Lee Westwood has apologised for hitting back at trolls who criticised him on Twitter.

Following a disappointing six-over-par 76 in the final round of the US PGA Championship at Oak Hill, Westwood was clearly in no mood to deal with Twitter abuse, and made his feelings very clear.

When told by one user to "learn how to putt", Westwood hit back: "Will you get a life first".

Further tweets from the verified account included: "You minions need to live from the inside out rather than the outside in!!!!", "Just sick of negative a******** sat behind a keyboard with a pitiful life mate! that's all!" and "Like I give a F*** what the haters say! That's life! Some people will always be just a little bit better and work just a little bit harder."

Another tweet clarified that the comments were "not (aimed at) my decent human beings followers of course. Just the p***** that should be locked up by the twitter police."

Westwood even appeared to outlast his critics, later tweeting: "Ahhh just when I'm in the mood the haters all go quiet! They must have the porn on! Ahhh the haters have all gone quiet now! Obviously didn't like a bit back at em!

"Come on you girly boy trolls! I've only won just over 2 mill on course this year! Need you to keep me entertained a bit longer than this!

"I love slagging people back! Had enough of sitting there taking it. Bring it on!"

Hours after the epic smackdown, however, Westwood appeared to have calmed down, tweeting: "Sincere apologies to my sponsors and true followers for my earlier comments. It was out of order and out of character, Westy."

Golf 365