Lee Westwood reveals why LIV Golf is collapsing now.

Lee Westwood has weighed in on the escalating war of words between LIV Golf and the DP World Tour.

The 53-year-old Englishman pushed back against recent claims that LIV's mission was to dismantle the European circuit.

DP World Tour CEO Guy Kinnings first made the accusation in an interview with The Scotsman.

"We have to protect the Tour against an entity who spent, so we are told, over $7 billion, with one of their aims being to 'destroy the DP World Tour'," Kinnings said.

Rory McIlroy backed up his boss three days later at the Abu Dhabi Aldar Championship.

"I agree with Guy," McIlroy told reporters on Wednesday.

"They took players; they took sponsors; they turned professional golf into an arms race."

McIlroy claimed he heard similar talk at this year's Masters in April.

"They were going around Augusta saying they wanted to destroy the European Tour," he said.

"Yeah, I agree with everything. I think people that don't agree are probably very shortsighted."

Westwood addressed the comments a day later during an appearance on TalkSport.

"Rory made that statement earlier this week. Obviously regurgitating what Guy Kinnings had said about LIV wanted to kill the DP World Tour," Westwood said.

"I have never heard any players who play on LIV say that they want to kill the European Tour."

Westwood questioned the logic behind the accusation.

"Why would they do that?" he asked.

"Most are actually playing on the European Tour as well, that was the main source of world ranking points."

He added: "Why would you want to kill a tour that is filling up your schedule?"

The former world No. 1 then raised doubts about the timing of the claims.

"Maybe someone else was going around saying that at Augusta," Westwood said.

"Why would you bring it up now, why now bring it up right after it happened at Augusta?"

He suggested the accusation might serve a different purpose.

"The statement there seems to me that we are going to try and blame LIV for everything now it is going," Westwood said.

"Maybe Guy is about to break some bad news to his membership and needs an excuse."

Westwood spoke just hours before LIV's lawyers confirmed the tour would begin to "wind down" operations.

The news came in a New Jersey bankruptcy court on Thursday.

LIV's representatives stated that debtors would not be "proceeding with the LIV 2.0 plan."

"Instead, the debtors are toggling to a value-maximizing wind-down in their business," they said.

LIV had been heavily funded by Saudi Arabia since its launch in 2022.

That financial backing reportedly stopped in April amid the ongoing Iran war.

By September, LIV had filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

Stars like Jon Rahm, Tyrrell Hatton, Lucas Herbert, Sergio Garcia and Ian Poulter announced they were leaving the tour.

BC Partners Credit had been lined up to provide up to $300 million to finance a revamped competition — LIV 2.0.

But those plans fell apart when LIV failed to convince enough major names to sign up.

Westwood was among the first to join LIV in 2022.

He told The Chipping Forecast Podcast that he hasn't committed to being part of LIV 2.0.

"I've seen everybody's statement and I just don't get it," Westwood said.

"I won't be making a statement. It's nobody's business but mine where I go and play golf."

"And I don't feel like I've got to put a press release out [for] where I go and work."

"I currently am unemployed. I haven't signed up to anything anywhere."

"There's nothing been presented to me that was agreeable for LIV 2.0."

"There's still a lot of things on that that would need fine-tuning."

"Deadlines have come and gone, and I've heard nothing, whether I have to sign or I don't have to sign."

"I haven't signed 2.0. I haven't signed anything."

"This [Restructuring Support Agreement between LIV Golf and BC Partners] everybody talks about, I haven't signed that."