“It’s a big problem because they paid these guys to join the LIV Tour fortunes” – Gary Player fires shots at LIV golfers returning at Masters 2024
Gary Player is not all that happy with LIV Golf and the fracture that the sport of golf has experienced. He and others have considered it fractured, and it’s hard to define it any other way over the last few years.
The gap is shrinking between the two tours, but it’s not closed. This week at the Masters, players from all tours are back together again, and it prompted intense discussion about the state of affairs.
Player said to media including Sportskeeda:
“It’s very simple. Anytime in any business whatsoever, not only in the golf business, there’s confrontation, it’s unhealthy. You’ve got to get together and come to a solution. If you cannot — it’s not good. The public don’t like it, and we as professionals don’t like it, either.”
Player says that everyone is unhappy with the situation in golf, and that conflict is not good for any business or sport. He continued, saying that the issue lies with compensation for those who stayed loyal:
“But it’s a big problem because they paid all these guys to join the LIV Tour fortunes, I mean, beyond one’s comprehension and the players that were loyal, three of us and others.
This is all dependent on the merger paving the way for LIV Golf members to come back to the PGA Tour, which seems distinctly possible right now. The loyal players turned down millions of dollars to stay at home and be without punishment, and Player is one of many who believes they should be rewarded for their stand.
Tom Watson wants unity in golf again
Tom Watson also noted that the sport is split in two right now, but he couldn’t help but notice how fun things felt at the Champions Dinner hosted by Jon Rahm. He said everyone was having a great time laughing and sharing stories.
To media, the legendary golfer said:
“I’m looking around the room, and I’m seeing just a wonderful experience everybody is having. They are jovial. They are having a great time. They are laughing. I said, “Ain’t it good to be together again?””
Watson added:
“There was kind of an appall from the joviality…. it quieted down, and then Ray Floyd got up and it was time to leave. But I think in this room, I know the three of us want to get together. We want to get together like we were at that Champions Dinner, happy, the best players playing against each other. The bottom line; that’s what we want in professional golf, and right now, we don’t have it.”
Most who have publicly spoken about this situation recently expressed a desire, like Watson, for everyone to be able to play with and against one another again. The sport has supreme competition and a lot of attention when Scottie Scheffler and Jon Rahm go up against one another.
They, and everyone else, will do so again this weekend, showing golf fans what it’s like to be unified once more. Whether or not the future holds more of that in non-Major tournaments remains to be seen.
