Tokyo Olympics: Lee Westwood confirms he won't feature even if he qualifies to represent Team GB
"I think going to Japan the week before Memphis, just with all that going on, is a bad idea, especially when I can't say whether I'm in it at the moment anyway." - Lee Westwood rules himself out of featuring at the Tokyo Olympics.
By Sky Sports Golf
Last Updated: 18/05/21 8:29pm
Lee Westwood has become the latest golfer to withdraw himself from consideration for this summer’s Tokyo Olympics, even if he qualified to represent Team GB.
The world's top 15 players are eligible for the Olympics, with a limit of four players from a particular country, while a maximum of two eligible players qualify from countries with two or less players inside the top-15.
Westwood is currently 21st in the world rankings ahead of the PGA Championship and would have still been in a chance to qualify for the summer games, with only Tyrrell Hatton, Matt Fitzpatrick and Paul Casey currently ahead of him in the running to represent Great Britain.
The former world No 1 could still move into a qualification spot before the cut-off date of June 21, following the conclusion of the US Open, although has opted out of adding a trip to Tokyo to an already busy summer schedule.
I've given notice that I'm not going to play in the Olympics," Westwood told reporters ahead of the PGA Championship. "Many, many reasons. I have a few family commitments, and I already proved a few weeks ago that playing seven in eight weeks is not good for me.
"There's already a lot of tournaments crammed in around there, Scottish Open, Open Championship. I need a couple of weeks off between there and the FedEx [St Jude Invitational] in Memphis.
"Then there's only another week off and I could be playing three FedExCup events, the [BMW] PGA [Championship], a week off, then the Ryder Cup. I want to be in good shape for all of those.
"I think going to Japan the week before Memphis, just with all that going on, is a bad idea, especially when I can't say whether I'm in it at the moment anyway. I'm of an age where I need to make a plan and stick to that going forward, else my game suffers."
Westwood was also asked ahead of the second men's major of the year about ever being tempted into joining any Saudi Arabia-backed Super Golf League, where the reigning European No 1 admitted to potentially be tempted by any multi-million-pound contract on offer.
"I think there's pluses and minuses for everything," Westwood said. "I think they've obviously got a lot of money and they've come out and sent a few shock waves about and people feel threatened. You know, the people that feel threatened are trying to combat it.
"For me at nearly 50 it's a no-brainer, isn't it? If somebody stood here and offered me 50 million quid to play golf when I'm 48, it's a no-brainer. You have to get all the facts together, first of all. I can see it from both sides, but I haven't really gone into depth in it, no."
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