NEWPORT, R.I.: Lee Westwood wants golf’s powers to stop fighting so players like him can get back on the course, where the fans want them.

The two-time Masters runner-up and former No. 1 golfer in the world is at the Newport Country Club this week for the US Senior Open, making his over-50 tour debut a year late in part because of a PGA Tour ban on LIV Golf defectors.

The 51-year-old Westwood received an invite to the Senior Open, which is run by the USGA, as a recent Ryder Cup participant. Richard Bland has also earned an invitation for winning the Senior PGA Championship. The only other LIV golfer over 50 is Phil Mickelson.

“At the end of the day, we’re in the entertainment industry,” Westwood said on Tuesday after a practice round at the course on the mouth of the Narragansett Bay.

“No matter what the level of golf is, I think if the best players at every level don’t come together and play, there’s only one loser, and that’s the fans watching,” he said. “We need to somehow figure a way that we can get the best players playing against each other more often.”

Westwood ascended to the No. 1 ranking in 2010 after finishing in the top three in four of the previous five majors. That ended Tiger Woods’ record run of 281 weeks as the world’s top-ranked golfer; the Englishman held the No. 1 ranking for 22 weeks.

Although Westwood has never won a major, he has finished in the top five a dozen times.

Seems like the perfect candidate for a tour that was designed to give fans another chance to root on their favorites. But the PGA Tour’s policy is that LIV golfers have to wait one year from their last appearance on the Saudi-backed circuit to play in PGA Tour or PGA Tour Champions events.

In addition, the European tour has fined Westwood £850,000 – more than $1 million – a fine he repeated on Tuesday he has no intention of paying. “We’ll have to find a way around that,” he said.

“At any level, it’s disappointing they can’t resolve it,” Westwood said. “The Champions Tour for me is important because people have watched myself play and other guys out here play for the last 30, 40 years, and they build relationships with those players and they’ve seen us grow as players and people.

“Yes, people want to see the youngsters, the new guys on the block coming through and contending,” he said. “But they also want to see the guys they’ve made a bond with over the last 30, 40 years.”

Westwood is coming off a tie for third at last week’s LIV event outside of Nashville, Tennessee — his best result of the season. He said he didn’t feel like he needed a strong performance in Newport to make his larger point.

“Everybody that I talked to said it’s great to see myself and Richard playing here,” Westwood said, adding that he thought the victory by LIV’s Bryson DeChambeau in the US Open was good for the sport.

“It’s basically getting all the best players together in one tournament to compete against each other, and that’s what you want at the highest level,” Westwood said. “You want all the best players there.”

One of five founding members of the USGA, the 7,024-yard, par-70 Newport Country Club was originally supposed to host the Senior Open in 2020 that was canceled because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We’ve been looking forward to this event now for quite a few years,” said Ernie Els, a four-time major champion who has five victories on the senior tour. “I was really looking forward to it in 2020, and I’m glad it’s come around now.”

Golfers out for practice rounds said the seaside course reminded them of a British links-style track — especially in the way the wind has such a big effect on how it plays. On Tuesday morning, the wind was blowing in their faces on the first tee; by the afternoon, it had swung around 180 degrees.

“We played with some big winds yesterday and some different winds today,” said Brett Quigley, a native Rhode Islander and sort of unofficial host of the tournament. “It’s going to play significantly different depending on the wind direction. That will be part of the great challenge.”

SAMAMMISH, Washington: Amy Yang built a huge lead and survived a couple of late mistakes to win her long-awaited first major title on Sunday, a three-shot victory in the KMPG Women’s PGA Championship.

Yang closed with an even-par 72 at Sahalee to finish at 7-under 281. She was nearly flawless for the first 15 holes and reached 10 under for the tournament for a seven-shot lead before running into a little bit of trouble. But none of her pursuers was able to mount a significant charge.

At age 34, Yang is the oldest major winner on the LPGA Tour since Angela Stanford won the 2018 Evian Championship at age 40. Anna Nordqvist had recently turned 34 when she won the Women’s British Open in 2021.

This was Yang’s 75th major start, the most before a player’s first major title since Stanford, who was playing her 76th.

Yang’s sixth LPGA victory was her first since last year’s CME Group Tour Championship, which was also the most recent victory by a South Korean player. She earned a spot in the Paris Olympics, where she will represent South Korea for the third time.

Twice earlier in her career, Yang held the 54-hole lead in a major only to fall short. At the 2014 U.S. Women’s Open at Pinehurst, Yang was tied with Michelle Wie going into the final round, but shot 74 as Wie won. A year later in the same tournament at Lancaster Country Club, Yang had a three-shot advantage, but In Gee Chun shot 66 to win by one.

This time, Lilia Vu and Jin Young Ko each shot 71 to tie for second at 4 under. Vu shot three rounds under par, but couldn’t overcome a 75 in the first round.

Yang was remarkably steady until her final few holes. She made five bogeys over her first 69 holes before she three-putted the 16th. Then she pushed her tee shot on the par-3 17th well right and it bounced into a lake, leading to double bogey.

Yang steadied herself with a perfect tee shot on the par-5 18th, leading to a two-putt par and a massive celebration on the green, where she was doused with Champagne by several players.

Yang held a two-shot advantage when she stepped to the first tee on a cooler Sunday after three straight days of above-average temperatures. The front nine saw breezes whistle through the towering trees to the point play had to be paused so pollen buds could be blown off the greens.

Yang was unfazed. By the time she made the turn, she led by five. Yang birdied the first hole, chipped in for birdie from 23 yards off the green on the fifth and dropped a 7-foot birdie putt on the eighth — the toughest hole on the course — to move to 9 under.

When she hit into the trees on No. 10 and made bogey, Yang responded with a birdie at the 11th and made her final birdie at the 13th.

Playing in the final group with Yang, Lauren Hartlage had a chance to tie the lead at 8 under, but her 5-foot birdie try on the par-5 sixth hole caught the left edge, spun around the cup and stayed out. Hartlage made double bogeys at Nos. 7 and 8 and made the turn six shots behind. She tied for fifth at 3 under, her best career finish.