Contemplating a return to the European Tour was not the year-end Lee Westwood foresaw when the LIV Golf season kicked off in February, followed shortly by a funding guarantee until 2032.

In April, LIV were seeking new investors, communication with the players was negligible and by October, Westwood was in receipt of a proposal for LIV 2.0. “They gave the deadline for signing, the 25th. And what they put in front of me didn’t look right. So, I didn’t sign and I’ve not heard anything from them since.”

The golden goose, cooked, just like that. Despite the dead end, Westwood has nil regrets. He looks back with some satisfaction at the changes wrought by the epic disruption that forced the established PGA and European Tours to think anew about a game that was losing audience support.

Had the tours come together when LIV held the balance of power, Westwood believes golf could have avoided much of the rancour and fallout that destabilised it. “To my knowledge, all the big players in the game of golf never sat down around a table.”

Westwood has long been of the view that the dominance of the PGA Tour, the concentration of power and wealth, was not in the best interests of the sport. “I think the problem golf has is it’s too US-centric. The tournaments seem to be all the same week in, week out. There’s not enough variation to stimulate your average golf fan, particularly the younger generation.

“TV money in America is bigger than anywhere else in the world, and they want it on their time zone. They don’t get [TV viewing] numbers if they play tournaments elsewhere. It’s just unfortunate. And a shame for the golf fans in Asia, Australia, South Africa, places like that, who don’t get to see the world’s best up close.”

Westwood enjoyed the LIV innovations: 54 holes, shotgun start, players in shorts, fan parks, music bouncing, and playing to massive crowds in Adelaide and South Africa. He also believed the team element had value.

He, and fellow Majesticks captain Ian Poulter, have committed to continue their schools roll-out of the Littlesticks grassroots programme in the UK into next year, the hope being they can find a sponsor to share the load in the future.

Where Westwood felt LIV came up short was paying too much heed to the American market and too little concern for the players at the end. “They played a few too many tournaments in America. Maybe play one or maybe even two, but they were playing four or five.”

He also felt let down by the poverty of information from HQ during the period of speculation earlier this year. “All the way through the communication was lacking. I think that was part of the problem. I hurt my wrist at the start of the year, so I wasn’t in Saudi or Australia. There was a meeting in Saudi. I listened in by phone. Then they promised funding through to 2032.

“I played Hong Kong, Singapore, South Africa, and then the next one was Mexico, and it was like, oh, the Saudis are pulling out. I don’t really pay too much attention to rumour so I just teed it up and played. And then more rumours came along. New Orleans was cancelled. And then you start to listen to what’s going on a bit more. I’m asking a few more questions. There was a bit more foundation to it then.”

Westwood says he will decide in the coming days whether to rejoin the European Tour. Once nailed on to be Ryder Cup captain, Westwood has no relationship with the tour executives who once held him close. Though the fines levied against him when he joined LIV have been settled, a 10-tournament ban must be served should he return.

“I’ve got options, you know, I could obviously go back to the tour. I can play The Legends tour in Europe. I can sit out until October next year and then start to play Champions Tour. I’ve got exemptions on that. I have a few days to sort things out.”

Westwood is an icon of European golf, a former World No 1, 11 times a Ryder Cup player, winner of 25 tournaments in Europe, 44 worldwide. It is regrettable that relations with the European Tour have soured almost to the point of being cancelled.

He always felt the condemnation meted out to the LIV defectors was unfair given the ubiquity of other sports funded by Saudi money. The attacks upon LIV within the game were, he argues, always about power and money, the major tours desperately defending their positions.

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He was right. Saudi money was welcomed by the European Tour, who sanctioned the first professional tournament in the kingdom, when golf became part of Saudi’s global sporting agenda. F1, boxing, football, tennis, snooker all had their hands in the Saudi till without the same opprobrium.

“We’re all independent contractors in golf. Sportsmen don’t have infinite time to keep playing. I’m 54 next year. So, while you are in a position to play, you have to make hay whilst the sun shines. No-one seemed to bother much about racing drivers competing in Saudi, boxers or footballers.”

Westwood earned a total of £12m in prize money in five years at LIV, compared to £45m in the previous 25. Add in the massive, if undisclosed, LIV signing fee plus sponsorship deals and a reasonable guess would have Westwood 10 per cent of the way to a billion. No wonder he’s smiling.