Golf News
Last Updated: 09/03/23 11:10am
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Matt Fitzpatrick believes players who joined LIV Golf should never be allowed to return to the PGA Tour, although is open to the idea of them competing in the Ryder Cup.
Players who joined the breakaway circuit since its launch last June have been indefinitely suspended by the PGA Tour, with The Players champion Cameron Smith and Dustin Johnson among the major champions to make the switch.
Jay Monahan said ahead of The Players that their position on LIV members had not changed, with no pathway currently in place should a player wish to return to the PGA Tour, with Fitzpatrick questioning whether they should ever be welcome back.
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“My personal view is that you can’t have your cake and eat it,” Fitzpatrick told Sky Sports News ahead of The Players. “I would not let people come back if they had gone to LIV, I just wouldn’t.
“Don’t get me wrong, they could turn around and say you can come and play LIV if you want, but I don’t want to do that. I want to stay here and I want to play DP World Tour and PGA Tour.
“I think it is incredibly unfair for the PGA Tour to do that [allow them back] and I would be staggered if they did allow them. I think if you spoke to Tiger Woods then he would probably have the same stance, although I don’t know what other guys would have.
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“If you have left the Tour that you have been on for so long and done so well then you have left for something you think is better, even if it maybe is not always greener.”
Team Europe are likely to have a much-changed line-up for this September’s Ryder Cup in Rome, with several of their past stalwarts and members of the record-breaking loss in 2021 since moving to LIV.
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2016 top-scorer Thomas Pieters is the latest member to join LIV ahead of the 2023 league season, although all LIV members can earn Ryder Cup qualification points from events they remain eligible to compete in.
Asked whether the likes of Pieters joining LIV potentially weakens Team Europe, should he not be allowed to play, Fitzpatrick added: “I would say so, definitely yeah.
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“Obviously I have just said there about not letting them back on the PGA Tour or DP World Tour, I completely agree with that, but the Ryder Cup is a completely different case.
“For me, I would want the 12 best players on the team. Hopefully I am one of those, to try and win win. That is what the goal should be, to try and win, not to be nice about who should be playing in my opinion.”
Max Homa has regularly spoken out in support of the PGA Tour, although admits he has conflicted views on whether LIV members should ever be welcomed back to the circuit.
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“My selfish, petty side would be really frustrated, because I have not been annoyed at anyone leaving,” Homa said in his pre-tournament press conference. “It’s your own choice and you have to do what you believe you should do. I’m totally cool with that.
“I’m not super close with a ton of guys, but like it does feel like we’re all kind of in this together to push competitive golf and push the game forward. I think my petty side would be a little bit annoyed, but also kind of smiling underneath thinking welcome back to what you could have just been doing.
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“I think my unselfish side and my realistic side is that as I just mentioned, all of those guys that you can name that left are great for golf. Champion golfers, interesting golfers, so many great stories across their careers.
“I think if I could put my selfish part aside and maybe my and put on my big-boy hat, I would realize that having them back would be a good thing for golf at large.”
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