LIV Golf's Lee Westwood on PGA Tour: 'Hopefully, at some point they will all choke on their words'

Former Open Championship runner-up and world No. 1 Lee Westwood -- who defected to the controversial LIV Golf Series earlier this year -- recently spoke with Golf Digest's John Huggan about his decision, plus his take on the current state of the PGA Tour. In an article published Thursday, Westwood blasted the PGA Tour and their recent maneuvers to punish LIV Golf participants, calling it "just a copy of what LIV is doing" among other things.

"My age was obviously part of my decision-making process. ... Then there is the fact that the LIV tournaments are 54 holes, not 72. I saw that as a benefit. I also had a look at the senior tour schedule. Even there they are encouraging guys to play as many as 25 events. And there are two pro-ams every week, unless you are in a certain category. That’s a lot for a senior. And, of course, the LIV events are offering 10 times the prize money," the 49-year-old said. "Anyway, the end result is that I’ve done exactly what I said I was going to do at the start of all this. ... I’ve given up my PGA Tour card. There was no way I could ever play in all the events required to keep it. I am going to play in the (BMW) PGA Championship at Wentworth next month, which will be my fourth DP World Tour start of the year. I do want to retain my membership there. Outside of my LIV commitments, I will play another four times on the DP World Tour next year. Right now, I’m not sure what those events will be. But it’s most likely I’ll turn up in the places I have most enjoyed over the last 25 years or so. Or where I think I’ve still got a realistic chance to win."

Westwood continued, saying that the PGA Tour has "always been bullies and now they are getting their comeuppance."

"Back in 2000 it was mooted that there should be more WGC (World Golf Championship) events around the world," Westwood said. "So what did they do with the World Match Play? They stuck it early in the new year in Australia. Who was going to go then? Not many Americans. So then they turned round and said they just couldn’t get a field. But that was by design. If you hold an event in Australia at that time of year you are never going to get much of a field. They have used tactics like that all along. Some may say I am cynical, but all I am doing is seeing through all the bullsh**."

Despite holding onto the No. 1 ranking from late 2010 into early 2011, Westwood has never won a major. In addition to his second-place finish at the 2010 Open Championship, he also came in second at the 2010 Masters, tied for second at the 2016 Masters and finished third at the 2008 U.S. Open.

Westwood is highly critical of what the PGA Tour is doing to deal with LIV Golf defectors.

"I laugh at what the PGA Tour players have come up with," he said. "It’s just a copy of what LIV is doing. There are a lot of hypocrites out there. They all say LIV is ‘not competitive.’ They all point at the no-cut aspect of LIV and the ‘short fields.’ Now, funnily enough, they are proposing 20 events that look a lot like LIV. Hopefully, at some point they will all choke on their words. And hopefully, they will be held to account as we were in the early days."