LIV Golf rebel Lee Westwood isn't putting any pressure on his son Samuel, who will make his professional debut at the Indonesian Masters which gets underway on Thursday.
Westwood, aged 49, has had a successful career in the game winning 44 events as a professional including 25 on the European Tour. He will now compete against son Samuel, aged 21, who had previously caddied for his dad but is now ready to test himself in the professional game.
“He started playing the game very late," Westwood told Golf Monthly. "He only took up the game seriously at age 16 and he is 21 now.
"I don’t really have any expectations for him this week. I just want him to enjoy himself."
Westwood Jr is no stranger to the workings of the professional game having caddied for his father at last year's Masters and Ryder Cup. Westwood Sr, who turned professional in 1993 before his son was born, still remembers the first time he teed off as a professional.
He added: “I expect him to be nervous and feel uncomfortable, but we all feel that way when you tee it up for the first time and once that has passed I expect him to start enjoying himself, start hitting some good shots and build on that. But I have no expectations as far as scores are concerned.”
Former world number one Westwood Sr has seen his world golf ranking drop to 140th after joining the Saudi-backed LIV Golf series this year.
Having been a professional for almost 30 years Westwood claimed that life was 'getting lonely' on the the PGA and DP World Tours resulting in him joining the rival series.
“I don't know 75 percent of the players out there. That was starting to get a bit lonely for me.," Westwood said. “It's one of the disadvantages of playing well into a ripe old age. My son would have more in common with most people on the range than I would. It's nice to be out with people like Ian and Henrik [Stenson] and Phil [Mickelson] and guys more my age.”
