“They Can Absolutely Keep Us in Court Until We Don’t Have a Golf Club”: PGA Tour Legend Gives a Grave Take on the PGA Tour-LIV Golf Rivalry
PGA Tour legend Lee Trevino recently opened up on his take over the stance on the PGA Tour and the LIV Golf rivalry. He shared that the Saudi-backed series has a lot of funds to dismiss the PGA Tour’s stature if they manage to make some networks. He also mentioned that if the breakaway series manages to make some changes in their system, they might be eligible to earn points from the OWGR. He was afraid that if that happened it would certainly put the PGA Tour in a difficult situation.
In a recent episode of Golf’s Subpar podcast on YouTube, the hosts Drew Stoltz and Colt Knost discussed all things golf with the 84-year-old golf veteran. One of them included his take on the ongoing PGA Tour-LIV Golf rivalry. He said that the breakaway series got a lot of money and can keep the Tour in court until the established golf circuit gets unsettled.
“As far as LIV and what they’ve done, they got a lot of money. They have a ton of money. I don’t know how much money we’ve spent on lawyer fees but they can… they can absolutely keep us in court until we don’t have a golf club. We don’t have a golf ball and… and that’s the whole problem,” Lee Trevino said.
Trevino stated that if LIV Golf had tons of money, he does not know how the PGA Tour would compete.
“I don’t know where it’s going. But I will say this. If it is true that they have $600 billion dollar in that kitty. I don’t know how we’re going to compete.”
The golf legend mentioned better players joining LIV Golf. He stated that once they manage to get OWGR points, it would get even more difficult to hold on to the good players from joining the Saudi-backed league.
Lee Trevino Recalls Players and the PGA Tour’s Rift in 1969
The PGA Tour, the DP World Tour, and the Public Investment funds (the financial backers of LIV Golf) have come up on the same page to unify the sport of golf. They announced a mega-merger deal earlier in June 2023. However, things were not the same back in 1969 when a similar kind of revolt erupted inside the leading Northern American golf circuit. Lee Trevino recalled the players and the tour’s rift that eventually led to the Ryder Cup being established.
In the recent episode of Golf’s Subpar podcast, Trevino recalled how the Tour players revolted to start something of their own. He mentioned that nobody has even talked about it with all the LIV Golf controversy going around.
“It happened in 1969. Nobody’s even talked about it. I was in on that deal. The tour players wanted to go on their own.” Trevino said. “The other thing that happened in 1969. The players, in other words, they had a Revolt. They wanted to go on their own. They wanted to run their own tournaments, start their own, you know, their own deal. and the PGA owned it and I think the PGA ended up with the Ryder Cup. That’s how they ended up with the Ryder Cup.”
Trevino, who was also on the deal, shared that the PGA of America told the rebel players in 1969 that they would lose their cards if they tried to start something of their own which, in certain terms, held the players back.
The golf veteran’s take on the ongoing PGA Tour and LIV Golf controversy throws some light on how the Tour has been losing control due to a huge financially backed league. However, with the framework agreement coming up soon, it would be interesting to see if the things get better between the two tours.
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