Earlier this week, PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan announced the Tour’s top golfers had committed to competing against each other more regularly.
Last Updated: 26/08/22 7:58am
Lee Westwood thinks the PGA Tour is copying LIV Golf
Sweeping changes that the PGA Tour announced this week are “a copy” of the Saudi Arabia-backed LIV Golf series, former world No 1 Lee Westwood said.
On Wednesday, PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan announced the tour’s top golfers had committed to competing against each other more regularly.
The changes require top golfers, assuming they qualify, to play at least a 20-event schedule consisting of the four majors, The Players Championship, 12 “elevated events” with average purses of $20m and at least three other PGA Tour events of the player’s choosing.
Monahan said the changes were inspired by the PGA Tour members and singled out those who held a players-only meeting last week to discuss a number of proposals in the face of the LIV Golf threat.
“I laugh at what the PGA Tour players have come up with,” Westwood, who was suspended from the PGA Tour after playing in LIV’s inaugural event in London, told Golf Digest on Thursday.
“It’s just a copy of what LIV is doing. There are a lot of hypocrites out there. They all say LIV is ‘not competitive’. They all point at the no-cut aspect of LIV and the short fields.
“Now, funnily enough, they are proposing 20 events that look a lot like LIV… And hopefully, they will be held to account as we were in the early days.”
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The PGA Tour and Europe’s DP World Tour have put up a united front in their stand against LIV and in June announced a strengthening of their alliance to combat the threat.
However, Westwood, who has 25 European Tour wins, added he was not convinced by the strategic alliance, saying the PGA Tour’s prize purses had lured golfers away from Europe in the past.
“All the PGA Tour has done since Tiger (Woods) came on tour is up the prize purses,” Westwood said. “In turn, that has taken all the best players from Europe away from the European Tour.
“They’ve had to play in the States, taking all their world ranking points with them.”
Monahan: PGA Tour stars commit to ‘elevated’ events
PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan
Announcing the new commitment, PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan said on Wednesday: “Our top players are firmly behind the Tour, helping us deliver an unmatched product to our fans, who will be all but guaranteed to see the best players competing against each other in 20 events or more throughout the season.
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“This is an extraordinary and unprecedented commitment, a testament to who these guys are and what they believe in. To now have our top players rally around this organization and commit to a portfolio of tournaments like never before, I think our fans, our partners , our players are going to love it. I promise you, there’s more to come.”
The Tour’s announcement came just a week after Tiger Woods flew to Delaware ahead of the BMW Championship to lead a players-only meeting, with Rory McIlroy also a key figure.
“Everyone in that room realized that this is the best way forward,” McIlroy said. “We have all made a commitment to get together more often to make the product more compelling.
“I don’t care if they [players] leave [the PGA Tour] or not, it’s not going to make a difference to me, but I would at least like people to make a decision that is completely informed.”
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