Westwood plays down feud with McIlroy

LONDON – Lee Westwood insists there is no feud between himself and Rory McIlroy ahead of the Ryder Cup in Medinah next week.

Tuesday, September 18, 2012

LONDON – Lee Westwood insists there is no feud between himself and Rory McIlroy ahead of the Ryder Cup in Medinah next week.Rumours of a rift between Westwood and the world No1 were fuelled when McIlroy parted company with International Sports Management in October last year. ISM, headed by Andrew "Chubby” Chandler, manage a number of high-profile players including the South Africans Ernie Els, Charl Schwartzel and Louis Oosthuizen, as well as Darren Clarke and Westwood.The 39-year-old Worksop player had exchanged words with McIlroy on Twitter after his split from ISM, but claims he would be happy to be paired with him in Illinois as Europe look to defend their Ryder Cup crown against America."There is nothing there,” Westwood told the Daily Telegraph. "Fans must watch us having banter on the course thinking, ‘So where is this grudge?’ So he left the management company I’m with. So what? It was a business decision. There is nothing personal with me.”The pair recently caught up at the BMW Championship, where they discussed José María Olazábal’s possible pairings."I said to him, ‘Have you had any thoughts about who you are playing with at Medinah? Because if nobody else wants to play with you and you’re desperate, I really don’t mind filling in’. We had a laugh about that.He added: "There’s nothing between us personally that would get in the way [of playing together at the Ryder Cup]. Who wouldn’t want to play with Rory when he’s in this nick? I’d love to. It would be good.