LIV Golf players say PGA Tour ‘has tried to strong-arm us’

NORTH PLAINS, Ore. — Regardless of whether you consider the to start with shot was fired when Phil Mickelson said the PGA Tour makes use of “manipulative, coercive, robust-arm tactics” and its commissioner, Jay Monahan, won’t do what is right “unless you have leverage … ”

Or it was when Monahan revoked playing privileges for people who jumped to LIV Golf and labeled Greg Norman’s venture “an irrational threat” and a person “not anxious with the return on investment or genuine progress of the video game,” this has gotten juicy…

And not over some fantastic ol’ fashioned pettiness.

As the LIV Golfing Series’ inaugural event in the United States starts off Thursday at the Pumpkin Ridge Golf Club outdoors of Portland, Oregon, the regular league vs. the wild baby go on to trade insults and strategically-timed announcements.

Monahan upstaged the start off of the 1st LIV occasion in London by saying those people playing in the Saudi-backed collection had been suspended from the PGA Tour. That ruling arrived as the complete field was teeing off in LIV’s shotgun-start off structure.

LIV countered by welcoming Brooks Koepka to its group minutes into Monahan’s news meeting 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 Earth Tour are growing and strengthening their alliance.

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

And make no oversight, LIV Golf definitely has gotten the focus of the PGA Tour.

So what did some of all those players who made the decision to stroll absent from the PGA Tour do? They started off firing back again.

Like Pat Perez, the 46-calendar year-old who is unapologetic for searching for much more income whilst doing work significantly less soon after 20 a long time and 515 begins on the PGA Tour.

Perez took a search at the discipline of this week’s PGA Tour party, the John Deere Classic, and it was like chum in the h2o.

“The Tour has tried using to powerful-arm us all yr and occur with bans and suspensions and all that,” he said. “And how’d that work? Seem how several guys are listed here. That didn’t perform at all. So the top threats and all that kind of stuff, and how numerous significant winners do you have here compared to John Deere? It’s not even close.

“The Tour would like to retain chatting about power of subject … the toughness of subject is in this article. So whether or not all people wants to talk about it or not, that is what it is. Specifics are specifics.”

For this 7 days, anyway, Perez is suitable. And it’s not near. The John Deere misplaced its only top 50 player, No. 25 Daniel Berger, who withdrew Monday simply because of again difficulties that have plagued him most of this calendar year. The occasion has just 6 of the best 100, led by No. 58 Webb Simpson.

But, Perez requires to pump the brakes. The LIV function capabilities 8 gamers in the top rated 50, like No. 17 Dustin Johnson and No. 19 Koepka. Absolutely not stellar to this point. But, to Perez’s issue, it does place the John Deere area to disgrace.

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

Various have been questioned what the Tour could have performed, if nearly anything, to halt players from defecting.

“Listen to the gamers for once,” Reed explained.

“Could have at the very least taken the phone from the LIV Group,” Perez said. “At the very least consider a assembly, see what it is all about. Monahan just shut it out from the start off. Did not want to choose a meeting, did not want to hear to anyone. Maybe (it) would have been a tiny unique. … He does not listen to the gamers.”

Wednesday’s term of the working day for Garcia, Westwood and Martin Kaymer: Interaction.

“Transparency is a major issue,” Kaymer reported. “It would have been good to evaluate all the selections that all the tours have and that we can all make a decision collectively, that we can sit down at the table as grownups, find a alternative that is not only excellent for people, for the entire tour, for all the users.”

Continue to, no person is aware what LIV Golfing will glimpse like in a few several years. Is this the AFL, which forced a merger with the NFL? Or is this the original USFL, which died following a few seasons? (In a related item, the future U.S. stop for LIV Golf is at Trump Countrywide Golfing Club Bedminster.)

Some of all those using photographs at the PGA Tour now, have not closed the door on returning to the tour if authorized.

“I want to perform the PGA Tour,” DeChambeau reported. “It’s not my choice for me if I can or just can’t perform, but I would adore to continue on to perform. We’ll see how it plays out.”

Tom D’Angelo is a journalist at the Palm Seashore Put up. You can reach him at tdangelo@pbpost.com.