It’s been an infuriating few months for men’s professional golf with the Saudi-funded LIV Golf ripping the game apart by paying guys lots of money to play in glorified exhibitions.
Well, this week in England it’s going to infuriating and awkward at a DP World Tour (formerly the European Tour) event as up to 17 LIV golfers are expected to play in the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth Club. Those players are able to play because their suspensions have been put on hold as they await a hearing in February.
LIV Golf players need to play in this event to pick up some world ranking points, which is something they don’t get in LIV Golf, and which are important for them to get so they can try qualify for upcoming major championships.
Defending champion Billy Horschel, who has been a big defender of the PGA Tour during this ordeal, crushed some of the LIV players who are going to be in the field this week.
From Sky Sports:
“There’s a mixed feeling out here,” Horschel said. “There’s some guys that hate it; don’t think the LIV guys should be here. There are some guys that are sort of in the middle, and there are some guys that understand and feel that, ‘hey, these guys have helped build the DP World Tour and the European Tour, and been part of Ryder Cups and helped the European Tour be so successful in The Ryder Cup’, and they are okay with it.
“My stance on this is that when those guys were trying to figure out whether they were going to go to the LIV Tour or stay with PGA Tour, DP World Tour, they had to factor in that they knew that world ranking points were going to maybe not come right away or not come in at all.
“Lee Westwood and Ian Poulter have been stalwarts for the European Tour, but I don’t think those guys really should be here. I honestly don’t think that the American guys who haven’t supported the Tour should be here.
“The Abraham Ancers, the Talor Goochs: You’ve never played this tournament, you’ve never supported the DP World Tour. Why are you here? You are here for one reason only and that’s to try to get world ranking points – because you don’t have it.
That’s some fire right there and it’s all true. The big bummer about these LIV players teeing it up this week is that it means other DP World Tour members won’t be able to play in the tournament, which just seems wrong.
Twitter had reactions to Horschel’s words.