"This needs to happen" Westwood snubs video link evidence to face boss in person
LIV Golf player Lee Westwood has revealed he has "nothing to feel uncomfortable about" as he prepares for DP World Tour hearing.
LIV Golf League player Lee Westwood says it "might feel a bit odd" when he comes face-to-face with DP World Tour chief executive Keith Pelley in London this week, but insists he's got "nothing to feel uncomfortable about".
Westwood has already given a written statement ahead of the five-day hearing that will effectively decide if LIV Golf players can be banned from the European-based circuit and subsequently forced out of Ryder Cup qualifying.
There is some confusion about what is happening. It is not a court case. It is an arbitration hearing being overseen by Sports Resolutions UK.
Related: Is the DP World Tour better with LIV Golf players allowed?
It is being held behind closed doors and overseen by a three-person panel. Two KCs and a former high court judge, Phillip Sycamore, will hear arguments by the DP World Tour and the appellants.
The hearing will focus on the DP World Tour's conflicting event release regulation.
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DP World Tour members who played in LIV's curtain-raising event at Centurion Club last June were hit with £100,000 fines and suspended from the Genesis Scottish Open, Barbasol Championship and Barracuda Championship.
Former World No.1 Westwood, who was among the first wave of players to join the breakaway series last summer, previously accused the Tour's management of spreading anti-LIV propaganda in an email to players.
Pelley, whilst not naming Westwood, claimed that one LIV player had "upset staff" with comments made during the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship that also saw the return of Henrik Stenson, who was sacked as Ryder Cup Europe captain after he joined LIV.
Like Stenson, Westwood's position is that the Tour had no right to impose the sanctions.
Stenson previously said:
Westwood told the Telegraph's Jamie Corrigan:
He added:
Ben joined GolfMagic as Content Executive in September 2021 just before the Ryder Cup and has contributed significantly to the growth of the site. Ben now assumes our Content Manager role, specialising in PGA Tour, DP World Tour and LIV Golf content.
