News
‘Sport and politics shouldn’t mix’ – Lee Westwood defends Saudi League request
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.
- Related: ‘Hypocrisy at its finest’ – Lee Westwood clashes with journalists over LPGA Saudi treatment
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.”
?? "Formula One race there, Newcastle are owned by people from there, there's been boxing fights there, snooker and darts there…"
Lee Westwood speaks to Sky Sports after confirming he has asked for a release to play in the Saudi-backed LIV Golf Invitational Series opener ? pic.twitter.com/o900Z90BKf
— Sky Sports News (@SkySportsNews) May 4, 2022
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Equipment
Did Rory McIlroy inspire Shane Lowry’s putter switch?
Editor’s note: This is an excerpt from a piece our Andrew Tursky originally wrote for PGATour.com’s Equipment Report. Head over there for the full article.
The timing of Lowry’s putter changeup was curious: Was he just using a Spider putter because he was paired with McIlroy, who’s been using a Spider Tour X head throughout 2024? Was Lowry just being festive because it’s the Zurich Classic, and he wanted to match his teammate? Did McIlroy let Lowry try his putter, and he liked it so much he actually switched into it?
Well, as it turns out, McIlroy’s only influence was inspiring Lowry to make more putts.
When asked if McIlroy had an influence on the putter switch, Lowry had this to say: “No, it’s actually a different putter than what he uses. Maybe there was more pressure there because I needed to hole some more putts if we wanted to win,” he said with a laugh.
To Lowry’s point, McIlroy plays the Tour X model, whereas Lowry switched into the Tour Z model, which has a sleeker shape in comparison, and the two sole weights of the club are more towards the face.
Lowry’s Spider Tour Z has a white True Path Alignment channel on the crown of his putter, which is reminiscent of Lowry’s former 2-ball designs, thus helping to provide a comfort factor despite the departure from his norm. Instead of a double-bend hosel, which Lowry used in his 2-ball putters, his new Spider Tour Z is designed with a short slant neck.
“I’ve been struggling on the greens, and I just needed something with a fresh look,” Lowry told GolfWRX.com on Wednesday at the 2024 Wells Fargo Championship. “It has a different neck on it, as well, so it moves a bit differently, but it’s similar. It has a white line on the back of it [like my 2-ball], and it’s a mallet style. So it’s not too drastic of a change.
“I just picked it up on the putting green and I liked the look of it, so I was like, ‘Let’s give it a go.’”
Read the rest of the piece over at PGATour.com.
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Equipment
Spotted: Tommy Fleetwood’s TaylorMade Spider Tour X Prototype putter
Tommy Fleetwood has been attached to his Odyssey White Hot Pro #3 putter for years now. However, this week at the Wells Fargo Championship, we did spot him testing a new putter that is very different, yet somewhat similar, to his current gamer.
This new putter is a TaylorMade Spider Tour X head but with a brand new neck we haven’t seen on a Spider before. A flow neck is attached to the Spider head and gives the putter about a 1/2 shaft offset. This style neck will usually increase the toe hang of the putter and we can guess it gets the putter close to his White Hot Pro #3.
Another interesting design is that lack of TaylorMade’s True Path alignment on the top of the putter. Instead of the large white center stripe, Tommy’s Spider just has a very short white site line milled into it. As with his Odyssey, Tommy seems to be a fan of soft inserts and this Spider prototype looks to have the TPU Pure Roll insert with 45° grooves for immediate topspin and less hopping and skidding.
The sole is interesting as well in that the rear weights don’t look to be interchangeable and are recessed deep into the ports. This setup could be used to push the CG forward in the putter for a more blade-like feel during the stroke, like TaylorMade did with the Spider X Proto Scottie Scheffler tested out.
Tommy’s putter is finished off with an older Super Stroke Mid Slim 2.0 grip in blue and white. The Mid Slim was designed to fit in between the Ultra Slim 1.0 and the Slim 3.0 that was a popular grip on tour.
- Check out the rest of our photos from the 2024 Wells Fargo Championship
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Equipment
Rickie Fowler’s new putter: Standard-length Odyssey Jailbird 380 in custom orange
Editor’s note: This is an excerpt from a piece our Andrew Tursky originally wrote for PGATour.com’s Equipment Report. Head over there for the full article.
…The Jailbird craze hasn’t really slowed down in 2024, either. According to Odyssey rep Joe Toulon, there are about 18-20 Jailbird putter users on the PGA TOUR.
Most recently, Akshay Bhatia won the 2024 Valero Texas Open using a broomstick-style Odyssey Jailbird 380 putter and Webb Simpson is switching into a replica of that putter at the 2024 Wells Fargo Championship.
Now, Fowler, who essentially started the whole Jailbird craze, is making a significant change to his putter setup.
Fowler, who has had a couple weeks off since the 2024 RBC Heritage, started experimenting with a new, custom-orange Jailbird 380 head that’s equipped with a standard 35-inch putter build, rather than his previous 38-inch counter-balanced setup.
According to Fowler, while he still likes the look and forgiveness of his Jailbird putter head, he’s looking to re-incorporate more feel into his hands during the putting stroke.
He told GolfWRX.com on Tuesday at the Wells Fargo Championship that the 38-inch counterbalanced setup “served its purpose” by helping him to neutralize his hands during the stroke, but now it’s time to try the standard-length putter with a standard-size SuperStroke Pistol Tour grip to help with his feel and speed control.
Although Fowler was also spotted testing standard-length mallets from L.A.B. Golf and Axis1 on Tuesday, he confirmed that the custom Odyssey Jailbird 380 is the putter he’ll use this week at the 2024 Wells Fargo Championship.
Head over to PGATour.com for the full article.
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Bleed Out
May 10, 2022 at 10:52 pm
Maybe the Saudis can use the bone saw on that Shipshmuck loser.
Nit Lion
May 10, 2022 at 8:22 pm
9/11/2001
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.
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.
Bob Jones
May 6, 2022 at 2:34 pm
But mixing sports and murder is O.K., right Lee?
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….
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.
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?
Hopp
May 5, 2022 at 8:30 am
Whataboutism, more disinformation from foreign nation state.
Jerry
May 5, 2022 at 11:49 am
Stick your opinion right next to brains, watching brainwash tv.
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.”
Hopp
May 5, 2022 at 8:32 am
What foreign nation state do you work for. Typical posts trying to deflect from the issue.
George Vandolder
May 5, 2022 at 8:49 am
Not an argument Hopp!
Rich
May 4, 2022 at 1:50 pm
Clownworld: When sports and bone saws mix.
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.