“Probably one of the three people that draw a crowd” - Lee Westwood says LIV Golf’s latest entry Jon Rahm is on par with Rory McIlroy and Tiger Woods
Jon Rahm rocked the golf world last week with his LIV Golf move. The reigning Masters champion announced his decision to defect from the PGA Tour and join the Saudi-backed series. Following this, LIV golfer Lee Westwood has come out to laud the Spaniard.
Westwood was speaking on his team, Majesticks GC podcast when he addressed Rahm’s move to LIV. The 50-year-old Englishman joined the talk after his team’s off-season camp in Orlando amid LIV’s promotions event. Commenting on the trades and transfer, Westwood opined that Rahm’s move to the breakaway tour was big.
He said the Spaniard is “one of the three people that draw a crowd.” He named Rory McIlroy and Tiger Woods as the others.
Speaking about Jon Rahm with team manager James Dunkley and Ollie Banks, the LIV side’s co-captain Lee Westwood said:
"Jon Rahm is probably one of the three people that draw a crowd. Like Jon, Rory (McIlroy) and Tiger (Woods). They're the three that sell tickets."
The comment was backed by the rest of the panel. Majesticks GC manager Dunkely further stated that Rahm had maintained a neutral stand on the LIV-PGA Tour fight since its inception. He said that the World No. 3 “had spoken honestly and openly without trying to kiss any a** across the way." His comment was a jibe at several other players who have openly slammed the breakaway tour.
Lee Westwood slams pundit for criticism of LIV golfers
Westwood has been one of LIV Golf’s biggest spokespersons since joining the league. The English golfer has openly slammed golfers, fans and pundits for criticism of the breakaway tour. Most recently, the Ryder Cup veteran sounded off on golf analyst Michael Breed after the latter criticized the LIV players for comments on ‘wanting to grow the game.’
Breed took to his X (formerly Twitter) handle to state that he has no issue with players moving to LIV. However, he added that the players were moving for huge sums of money and that he disagreed with their comments of “growing the game” with the Saudi-backed series. He dubbed it as a ‘lie.’
Following this, Westwood came to defend his side. The veteran golfer, who’s spent decades on the PGA Tour, said that the evolution of the PGA Tour started in the 1990s following their acquisition of television rights. The golfer said that no one criticized such a revolutionary move that changed the game at the time.
Replying to Breed’s tweet, Westwood wrote:
"In the late 90s, when the @PGATOUR got a new tv deal, put prize money up, enticed top players from around the world thus collecting max OWGR, extending their season making it impossible to play around the world. Didn’t hear you moaning about growing the game/or lack of then!"
It is pertinent to note that the harsh comments came just days after Rahm’s move to LIV Golf. According to reports, the Spaniard signed a deal worth around $566 million. The reports of hefty sum saw many critics of LIV up in arms.