Tag: LIV Portland

LIV Golf players strike back at PGA Tour: ‘The Tour has tried to strong-arm us all year’

This is turning into Duke vs. North Carolina. Red Sox vs. Yankees. All at odds with each other.

NORTH PLAINS, Ore. — Whether you believe the first shot was fired when Phil Mickelson said the PGA Tour uses “manipulative, coercive, strong-arm tactics” and its commissioner, Jay Monahan, won’t do what’s right “unless you have leverage … ”

Or it was when Monahan revoked playing privileges for those who jumped to LIV Golf and labeled Greg Norman’s venture “an irrational threat” and one “not concerned with the return on investment or true growth of the game,” this has gotten juicy…

And not above some good ol’ fashioned pettiness.

As the LIV Golf Series’ inaugural event in the United States starts Thursday at the Pumpkin Ridge Golf Club outside of Portland, Oregon, the traditional league vs. the wild child continue to trade insults and strategically-timed announcements.

Monahan upstaged the start of the first LIV event in London by announcing those playing in the Saudi-backed series were suspended from the PGA Tour. That ruling came as the entire field was teeing off in LIV’s shotgun-start format.

LIV countered by welcoming Brooks Koepka to its team minutes into Monahan’s news conference at the Travelers Championship a week ago to announce the PGA Tour was raising the purse at several tournaments.

On Tuesday, as LIV was introducing three of its newer members, Bryson DeChambeau, Patrick Reed and Matthew Wolff, at Pumpkin Ridge, Monahan was revealing the PGA Tour and DP World Tour are expanding and strengthening their alliance.

This is turning into Duke vs. North Carolina. Red Sox vs. Yankees. All at odds with each other.

And make no mistake, LIV Golf certainly has gotten the attention of the PGA Tour.

So what did some of those players who decided to walk away from the PGA Tour do? They started firing back.

Like Pat Perez, the 46-year-old who is unapologetic for seeking more money while working less after 20 years and 515 starts on the PGA Tour.

Perez took a look at the field of this week’s PGA Tour event, the John Deere Classic, and it was like chum in the water.

“The Tour has tried to strong-arm us all year and come with bans and suspensions and all that,” he said. “And how’d that work? Look how many guys are here. That didn’t work at all. So the top threats and all that kind of stuff, and how many major winners do you have here compared to John Deere? It’s not even close.

“The Tour wants to keep talking about strength of field … the strength of field is here. So whether everybody wants to talk about it or not, that’s what it is. Facts are facts.”

For this week, anyway, Perez is right. And it’s not close. The John Deere lost its only top 50 player, No. 25 Daniel Berger, who withdrew Monday because of back issues that have plagued him most of this year. The event has just six of the top 100, led by No. 58 Webb Simpson.

But, Perez needs to pump the brakes. The LIV event features eight players in the top 50, including No. 17 Dustin Johnson and No. 19 Koepka. Certainly not stellar to this point. But, to Perez’s point, it does put the John Deere field to shame.

Some players no longer are hiding their disgust for the PGA Tour and how it has handled LIV’s threat. Some have reacted by resigning from the tour; Dustin Johnson, Sergio Garcia, Patrick Reed, Lee Westwood, Charl Schwartzel among them.

Several were asked what the Tour could have done, if anything, to stop players from defecting.

“Listen to the players for once,” Reed said.

“Could have at least taken the call from the LIV Group,” Perez said. “At least take a meeting, see what it’s all about. Monahan just shut it out from the start. Didn’t want to take a meeting, didn’t want to listen to anybody. Maybe (it) would have been a little different. … He doesn’t listen to the players.”

Wednesday’s word of the day for Garcia, Westwood and Martin Kaymer: Communication.

“Transparency is a big thing,” Kaymer said. “It would have been great to evaluate all the options that all the tours have and that we can all decide together, that we can sit down at the table as adults, find a solution that is not only good for individuals, for the whole tour, for all the members.”

Still, nobody knows what LIV Golf will look like in three years. Is this the AFL, which forced a merger with the NFL? Or is this the original USFL, which died after three seasons? (In a related item, the next U.S. stop for LIV Golf is at Trump National Golf Club Bedminster.)

Some of those taking shots at the PGA Tour now, have not closed the door on returning to the tour if allowed.

“I want to play the PGA Tour,” DeChambeau said. “It’s not my decision for me if I can or can’t play, but I would love to continue to play. We’ll see how it plays out.”

Tom D’Angelo is a journalist at the Palm Beach Post. You can reach him at tdangelo@pbpost.com.

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So far, LIV golfers have been good at creating a buzz, collecting massive checks — and dodging hard questions

Pat Perez, 46, said he’s “been on the road longer than Matt Wolff has been alive … I’m tired of being on the road.”

NORTH PLAINS, Oregon — You can say this much for LIV Golf: The new Saudi-backed organization and its players certainly know how to generate headlines — and controversy.

The tour, which makes its U.S. debut Thursday at Pumpkin Ridge outside of Portland, has quickly become known for contentious exchanges between media asking about Saudi Arabia’s horrendous track record on human rights and players who mostly refuse to acknowledge said track record.

That continued Tuesday afternoon, as Brooks Koepka, Patrick Reed and Pat Perez attended the day’s second news conference and proceeded to get visibly annoyed with every non-golf question.

When asked about various local politicians who have voiced opposition to LIV being in Oregon given who’s funding the tournament, Perez said, “I understand the topics you’re trying to bring up and they’re horrible events. But I’m here to play golf.”

Perez did not clarify what he meant by “horrible events,” though it’s likely the 2018 death of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi, who was killed inside the Saudi consulate, would be included.

To more general concerns about LIV’s connection with Saudi Arabia, Koepka said people are “allowed to have their opinions, we’ve heard it, everybody has. Our only job is to play golf. We’re trying to grow the game.”

But Koepka and Perez didn’t care for the question about if, in aligning themselves with Saudi Arabia, were they actually alienating fans and potentially harming growth of the game?

“We haven’t asked them (the fans),” Perez snapped. “We don’t know. You go ask them.”

Koepka argued that more golf on TV and the internet in general — whether people are getting it via TikTok, Instagram or Twitter — is ultimately good for growing the sport. And clearly, Reed said, the PGA Tour considers LIV an organization that will do exactly that.

“Seeing how miraculously the purses went skyrocketing back up on the PGA Tour, it just shows they obviously believe not only is this a true threat, but a great tour, if they’re copying what we’re doing,” Reed said. “I believe this is a tour that’s going to be around forever.”

2022 U.S. Open
Patrick Reed reacts to his shot on the sixth hole during a practice round of the U.S. Open golf tournament at The Country Club. Mandatory Credit: Peter Casey-USA TODAY Sports

On topics related to the actual playing of golf, Koepka, Perez and Reed all expressed frustration with the PGA Tour, fed up with what they said is a punishing, unrealistic schedule. They said the PGA Tour created division by not listening to players when they complained about a packed schedule that didn’t allow them proper rest. Koepka said he returned to playing three weeks after major knee surgery, even though doctors had advised him to not play for six months. What other option did he have?

“If you took off any period of time because your body needed it, now you’re behind,” said Reed, who won the 2018 Masters.

Perez, 46, said he’s “been on the road longer than (newest LIV golfer) Matt Wolff has been alive. The bottom line is, I’m tired of being on the road. This (LIV) is like winning the lottery.”

All players who have signed contracts with LIV have been suspended from PGA Tour events, though only a handful, including Reed, have actually resigned their membership.

“I’m not resigning,” Perez said. “I don’t think I did anything wrong.”

As for continuing to have access to the majors, no one seems very worried.

“Obviously we don’t really know where they all stand,” Reed said. “Being a past champion at Augusta and having a green jacket, I would think I’d be able to play there the rest of my life. At the end of the day, it’s going to be up to them.”

Added Koepka: “You play well anywhere in the world, you’ll be just fine. I’ve made my decision, I’m happy with it and whatever comes of it, I’ll live with it.”

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Matthew Wolff on his new LIV financial freedom: ‘It’s about how you treat people, how you respect people.’

“We’re golfers, we’re providing entertainment globally and will continue to do so,” DeChambeau said.

PORTLAND, Oregon — LIV Golf officially kicked off in the United States Tuesday morning, as the new organization held a press conference at its first American-based event at Pumpkin Ridge, located about 20 miles west of Portland’s city center. Play begins Thursday.

The organization’s three newest golfers — all recent defectors from the PGA Tour — spoke about their decision to join LIV, the unconventional and controversial tour that’s scheduled to play four events in the U.S. in the coming months.

And while questions were posed to each Bryson DeChambeau, Matt Wolff and Abraham Ancer about the controversy surrounding LIV — an organization funded by Saudi Arabia, a country with a long, horrific track record on human rights — none was eager to talk about it.

“We’re golfers, we’re providing entertainment globally and will continue to do so,” DeChambeau said, adding later that he thinks “moving on” from that part of the conversation is “important.”

“Golf is a force for good,” DeChambeau said. “As time goes on, hopefully people will see the good they’re (the Saudis) doing. And what they’re trying to accomplish, rather than looking back at the bad that’s happened before.”

Each of them did acknowledge that money was absolutely a factor in their moves; DeChambeau called it “a personal business decision.” Wolff said the team component of LIV was especially appealing to him.

“In college I felt like I really thrived,” said the 23-year-old Wolff, who won the 2019 NCAA individual championship while at Oklahoma State. “There’s something to be said about playing hard for yourself and for your caddy but when you know people are lying on you, it’s different. The best comes out when you’re on a team. That dynamic really suited me.”

All three mentioned the LIV’s schedule, which will allow players to take more and longer breaks than the PGA schedule, theoretically giving players more time to rest and a better shot at achieving the coveted work-life balance.

“The last two to three years, I’ve been giving my all to golf, I haven’t really had a life outside of golf,” said Ancer, who made a pro-con list before making the jump to LIV, adding that it wasn’t an easy choice. “I missed spending time with my family and friends and I wasn’t as happy.”

As for concern about potentially plummeting rankings and how that could impact their eligibility for majors, Ancer acknowledged it could be an issue.

“Of course it matters,” Ancer said. “I definitely want to play in majors, and we already have a pretty strong field and a pretty strong case here. It would be kinda crazy to not get any points (from LIV events). I’m definitely banking on having some points going forward. Hopefully, it gets resolved.”

And what if they’re not able to play in majors this year or next?

“We’re talking about today,” Wolff said curtly.

Both DeChambeau and Wolff talked about their desire to leave a legacy both on and off the golf course, claiming the significant prize money LIV is doling out will allow them to give back to their communities more.

“At the end of the day, your legacy is not just on the golf course but off,” said Wolff, who earned more than $7.5 million on the PGA Tour in his three-plus seasons. “It’s about how you treat people, how you respect people.”

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