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Lee Westwood is NOT happy with a Ryder Cup teammate after being a late snub for the World Cup of Golf
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Earlier this week, we saw fun announcements made by Rickie Fowler and Justin Rose regarding who their teammates would be at next year's Zurich Classic. But there can be a downside to picking who you play with: feelings can be hurt.
Such is the case for next week's World Cup of Golf from which Lee Westwood became a late snub. Westwood had planned to play with Danny Willett in the event, going so far as to book a flight to Melbourne. But when Willett withdrew from the event to protect a nagging back problem, the honor of picking England's second player went to the country's next highest-ranked golfer, Justin Rose. When Rose opted not to play, the honor went to Chris Wood, who instead of sticking with Westwood, chose buddy Andy Sullivan.
“I haven’t spoken to Woody yet, but frustrated would be one word you could use to describe how I feel about it," Westwood told The Sun at the DP World Championship in Dubai.
“It’s not great when it all happens at the last minute, especially as I’d geared all my end of season plans around playing in the World Cup."
Ouch.
Here's what Wood had to say about the selection process.
“It’s a bit of an awkward position to find yourself into be honest -- Danny made no bones about the fact he was picking his mate, and it probably looks like I’ve done the same thing.
“But it goes a lot deeper than that. Once I told I was England’s No. 1 representative at the World Cup, my first thought was who can I play with who will give us the best chance of winning it? And Sully ticked all the boxes."
Willett didn't think it was fair that Westwood didn't keep his spot in the event.
"Obviously when the guys have booked their flights I think it's not quite right just because one guy pulls out that the other guy has to kind of withdraw without having a say in it," Willett told reporters in Dubai. "I think you just then go down the list and see which guy potentially wants to play. With such short notice, I don't see why they have switched it around and made it two brand new guys."
But as they say, them's the rules. Wood and Sullivan will play in the event while Westwood will have an unexpected week off. Who says Ryder Cup drama has to end when the Ryder Cup ends?