft: Mitsubishi Diamana D+ Limited 60 TX 3-wood: TaylorMade SIM Tour (14 degrees) Shaft:...

Facebook

Trending