(Provided by Tennis World USA)
The surprising announcement on Tuesday of the union between the PGA Tour, the DP World Tour and the LIV Golf divided golfers, who reacted to this shocking news with a mixture of astonishment, caution and joy.
Liv Golf, statements
“I love finding out about morning news on Twitter,” American Collin Morikawa, one of the PGA Tour golfers who expressed their astonishment at the secret gestation of this pact, ironized on the social network.
“I’m very curious to know how many people knew that this deal was going to happen. Like five or seven people? An organization run by players, right?” American Michael S. Kim also pointed out ironically. More satisfaction was perceived on the other side of the table, that of the golfers who gave up the PGA Tour to go to the controversial Saudi LIV Golf.
One of the leaders of this group is the legendary Phil Mickelson, winner of six ‘major’ and who was widely criticized for betting on the LIV Golf. “Today is a great day,” the American tweeted with an emoticon of a smile. Another of LIV Golf’s capital letters is his compatriot Brooks Koepka, who asked someone to make sure that Brandel Chamblee is okay.
To understand this joke by Koepka, it is necessary to know that Chamblee, a former American golfer and now a commentator on the Golf Channel, is totally and radically against LIV Golf. Captain Sergio Garcia of Fireballs GC reads his putt on the fourth green during the first round of LIV golf tournament at the Cedar Ridge Country Club, Friday, May 12, 2023, in Broken Arrow, Okla.
(Katelyn Mulcahy/LIV Golf via AP)
Instead, among the players who stood firm on the PGA Tour, confusion and raised eyebrows abounded on Tuesday. “It’s just crazy. I mean, I’m sure there’s a reason for it but it’s not going to be a good enough reason for the complete lack of communication,” American Sahith Theegala said in a message to Sports Illustrated.
“I mean, how come the Top 10 players in the world find out about this on Twitter. But I’m going to hold my tongue until there’s more to hear. There’s no way players are going to be okay with this,” he added. . Although perhaps the one who best explained the astonishment caused by the announcement of this agreement was the Canadian Mackenzie Hughes: “There is nothing like finding out through Twitter that we are merging with the tour with which we said we would never do something like that.”
