Lee Westwood fumes at Ryder Cup team-mate Chris Wood over last-minute World Cup of Golf snub
- Lee Westwood was nominated by Danny Willett and he booked flight to Melbourne
- But Masters champ Willett pulled out with back injury and the place was passed to Chris Wood
- World No37 Wood then picked his long-term mate Andy Sullivan
- Westwood fumes: 'I've been really looking forward to it.. frustrated would be one way to describe it'
- Wood replies: 'It's a bit awkward but Lee's a different generation to me.. I've known Sully since I was a kid'
LEE Westwood is seething over a last-minute World Cup snub handed to him by Ryder Cup team-mate Chris Wood.
Danny Willett nominated Westwood to join him as England’s representatives in next week’s shoot-out three months ago - but those plans were scuppered where the Masters champion decided to miss the event to avoid aggravating a back problem.
As the next highest Englishman on the world ranking list, Wood was allowed to pick his own partner – and he went for Andy Sullivan, much to Westy’s disgust, as he had already booked a flight to Melbourne for his World Cup debut.
As he prepared to tee off in the DP World Tour Championship in Dubai, Westwood fumed: “I haven’t spoken to Woody yet, but frustrated would be one word you could use to describe how I feel about it.
“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.
“If I’d known earlier that I wasn’ t going to be playing, I’d have played South Africa last week, and would also have tried to fit in one more after the World Cup. But that wasn’t practical given the rushed time frame.
“I’m not pointing fingers, but you would have thought that when a guy has made detailed plans - and sorted out travel and everything else - he should still be in the team, even when someone else has to pull out.
“Danny nominated me back in early August, and it’s something I’ve been really looking forward to.
“It was a big deal for me because I’ve never played in the World Cup before – whenever the chance came up in the past I’d already committed to another event, so I made sure I cleared the decks this time.
“But the rules state the top guy on the ranking list can take whoever he wants, so there’s nothing I can do about it.”
Wood insisted he had made the choice purely to give him the best possible chance of inspiring a first English victory since Paul Casey and Luke Donald finished on top of the world in 2004
The BMW PGA champion said: “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.
“We’ve known each other since we were playing county golf together as kids. We also played for England as amateurs together – and, of course, we made our Ryder Cup debuts at the same time earlier this year.
“We get on great, and I think that will help a lot when you have to play two of the four rounds at the World Cup in foursomes.
“And like I said, the bottom line is that we’re in it to win it. It’s a huge honour to represent your country in any World Cup, and bringing home that trophy would be a career highlight for anyone.
“I can understand Lee’s frustration after being named in the team, only to be left high and dry when Danny pulled out. Maybe the rules need looking at in those circumstances. But I couldn’t let that affect my decision.
“Sully and I are a different generation to Lee. In a way this latest Ryder Cup possibly marked a changing of the guard, where guys like myself and Sully have to step up.
“I also had to consider the claims of Tyrell Hatton and Matt Fitzpatrick, who have both played some great golf this year. But Sully was definitely the best fit, and we’re both itching to get out there.
“Personally, I feel even more fortunate because this time last week I thought it was season over for me, with my neck problem flaring up again.
“I couldn’t lift the club more than halfway back, but nine pain-killers a day plus plenty of ice and physio have got be feeling tons better. I’ve never played that great around here, but I’m looking for a decent week ahead of the World Cup.
“Rory McIlroy is the obvious benchmark after his win here ahead of Sully last year – if I can finish a shot ahead of him, I might just have something to celebrate on Sunday.”
Open champion Henrik Stenson is also hoping to turn the tables on McIlroy. He won here in2013 and 2014, but finished joint last a year ago, 24 shots behind the world No 2.
Stenson grinned: “It was a new experience having to stand on my head to see myself on top of the leaderboard – and it’s not one I want to repeat this year!”