It’s safe to say that the LIV Golf event in Adelaide was a success, with tens of thousands of fans flocking to the course to watch the golf. At the tournament, one of the features came in the form of a Waste Management Phoenix Open Stadium like-hole, whereby seating ran around the entire perimeter of the par 3 12th.
On Sunday, fans saw some great action, with Chase Koepka making a hole-in-one at the ‘Watering Hole’, but a video of the American doing the ace ignited a slight argument between some on the LIV Golf circuit and some on the DP World Tour.
Roger Mitchell, who is the co-host of the Are You Not Entertained? podcast, re-tweeted the video of Koepka’s hole-in-one, with Mitchell claiming that Eddie Pepperell will be appearing on his podcast to discuss the initiatives within golf. The host added: “He is an intellect I really admire but I suspect we won’t be agreeing. Which is fine.”
Responding to Mitchell, Pepperell commented back “I suspect we’ll agree on a few things. One thing to add, this has been happening at Scottsdale for years now, so not sure how much LIV is really changing things here, but we can discuss on Monday.”
The Englishman didn’t just respond to Mitchell, but also to another account called Golf Worldwide, who agreed with Pepperell’s comments and was curious as to whether ‘party-type holes’ could appear on the DP World Tour circuit. In response, the 32-year-old claimed that: “We’ve tried and done plenty of different stuff over the years on ET/DPWT. More than every other Tour combined probably. Can’t tell you how many juniors have hit it inside me on par 3’s in Holland!”
Now, you may wonder how an argument could occur as a result of these harmless comments? Well, one player who didn’t agree was Richard Bland, who joined the LIV Golf League back in June 2022. Responding to Pepperell, the 50-year-old stated: “Ed.. tell me where on DP World there’s been a hole like this? Because in 22yrs of playing the tour I can’t think of any. But maybe your 15 minutes on tour you know different.”
This seemed to strike a nerve with Pepperell as, in a tweet back to his fellow Englishman, Pepperell stated: “Where to start… Suppose it’s simple; in my 15 minutes I won more events than you did in 22 years. What the Tour has done (just to name a few); GolfSixes, Heineken hole at Himmerland, Beat the Pro in Holland, The Tour, which you spent 22 years on did ok for you mate.”
It wasn’t the only squabble that was seen in the thread, as Pepperell and former DP World Tour player, Laurie Canter, also exchanged a few comments. Speaking about the par 3 12th in Adelaide, Canter tweeted: “Ed, having been on site this week and pull hooked one today into the left trap, it’s possible to replicate things more than once a year and have people still enjoy it. Doesn’ t hurt when the venues are 8500 miles apart either. Just liv a little would you.”
Again, the 32-year-old responded, this time with “but replicating isn’t the same as changing. Sort those pull hooks out will you,” which forced Canter to fire back with a jibe about the PGA Tour’s tournament schedule for next year, with the Englishman tweeting: “It’s the sincerest form of flattery. Ask the guys playing the elevated events next year.”