Westwood take on Super League comes back to bite him as Forest fan defends LIV Golf

The veteran golfer and die-hard Nottingham Forest fan is one of the biggest names to sign up for the controversial Saudi-backed LIV Golf series - which begins in St Albans on Thursday.

Much like the European Super League, this breakaway project promises obscene sums of money for a select few, swapping sporting integrity for guaranteed millions.

Forest supporter Westwood was among the many football fans who reacted negatively to the elitist plans of Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City, United and Tottenham.

He tweeted a GIF of a man rolling around in money with the caption 'European Super League', as backlash from fans eventually hauled the project to the ground.

Why is this relevant? Because Westwood has now decided to accept a fat bag of cash to join a breakaway series.

But unlike the European Super League, this does not even have the sport's elite members and controversy runs even deeper for Westwood and co. due to the source of their newly-found wealth.

The LIV Golf Invitational, which hopes to morph into a full-blown Super Golf League by 2024 with a revolutionary new format, is bankrolled by the Saudi Public Investment Fund.

In the build-up, Westwood has been forced to fend off accusations of money-grabbing and sportswashing alongside the likes of Phil Mickelson, Dustin Johnson, and Ian Poulter.

"I've had a longer career than most," Westwood said. "It's my 29th season, but like you, if there's a pay increase, at my age, I'd be stupid not to take it.

"It's competition, it's good, keeps everybody on their toes. Trying to achieve as much as they want to achieve.

"LIV is there, they've made the statement to try not be a threat. There are 14 events [from 2024], I don't see why the Tours can't co-exist. Competition is good.

"We've all played in Saudi already, we've been given releases to play there, this is no different, I'm educated on it. I've done in the past, we can play wherever we want."

We can only assume Westwood no longer has a problem with the idea of a European Super League in football.