{"id":250533,"date":"2025-11-08T03:35:14","date_gmt":"2025-11-08T03:35:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/250533\/"},"modified":"2025-11-08T03:35:14","modified_gmt":"2025-11-08T03:35:14","slug":"lee-westwood-takes-aim-at-rory-mcilroy-after-hearing-his-peculiar-liv-golf-comment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/250533\/","title":{"rendered":"Lee Westwood takes aim at Rory McIlroy after hearing his “peculiar” LIV Golf comment"},"content":{"rendered":"

Lee Westwood has taken a swipe at Rory McIlroy after the Northern Irishman branded LIV Golf<\/a>\u2019s decision to switch from 54 holes to 72 “peculiar”<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Speaking on the talkSPORT Breakfast Show, Westwood<\/a> \u2013 one of LIV\u2019s most experienced figures \u2013 wasted no time firing back at his former Ryder Cup teammate.<\/p>\n

“I don\u2019t know. I don\u2019t pay too much attention to what Rory says. He\u2019ll change his mind for next week,” Westwood quipped.<\/p>\n

McIlroy<\/a>, who has been one of LIV Golf\u2019s fiercest critics since its launch in 2022, questioned<\/a> whether adding an extra round would really make any difference to the league\u2019s ongoing battle for Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR) points.<\/p>\n

“I think it\u2019s a peculiar move because I think they could have got ranking points with three rounds,” McIlroy said ahead of the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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“I don\u2019t think three rounds versus four rounds is what was holding them back.”<\/p>\n

Westwood strongly disagrees with McIlroy\u2019s scepticism though, calling the change a win for everyone involved.<\/p>\n

“I think it was good for the players, good for the sponsors, and good for the fans more than anything as they get to see another day\u2019s golf,” said the Englishman.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Rory <\/p>\n

Rory McIlroy<\/p>\n

Westwood added that LIV\u2019s players wanted to play the same length as the majors \u2013 and that a four-round format<\/a> could only help their case for OWGR recognition.<\/p>\n

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“I think they wanted to play 72 holes \u2013 that represented more the major championship format,” said Westwood, a co-captain of Majesticks GC.<\/p>\n

“But world rankings is one of the things on LIV\u2019s mind.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“I don\u2019t know whether it\u2019s in the criteria or not because there\u2019s 54-hole tournaments that got world ranking points before.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“But I think the boxes that you need to tick with the world rankings, 72 holes probably helps that.”<\/p>\n

\"Jon <\/p>\n

Jon Rahm is LIV Golf’s biggest signing<\/p>\n

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LIV Golf\u2019s big format shake-up<\/p>\n

LIV Golf dropped a bombshell <\/a>on Tuesday by confirming it will expand from 54 to 72 holes starting in 2026.<\/p>\n

The move comes as the Saudi-backed circuit continues to evolve its product and chase the elusive world ranking points that have so far been denied since its 2022 debut.<\/p>\n

Former OWGR chairman Peter Dawson previously ruled that LIV\u2019s 54-hole, no-cut format for 48 players was its biggest drawback \u2013 though he did leave the door open for future consideration if significant changes were made.<\/p>\n

Fast forward to now, and those changes are here. LIV has recruited the likes of Jon Rahm and Tyrrell Hatton, expanded its qualifying pathways, and will even grow its fields from 54 to 57 players with added wildcard spots from 2026.<\/p>\n

CEO Scott O\u2019Neil said the switch marks a “pivotal new chapter” for the breakaway league.<\/p>\n

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Sergio Garcia “happy” with the change<\/p>\n

Fireballs GC captain Sergio Garcia<\/a> has told GolfMagic he\u2019s “happy” with the shift \u2013 and believes it could finally help LIV secure those long-awaited ranking points.<\/p>\n

“Yeah I\u2019m happy about it [moving to 72 holes],” Garcia told us in an exclusive interview<\/a> on Tuesday.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“I think it\u2019s going to give us more exposure and it\u2019s going to make it even more competitive if it can be, and also if it\u2019s going to help us with the possibility of getting world ranking points, obviously it\u2019s a plus that we want to take the opportunity to do. I think that\u2019s very important, not only for us but for the younger guys.<\/p>\n

“But I think at the end of the day it\u2019s going to give our fans one more day to enjoy watching us, so I think it\u2019s all positive.”<\/p>\n

\"McIlroy <\/p>\n

McIlroy finds LIV Golf’s format change “peculiar”<\/p>\n

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McIlroy\u2019s doubts linger<\/p>\n

Despite the fanfare, McIlroy isn\u2019t convinced the change will move the needle when it comes to world rankings.<\/p>\n

But then again, he’s never been much of a LIV fan, full stop.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“It certainly puts them more in line with traditional golf tournaments than what we\u2019ve all done,” said McIlroy from this week’s Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship where he is looking to win for the first time in his career.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“But if that\u2019s what they felt they needed to do to get the ranking points, I guess that\u2019s what they had to do.”<\/p>\n

The five-time major champion added that even if LIV events were eventually recognised by the OWGR, the current weakness of their fields \u2013 after years without points \u2013 could blunt any benefit.<\/p>\n

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McIlroy added: “You\u2019ve got the LIV guys, and say potentially they get World Rankings, but because their strength of fields are going to be so weak because a lot of the guys have fallen already in the rankings, I don\u2019t know if the ranking points are really going to benefit them.”<\/p>\n

The bigger picture<\/p>\n

LIV Golf\u2019s evolution from 54 to 72 holes signals its most significant step yet towards legitimacy in the global game.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The breakaway Saudi-bankrolled league will still retain its trademark shotgun starts and team format, but with a longer, more traditional structure that mirrors the major championships.<\/p>\n

With former OWGR chair Dawson replaced by Masters champion Trevor Immelman, and LIV now ticking many of the boxes previously criticised, the timing could prove crucial.<\/p>\n

Whether the OWGR board finally opens the door remains to be seen \u2014 but for now, one thing\u2019s clear: the league has made its boldest play yet.<\/p>\n

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And if you ask Lee Westwood? He\u2019s not losing any sleep over Rory\u2019s hot take.<\/p>\n

“He\u2019ll change his mind for next week…”<\/p>\n

Subscribe to our Newsletter<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Lee Westwood has taken a swipe at Rory McIlroy after the Northern Irishman branded LIV Golf\u2019s decision to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":250534,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[5904,101,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-250533","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-golf","8":"tag-golf","9":"tag-sports","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom","12":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/250533","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=250533"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/250533\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/250534"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=250533"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=250533"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=250533"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}