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The Open
Tiger Woods is teeing off on LIV Golf … making it clear on Tuesday that he ain’t a fan of the new org., or the golfers who have defected to it.
The 46-year-old railed against the new, Saudi-backed league for several minutes during a meeting with media members ahead of this week’s The Open tourney … explaining he just doesn’t understand how guys have ditched the PGA Tour for it.
“I think that what they’ve done is they’ve turned their back on what has allowed them to get to this position,” Woods said of the LIV golfers.
Woods, who reportedly turned down a massive offer to play in LIV Golf earlier this year, explained he believes the Tour has given athletes the chance to “earn what we get” and establish a legacy — something he clearly thinks is lacking in the new golf league.
🗣️ “I just don’t see how that move is positive in the long term”
Tiger Woods has his say on the LIV golf series 👇 pic.twitter.com/sPyfUwMqwc
— Sky Sports Golf (@SkySportsGolf) July 12, 2022
@SkySportsGolf
In fact, Woods questioned how anyone taking the guaranteed payday from the new org. could find a desire to try to get better going forward.
“What these players are doing for guaranteed money, what is the incentive to practice?” the golf legend said. “What is the incentive to go out there and earn it in the dirt? You’re just getting paid a lot of money upfront and playing a few events and playing 54 holes. They’re playing blaring music and have all these atmospheres that are different.”
Woods also said he agreed with The Open’s decision to ban LIV Golf CEO Greg Norman from some of this week’s most meaningful events.
“Greg has done some things that I don’t think is in the best interest of our game,” Woods said, “and we’re coming back to probably the most historic and traditional place in our sport.”
LIV Golf officially kicked off its first event last month in England. More than a dozen of the top players in the world — including Dustin Johnson, Phil Mickelson, Brooks Koepka and Bryson DeChambeau — have elected to play in it.
The PGA Tour, meanwhile, has suspended all of the defectors indefinitely, saying in a statement in June that anyone who follows suit will face similar punishments.
It’s unclear yet what the four major championship events will do with the LIV golfers going forward — though Tiger said even the slightest possibility of a ban from those tourneys would have turned him off to the idea immediately.
“That is a possibility, that some players will never, ever get a chance to play in a major championship, never get a chance to experience this right here, walk down the fairways at Augusta National. That, to me, I just don’t understand it.”