Lee Westwood qualifies for British Open, his first major since joining LIV
Westwood was among 20 players who earned their places at Royal Portrush through Final Regional Qualifying, held over four courses in England and Scotland, each awarding five spots. He was among three LIV players from the 15 who showed up for qualifiers.
Westwood, a 52-year-old from England with 25 titles on the European tour and three Order of Merit titles, led the five qualifiers at Dundonald at 7-under 137.
'I've always said it's the greatest championship in golf and as a British player you get phenomenal support,' Westwood said. 'I'm just looking forward to enjoying the week at Portrush, seeing a few old friends and enjoying that golf course.'
The Open is July 17-20 at Royal Portrush in Northern Ireland, where Shane Lowry won in 2019. Westwood was one shot out of the lead through 36 holes before tying for fourth, nine shots behind Lowry.
Two other LIV Golf players, Lucas Herbert of Australia and Dean Burmester of South Africa, also earned spots in The Open. Herbert led qualifiers at West Lancashire, while Burmester led the way at Royal Cinque Ports.
Graeme McDowell, who grew up at Portrush, was among five LIV players who missed out at Royal Cinque Ports. That included Ian Poulter and his 21-year-old son Luke, who plays at Florida and was an alternate at the U.S. Open last month.
Seven other LIV players didn't make it, either finishing outside the top five or withdrawing in the middle of the round. Three others withdrew before it started. LIV Golf wrapped up an event in Dallas on Sunday, and players had to fly straight to the U.K. for qualifying.
Westwood was No. 1 in the world toward the end of 2010. He once was considered among the best never to have won a major, twice a runner-up at the Masters and missing out on a playoff by one shot at the U.S. Open (2008 at Torrey Pines) and British Open (2009 at Turnberry).
___
AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Fox Sports
24 minutes ago
- Fox Sports
LIV Golf Chicago: First Look at Bolingbrook Golf Club
LIV Golf LIV Golf Chicago: First Look at Bolingbrook Golf Club Published Aug. 5, 2025 2:59 p.m. ET share facebook x reddit link BOLINGBROOK, Ill. – LIV Golf returns to Bolingbrook Golf Club for the second consecutive year for this week's LIV Golf Chicago, the 12th tournament of the 14-event 2025 season. When: Aug. 8-10, 2025 Where: Bolingbrook Golf Club in Bolingbrook, Illinois Competition: Three rounds (54 holes of stroke play) Field: 54 players (13 teams of four players each, and two wild cards) Defending champions: Jon Rahm (individual), Crushers GC (team) Shotgun Start local time Rd. 1, 11:05 a.m. CT Rd. 2, 12:05 p.m. CT Rd. 3, 9:05 a.m. CT Chicago is the only city to have hosted a LIV Golf tournament in each of the league's first four seasons. Two regular-season tournaments are left in the 2025 LIV Golf season, with the Individual Championship race; Lock Zone, Open Zone and Drop Zone status; and seedings for the Team Championship at stake. Joaquin Niemann has a commanding lead in the Individual Championship race after winning his fifth tournament of the season at LIV Golf UK by JCB and can clinch the title in Chicago. ADVERTISEMENT Jon Rahm's Legion XIII also has a commanding lead for the top seed in the team standings after their fourth win of the season in England. Legion XIII has won eight of its first 25 tournaments — and reached the podium five other times — since joining LIV Golf as the league's first expansion team. Rahm outdueled Niemann a year ago at Bolingbrook to win the season-long Individual Championship. RangeGoats GC Captain Bubba Watson (second in LIV Golf UK) and Legion XIII's Caleb Surratt (third) come off the best individual results of their LIV Golf careers. Surratt, 21, is the youngest player in the league, and four other players 23 or younger also finished with points in England — Josele Ballester (T7), Tom McKibbin (T11), David Puig (T18) and Yubin Jang (T21). Niemann's five-win season has given him a commanding lead in the season-long Individual Championship race, and the Torque GC captain has an opportunity to clinch the title at LIV Golf Chicago. Niemann has 206.80 points with two regular-season tournaments left. The only players with a mathematical chance of catching him are Rahm (169.16 points) and Crushers GC Captain Bryson DeChambeau (136.24 points). According to the latest probability percentages from LIV Golf's data analysts, Niemann has an 84.12% chance of winning the Individual Championship this season while Rahm has a 15.70% chance. The longshot, DeChambeau, has a 0.18% chance. With 40 points for an individual tournament win, Rahm — the defending LIV Golf Individual Champion — has a chance to take over the top spot after Chicago if he posts his first win this season, while Niemann finishes solo 18th or worse. Meanwhile, DeChambeau's only hope of remaining in the race is to win in Chicago while Niemann finishes solo 11th or worse. As for Niemann, if he wins in Chicago, he will clinch the Individual Championship prior to the regular-season finale next week in Indianapolis. It would be a turnaround from the regular-season finale last year at Bolingbrook, in which Rahm won the season-long race by winning the tournament over Niemann. There are several other scenarios in which Niemann could clinch the title at Bolingbrook, as he merely needs to acquire 2.37 more points than Rahm and not have DeChambeau win. For example, if Rahm finishes solo 11th this week and Niemann finishes solo 9th, then Niemann will clinch the title. Niemann has averaged just 1.13 points in the six tournaments that he has not won. The wide variance of his win-or-miss results has allowed the more consistent Rahm to remain in the race despite just two podiums and no wins this season. Rahm averages 15.37 points per winless start this season. This piece is courtesy of Mike McAllister in partnership with LIV Golf. Want great stories delivered right to your inbox? Create or log in to your FOX Sports account, follow leagues, teams and players to receive a personalized newsletter daily . FOLLOW Follow your favorites to personalize your FOX Sports experience LIV Golf share
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Rangers & Hibs will postpone games if in play-offs
Rangers and Hibernian will both exercise their right to postpone their Scottish Premiership matches on the weekend of 23/24 August if they progress to the play-off stages of European qualifying. Rangers host Viktoria Plzen in the first leg of their Champions League third qualifying round tie on Tuesday - live on BBC Scotland - and Hibs travel to face to Partizan Belgrade on Thursday in the first leg of their Conference League contest. If Rangers go through, their league game with St Mirren - between the two legs of the European tie - will be called off. Should Russell Martin's side go out, the fixture will take place on Sunday, 24 August at 12:00 BST. Hibs are due to play Falkirk on Saturday, 23 August at 17:45, but that game will be off if they get past their Serbian opponents. The match between Dundee United and Aberdeen that weekend has already been postponed to allow Jimmy Thelin's side to prepare for their confirmed Europa League play-off against either FCSB of Bucharest or Kosovan side Drita.
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Asterisk Talley, Miles Russell headline 12-member U.S. team for 2025 Junior Ryder Cup
The PGA of America announced the 12 golfers – six boys and six girls – who will make up the 2025 Junior Ryder Cup team. Suzy Whaley will be the captain of the squad that will head to Nassau Country Club in Glen Cove, New York, to take on a 12-member European squad. The format calls for foursomes and four-ball matches over the first two days. Then, the venue changes, as the singles matches will be played at Bethpage Black on the eve of the 45th Ryder Cup. This will be the first time that the U.S. Ryder Cup venue will host the Junior Ryder Cup singles matches. Who's on the American team for the 2025 Junior Ryder Cup? Members of the U.S. team are in the high school graduating class of 2026 or younger. Zoe Cusack, 17, Potomac, Maryland Anna Fang, 16, San Diego Rayee Feng, 17, Short Hills, New Jersey Lily Peng, 16, San Ramon, California Asterisk Talley, 16, Chowchilla, California Amelie Zalsman, 16, St. Petersburg, Florida Hamilton Coleman, 17, Augusta, Georgia Luke Colton, 18, Frisco, Texas Lunden Esterline, 16, Andover, Kansas Tyler Mawhinney, 17, Fleming Island, Florida Giuseppe Puebla, 16, Royal Palm Beach, Florida Miles Russell, 16, Jacksonville Beach, Florida Who won the Junior Ryder Cup in 2023? The Americans are looking to avenge the rout they suffered two years ago in Italy. The European team won 20 ½ - 9 ½ loss in Rome. Overall, the U.S. leads 7-4-1. The Junior Ryder Cup matches started in 1997. This article originally appeared on Golfweek: Junior Ryder Cup: Asterisk Talley, Miles Russell headline 2025 US team
