Tiger Woods, from the beginning, has been a vocal advocate of the PGA Tour in his battle with the LIV Golf tour led by Greg Norman and backed by Saudi Arabia.
On Tuesday, before the 150th British Open in St. Andrews, the 46-year-old 15-time grand championship winner dug the heels of his golf shoes as deeply as they had ever been during this crisis to denounce players who have fled the PGA Tour for guaranteed and comfortable Saudi money .
In doing so, Woods also expressed his approval for the governing body of the British Open, the R&A, by dissuading Norman (a two-time Open winner) from participating in his exhibition of the Celebration of Champions on Monday and at the Champions dinner on Tuesday night.
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“I think that’s right,” Woods said of Norman who was kicked out of the Open this week.
“The R&As obviously have their opinions and their decisions and their decision, Greg has done some things that I don’t think are in the best interest of our game, and we’re probably going back to the most historic and traditional place in our sport. ”.
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“I know Greg tried to do that in the early 90s,” Woods continued.
“Then it didn’t work, and now it’s trying to make it work. I still don’t see what the best interest of the game is. What does the European Tour and the PGA Tour represent and what have they done … and all the governing bodies of the game of golf and all the major championships, as they do, I think they see it differently than Greg sees it.
“I know what the PGA Tour represents and what we have done and what it has given us, the ability to pursue our careers and win what we get, the trophies we have been able to play for and the history it has given us. It has been part of this game ”.
It’s not everyone’s cup of tea.Source: AFP
Woods went so far as to say that the players who have joined LIV Golf have “turned their backs” on the tours that helped them create their respective careers.
“Players who have chosen to go to LIV and play there, I don’t agree with that,” Woods said.
“I think what they have done is that they have turned their backs on what has allowed them to reach this position.
“Some players have never had a chance to experience it – they’ve gone straight from the ranks of fans to this organization, and they’ve never had a chance to play here and how it feels to play a Tour program or play in some big events.
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“And who knows what will happen in the near future with the points of the world ranking, the criteria to enter the important championships. The governing bodies will have to resolve it. Some of these players may never have a chance to play in major leagues. This is a possibility. We still don’t know for sure. It is up to all the major bodies in the championship to make that determination.
“But this is a possibility, that some players will never, ever have the opportunity to play in a major championship, they will never have the opportunity to live this right here, to walk the streets of the Augusta National. That, for me, I just don’t get it. ”
Woods, who kept saying he has learned the game and got to where he is today by “digging it out of the dirt” and “earning it all” that he has achieved, fired with the money guaranteed that LIV players will they are becoming so lazy.
“What are these players doing for guaranteed money, what is the incentive to practice?” He said. “What incentive do you have to get out there and beat it to the dirt? You just pay a lot of money up front and playing a few events and playing 54 holes. They are playing music to the fullest and they have all these atmospheres that are different.
“I can understand that 54 holes is almost like a mandate when you get to the Senior Tour. The guys are a little older and a little more angry. But when you’re at that young age and some of those kids, they really are kids who have passed. from amateur golf to this organization, the 72-hole trials are part of it.We used to have 36-hole playoffs for the big championships.This was like before, the 18-hole U.S. Open playoffs.
“I do not see how this move is positive in the long run for many of these players, especially if the LIV organization does not achieve world ranking points and the major championships change their criteria for entry to events. It would be sad to see that some of these kids never get a chance to experience it and experience what we get a chance to experience and walk through these sacred lands and play in these championships. ”
This story originally appeared in the New York Post.