Lee Westwood has lost patience and publicly settles scores with Rory McIlroy and DP World Tour boss Guy Kinnings: For him, LIV Golf is nothing more than a scapegoat to cover up the Tour's own shortcomings. Westwood accused McIlroy of merely repeating Kinnings' claim that LIV wanted to "kill" or "destroy" the Tour.
Westwood sharply questions this logic. “I have never heard players who play on LIV say they wanted to destroy the European Tour,” Westwood said. He further jabs by doubting the timing of McIlroy's accusation: Rory claims to have heard similar comments from LIV representatives only at the Masters in April 2026. “Perhaps Guy wants to deliver bad news to his membership and needs an excuse,” Westwood speculates. “Now they are trying to pin everything on LIV.”
What McIlroy and Kinnings Claim
Kinnings had emphasized that the DP World Tour must protect itself from an entity that has allegedly squandered over 7 billion US dollars and whose goal is to destroy the European circuit. McIlroy recently supported this view at the Abu Dhabi event. LIV had poached players and sponsors, turned professional golf into an “arms race,” and made it clear in Augusta that they wanted to eliminate the European Tour. Nevertheless, McIlroy supports the DP World Tour's plan to readmit LIV players from 2027 – albeit under certain conditions.
The Drama Around LIV 2.0
The conflict is escalating because LIV 2.0 is apparently on the verge of collapse. BC Partners Credit withdrew from an investment of about 300 million US dollars because not enough player commitments materialized. The original backer, Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund, already ceased its support in April 2026, and LIV even had to file for bankruptcy in September 2026. Westwood himself did not sign the new contract terms because they had too many “loose ends.” A comeback on the DP World Tour could mean a 10-tournament ban for him.
