LIV surprised the golf world earlier this week by announcing a big change to tournament formats beginning in 2026. What hasn\u2019t changed is the iciness between some of the players competing on rival tours.<\/p>\n
On Wednesday, Rory McIlroy called LIV\u2019s move to expand to 72-hole events \u201cpeculiar\u201d and wondered if it would even help the Saudi-backed league achieve its goal of gaining Official World Golf Ranking status. And on Thursday, one of McIlroy\u2019s former Ryder Cup teammates jabbed back.<\/p>\n
RELATED: This decision clearly shows LIV and the PGA Tour are still rivals<\/a><\/p>\n Thanks to our friends at Bunkered<\/a> for picking up on Lee Westwood\u2019s comments on the matter. The former World No.1 appeared on the talkSPORT Breakfast Show<\/a> to discuss LIV\u2019s format change. And when he was asked about Rory\u2019s response, he didn\u2019t hold back.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t know. I don\u2019t pay too much attention to what Rory says,\u201d Westwood said. \u201cHe\u2019ll change his mind for next week.\u201d<\/p>\n Ouch.<\/p>\n \u201cI think [OWGR points] is one of the angles behind it,\u201d Westwood added. \u201cI think there were a few different things. Some of the guys focused their whole season around the major championships and playing 54 holes was putting them at a bit of a disadvantage.<\/p>\n \u201cI think they wanted to play 72 holes \u2013 that represented more the major championship format. But world rankings is one of the things on LIV\u2019s mind. I don\u2019t know whether it\u2019s in the criteria or not because there\u2019s 54-hole tournaments that got world ranking points before.<\/p>\n \u201cBut I think the boxes that you need to tick with the world rankings, 72 holes probably helps that.\u201d<\/p>\n