Lee Westwood and Majesticks GC have suffered one of the most significant setbacks before the start of their 2026 season. Only days before the season’s opening tournament, LIV Golf Riyadh, Westwood was announced to be suffering from a wrist injury, and thus, he will be replaced by 23-year-old British golfer Ben Schmidt for the first two tournaments.
This means that Majesticks GC has lost one of its co-captains, and Ian Poulter will lead the team alone for the first two weeks. Interestingly, even with this replacement, Majesticks GC has kept its British core crew, as they look forward to Schmidt. The young golfer has also been in good form recently, finishing tied for 16th place in the Bahrain Championship.
Schmidt will be a member of the team for LIV Golf Riyadh, which begins on February 4th, and LIV Golf Adelaide, which begins on February 12th. Flushing It Golf reported about all this in an X post, which read,
“23-year-old Englishman Ben Schmidt will replace Lee Westwood on Majesticks GC for the opening 2 events of the LIV Golf League season. Ben came T16 at last week’s Bahrain Championship on the DP World Tour and continues the all-English theme of the team. Lee is expected back for the third event after suffering a wrist injury in pre-season 🏴”
Westwood, on the other hand, will be recovering and is the second golfer to withdraw from the first two LIV Golf tournaments of the season, following Phil Mickelson, who did the same due to a family health issue. Despite not being on the course, the Majestics GC co-captain wants to cheer for his team.
Lee Westwood expects the Majesticks GC to perform well
Lee Westwood also posted a message on social media about taking back his name after suffering this pre-season injury. In the post, he revealed that the ailment is not significant and that he is merely instructed to reduce the number of reps. As a result, the golfer stated that he is taking a two-week break but is excited to support his team from home. He has also stated that he will return to the circuit in the Hong Kong tournament. The caption of this X post stated,
“Unfortunately, I won’t be in Riyadh or Adelaide for the start of the @livgolf_league season, but I will be supporting @MajesticksGC from afar🇬🇧💪🏼”
The statement by Lee Westwood read,
“Disappointingly, I sustained an injury to my wrist whilst practicing in preparation for the first event of the season. Thankfully, it’s nothing too serious; however, I’ve been advised to manage my rep count over the coming weeks. Therefore, I’ll unfortunately be missing this months liv golf events in Riyadh and Adelaide. I look forward to starting my season in Hong Kong and wish Majesticks golf club all the best under the lights & down under!”
Westwood will be playing at the Hong Kong Golf Club beginning March 5 as part of the LIV Golf Hong Kong.
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