As the PGA of America is preparing for the PGA Championship this week just outside of Rochester, its chief executive had some harsh words for LIV Golf.
Seth Waugh, CEO of the PGA of America, said the Saudi-backed tour has not “accomplished much” since its inaugural event about a year ago, and called it a “flawed system.” Waugh added that those who joined LIV have “disappeared.”
“I don’t think division is good for the game,” Waugh said in an interview with The Times, the British newspaper based in London. “Hopefully, it’s good for those individuals that have made whatever decisions they have, but the game has moved on. It’s amplified those who have stayed, and the ones who have left have largely disappeared from the landscape — in terms of an exposure perspective.”
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Waugh’s message to Greg Norman, the Palm Beach Gardens resident who serves as LIV’s commissioner and CEO, is the league is “burning” money and may not be sustainable despite being backed by the unlimited resources of Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, which has sunk more than $2 billion into LIV.
“They can find it for as long as they want to,” Waugh said. “But no matter how much money you have, at some point burning it doesn’t feel very good. I don’t see they are accomplishing much.”
Waugh added it “seems logical” LIV and the PGA Tour would work towards a collaboration. “I hope the game comes back together in some form,” he said.
The PGA Championship field has 18 LIV golfers
The PGA Championship field, which starts Thursday at Oak Hill Country Club, includes 18 LIV golfers, the same number that played in the Masters. Among those are Jupiter’s Brooks Koepka, who tied for second at the Masters with LIV counterpart Phil Mickelson; and Jupiter’s Dustin Johnson, who won LIV’s event in Tulsa on Sunday.
Waugh was pleased to see PGA Tour pros and LIV golfers peacefully coexisting at the Masters, saying he hopes that carries over to the PGA Championship. The players put aside their differences, some even saying they have remained close friends, and got along all week.
“The good news is the Masters went first and set the stage for, frankly, civility,” Waugh said. “That’s the tone we want. Nobody died, right.”
Waugh is a member of the Official World Golf Ranking’s governing board. LIV has applied for OWGR points but has yet to receive approval and it does not appear approval is coming any time soon.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: PGA of America’s Seth Waugh: LIV ‘burning’ money, not accomplishing much