Lee Westwood and Ian Poulter set for DP World Tour return in Dunhill Links
English duo set for first appearances on circuit since early 2023 before joining LIV Golf
LIV Golf duo Lee Westwood and Ian Poulter are both set to make DP World Tour returns on Scottish soil in the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship later this year.
The English pair have been confirmed for the $5 million event at Carnouste, Kingsbarns and St Andrews in the latest batch of big-name announcements, which also include Tommy Fleetwood, Cameron Smith and Bubba Watson.
It will be Westwood’s first appearance on the DP World Tour since he teed up in the Hero Dubai Desert Classic early in 2023 - the year after he’d been lured to LIV Golf and become part of the Majesticks team along with Poulter.
Westwood’s last appearance in the Dunhill Links, meanwhile, was in 2019, when he made a hole-in-one at the eighth at Carnoustie. In another memorable moment in the event, he holed a 4-iron second shot from 218 yards for an albatross at the ninth in 2003 en route to winning the event’s third staging.
“It seems a very long time ago now, but it’s still a wonderful memory,” admitted Westwood, who has been ineligible for DP World Tour events since giving up his membership but setting the fines he owed for competing in ‘conflicting’ events on the LIV League earlier this year.
“One of the highlights of my career,” added Westwood, who has now been handed a welcome opportunity along with Poulter, who has been absent from the circuit for exactly the same period of time. “I’m looking forward to being back at the Dunhill Links for the first time in a while, and it will be fun playing the hole again.”
The duo will be playing in the Dunhill Links through invitations, as will both Smith, who won The 2022 Open at St Andrews, and two-time Masters champion Watson. They are also currently LIV Golf players, with others from the rebel circuit having teed up in the Dunhill Links over the past few years.
Fleetwood, the 2025 FedEx Cup winner, has been a Dunhill Links regular over the years and he has been added to a field that will also include three-time winner Tyrrell Hatton, PGA Tour-winning brothers Alex and Matthew Fitzpatrick and Luke Donald, Europe’s Ryder Cup captain.
Bob MacIntyre, the defending champion, is set to be joined in flying the Saltire by the likes of Grant Forrest, Calum Hill, Ewen Ferguson and Connor Syme.
It has also been annoucned that Westwood will be his Staysure Legends Tour debut in next week’s Staysure English Legends event at Chart Hills in Kent.
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