LIV Golf duo Lee Westwood and Ian Poulter have both explained their decision not to attempt to qualify for the upcoming Open Championship at Royal Liverpool - with Poulter hitting out at the world ranking points system.
Last month, it was confirmed the English duo would not be attempting to qualify for The Open and give themselves a chance to hoist the coveted Claret Jug at Hoylake. Fellow LIV Golf star Sergio Garcia agonisingly missed out on one of five available qualifying spots in the final round at West Lancashire.
LIV Golf is preparing for its ninth event of the 2023 season in London this weekend, with both Westwood and Poulter set to compete. The pair are not set to return to the United Kingdom for The Open, putting their decision down to schedule issues, their ageing bodies and their lack of world ranking points - which have tumbled after leaving for LIV.
Westwood acknowledged he will miss the experience of playing in the major, which he described as the ‘greatest championship in the world’ on Wednesday. He was hoping to play in his first Senior Open Championship at Royal Porthcawl in Wales, but the 50-year-old was refused entry due to alleged outstanding fines owed to the DP World Tour following his controversial move to LIV Golf.
“I sit down at the start of the year, do a schedule, and see when the qualifying was for the Open Championship,” Westwood - who has made 11 Ryder Cup appearances across his career - said. “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 later revealed he had settled his fine, while Poulter also stated he had paid a £100,000 fine. Poulter explained his decision to skip qualifying for The Open, suggesting he wants to focus on his LIV Golf commitments.
“It's not easy to play 36 holes, travel back obviously from Europe,” Poulter said. “Obviously I'd like to have made the Open Championship, but I'd like to have made it obviously through the world ranking points system, which we know is obviously not there.
“For me it's about having the right amount of time off to be fresh and ready to play golf. I've got a big tournament this week to play. Team Majesticks need me as fit as possible.
“Being 47, I'm not a spring chicken anymore, I've played quite a lot of Opens. It's one of those decisions that I had to make, and I made the right decision for my golf.”
The 151st Open Championship will take place at Royal Liverpool later this month, running from 20-23 July.
