Justin Rose is currently in Pebble Beach, California playing in the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am. While speaking in a press conference, he confessed that he did beat around the bush regarding a possible switch to LIV Golf. However, he reasoned that he was never comfortable at risking playing majors by making that move.
The Englishman’s European Ryder Cup teammates Tyrrell Hatton and Jon Rahm joined the disruptive league. But, he still has the same stance regarding making a possible switch. The golfer revealed that he did get offers to join the Saudi-backed league, however, his “childhood dreams” of playing in the major tournaments have often restricted him from doing so. Rose said,
“I guess technically I might have done like two-plus, two-plus, three years ago or something, at least had a conversation around it. But for me it was always I could never get comfortable with the giving up on the childhood dreams of the Majors and I just couldn’t see that changing anytime soon.”
Justin Rose added that he did not have “long-term” exemptions to play the major tournaments and he had often fought his way to get a spot.
“I was in a position, a situation where I was having to earn my way into them so I didn’t have those long-term exemptions to buffer it,” Rose added.
Playing in the major tournament is still a long way road for LIV Golf players. Since they are still ineligible to earn Official World Golf Ranking points, their chances to make it into the field remain in the shadows. So, if Justin Rose is holding himself back from joining the disruptive due to this reason, it is kind of understandable.
Justin Rose Opens Up On LIV Golf Players’ Possibility To Play On The PGA Tour
Since the announcement of the PGA Tour, DP World Tour, and PIF merger, there have been speculations that once this deal would finalize, it would certainly allow LIV Golf players to come back to the PGA Tour. While some players like Rory McIlroy think that it would be right for the game of golf, there are few such as Jordan Spieth and Patrick Cantlay who do not agree with the same.
Recently, Justin Rose also opened up regarding his stance on the LIV Golf players’ possible comeback on the PGA Tour. He stated that there would never be an agreement among all the players regarding the rebel players’ comeback as some would feel that they have not received something that the returning player has got.
“I think it’s complicated and there will never be a one-for-one ration where one guy feels good about everyone coming back because they got something and they didn’t,” Rose said.
Justin Rose added that some of the big players from LIV Golf returning will certainly help them strengthen the PGA Tour. He added that anything that would strengthen the Tour would directly benefit its players.
“But I think ultimately, if this is all structured the right way, those guys coming back strengthens the Tour and everybody that’s now involved in this new structure is going to benefit from those great names coming back and being a part of the Tour. So you have to look at it objectively as well. Anything that’s going to strengthen the Tour in the long term is going to benefit the players now”
With the PGA Tour announcing its $3 billion deal with SSG, it would be quite interesting to see if they still negotiate with the PIF. But if they do, there are chances that LIV Golf players may return to the Tour by some sort of adjustment for sure.
