$40M-worth LIV veteran reveal reasons to skip The Open in the past

Lee Westwood was among the top names leading The Open Championship 2025 at the end of Day 1 at Royal Portrush on Thursday, July 17. The $40M-worth golfer, according to the Celebrity Net Worth website, shot a 2-under 69 to sit tied for 10th on the first-round leaderboard. After the Round 1 play, the 52-year-old revealed that he loves The Open, and said scheduling is the main reason he missed the event in the past two years.

Lee Westwood is one of the safest to make the 153rd Open’s Friday cut among the nineteen LIV Golfers competing. The Englishman addressed his form and said he ‘always appreciated’ the major. However, he credited his busy schedule as the reason for not attempting qualification for the British national event in 2023 and 2024.

LIV Golf's Majesticks GC co-captain, playing with his wife Helen Storey on the bag, said the competition this year had “a lot of pros” in comparison to the cons. Explaining his absence from The Open qualification in the last couple of years, Lee Westwood said, as quoted by ASAP Sports:

“There was various reasons. I got various things booked and scheduled in. I was playing a lot of golf around that time. You got to weigh up the pros and cons, and this year there was a lot of pros.”

It is pertinent to note that Westwood is accustomed to enjoying strong starts at The Open. The Englishman, the eighth all-time leading winner on the European Tour with 25 wins, now has shot 71 or better in 11 of his last 14 starts in the contest.

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Lee Westwood admits bias towards The Open Championship

The two-time PGA Tour winner managed a T4 finish in the contest in 2019, when the Royal Portrush club hosted the major championship for the first time in nearly six decades. His best finish in the British Open came in 2010, when he finished runner-up behind fellow LIV star Louis Oosthuizen.

Westwood further added that he carried large ‘appreciation’ for this particular major and dubbed it the “greatest championship in golf.” The former World No. 1 also admitted being biased towards the British Open.

Lee Westwood added:

“I've always appreciated The Open Championship and playing in it and being in it. I said it earlier this week it's the greatest championship in golf for me. I'm slightly biased because I'm British. I guess Americans might say the Masters or the U.S. Open. For me, The Open Championship just has everything.”

For the unversed, Westwood made his 92nd major and 28th Open start this week. Having had five top-5 finishes in the past, the veteran Ryder Cup player currently stands a chance to become the oldest-ever major winner, surpassing Phil Mickelson’s 2021 PGA Championship triumph at 51.

In his post-round presser, the 2020 European Tour Golfer of the Year winner said he’ll ‘talk again’ with the media if he can stay up on the leaderboard by Sunday.

Edited by Vishnu Mohan