Lee Westwood has taken a jab back at Rory McIlroy over his comments about LIV Golf’s move from 54-holes to 72-holes.
McIlroy labelled LIV’s expansion to 72-holes as ‘peculiar’ on Wednesday ahead of the 2025 Abu Dhabi Championship, with former Ryder Cup teammate Westwood now firing back.
Lee Westwood Fires Back At Rory McIlroy Over LIV Golf Comments
Lee Westwood has hit back at former Ryder Cup teammate Rory McIlroy over comments the Northern Irishman made about LIV Golf’s format change to 72-holes.
It’s fair to say that Westwood didn’t hold back when asked for his thoughts on McIlroy’s comments, insisting that he doesn’t exactly pay much attention to what the career Grand Slam winner says.
The five-time major champion said in an interview ahead of the 2025 Abu Dhabi Championship that LIV’s move from 54-holes to 72-holes for the 2026 season was ‘peculiar’.
In response, Westwood has slammed McIlroy’s comments and fired back at the Northern Irishman.
LIV Golf surprised the golf world on Tuesday by announcing their tournament format change, but what isn’t surprising is the iciness between some of the world’s best players from the rival tours.
Westwood is a 25-time European Tour winner and has won a total of 44 events during his professional golf career, making the switch to LIV Golf back in 2022.
The 52-year-old was asked about McIlroy’s comments on LIV on the talkSPORT Breakfast Show on Thursday, not holding back when it came to responding to the Northern Irishman:
“I don’t know. I don’t pay too much attention to what Rory says. He’ll change his mind for next week,” Westwood stated.
“I think they wanted to play 72 holes – that represented more the major championship format. But world rankings is one of the things on LIV’s mind. I don’t know whether it’s in the criteria or not because there’s 54-hole tournaments that got world ranking points before.
Lee Westwood on Rory McIlroy saying #LIVGolf going to 72 holes is "peculiar":
"I don’t pay too much attention to what Rory says. He’ll change his mind for next week."
🤣
— Tee Times (@TeeTimesPub) November 6, 2025
What Did Rory McIlroy Say About LIV Golf’s New 72-Hole Format?
Rory McIlroy’s next tournament is underway as he bids to win a record seventh Race to Dubai title. The five-time major champion is currently in action at the Abu Dhabi Championship at Yas Links.
Prior to the Abu Dhabi Championship, McIlroy was asked about LIV Golf’s move to 72-holes. The Northern Irishman gave his honest response, which has seemed to ruffle a few feathers in the LIV camp.
McIlroy questioned whether moving from 54-holes to 72-holes would even help the Saudi-backed golf league achieve its goal of gaining Official World Golf Ranking points.
"It brings them back into not really being a destructor" 💬
Rory McIlroy has described LIV Golf's decision to expand its events to 72 holes as 'peculiar' 😬 pic.twitter.com/79Mw7fSO27
— Sky Sports News (@SkySportsNews) November 5, 2025
If this is the reason behind LIV’s decision, then McIlroy admits he is a little confused by the move:
“I think it’s a peculiar move because I think they could have got ranking points with three rounds,” McIlroy revealed at Wednesday’s Abu Dhabi Championship pre-tournament press conference.
“I don’t think three rounds versus four rounds is what was holding them back. It certainly puts them more in line with traditional golf tournaments than what we’ve all done.
“It brings them back into not really being a disruptor and sort of falling more in line with what everyone else does. But if that’s what they felt they needed to do to get the ranking points, I guess that’s what they had to do.
“I don’t know if the ranking points are really going to benefit them. It will be interesting to see how it plays out,” McIlroy concluded.
In the meantime, McIlroy is one of the players to watch at the 2025 Abu Dhabi Championship, having shot -4 par for his opening round on Thursday.
