ST. ANDREWS, Scotland — Tiger Woods blasted LIV Golf during a news conference at the 150th Open Championship at St. Andrews on Tuesday, offering his sharpest criticism to date of PGA Tour players who were lured to the Saudi Arabian-financed circuit by lucrative signing bonuses.
In some cases, high-profile players such as former major champions Bryson DeChambeau, Dustin Johnson and Brooks Koepka received guaranteed deals worth more than $100 million from the new circuit being fronted by two-time Open winner Greg Norman.
“I disagree with it,” Woods said. “I think that what they’ve done is they’ve turned their back on what has allowed them to get to this position.”
Woods, a 15-time major champion, also wondered how players could jeopardize their opportunities to play in major championships. The LIV Golf Invitational Series is not yet recognized by the Official World Golf Ranking, so its players did not receive world points for its first two events in London and Portland, Oregon.
“Who knows what’s going to happen in the near future with world-ranking points, the criteria for entering major championships,” Woods said. “The governing body is going to have to figure that out.
“Some of these players may not ever get a chance to play in major championships. That is a possibility. We don’t know that for sure yet. It’s up to all the major championship bodies to make that determination. But 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.”
Woods, whose three Open Championship wins include victories at the Old Course in 2000 and 2005, said he supported the R&A’s decision not to invite Norman to St. Andrews for the celebration of the 150th Open. In a statement, the R&A said it wanted to avoid distractions during the celebration week.
“The R&A obviously have their opinions and their…
Source : espn
