One PGA player who is still active has argued in favor of players competing at the Players Championship who are sponsored by Saudi Arabia, while LIV Golf stars continue to fight for parity with the PGA Tour.
Billy Horschel, a player on the PGA Tour, wants LIV Golf players to participate in The Players Championship.
The event is billed as having the “best field in golf,” but for the second year running, players who compete on the Saudi-sponsored circuit won’t be at TPC Sawgrass. As a result, elite athletes with numerous major titles, such as Brooks Koepka and Jon Rahm, are not permitted to compete.
The PGA Tour events are off limits to those who switched to LIV since the company’s founding in 2022. However, Horschel believes this should change in advance of The Players’ 50th edition and discussed his ideas with Commissioner Jay Monogan. The American said to Sky Sports Golf, “It’s unfortunate that we don’t have some of the best players in the world here.”
“About a year and a half ago, Jay and I had a discussion about whether or not we should allow the guys who attended LIV to play in the major leagues. Should we not extend a small olive branch if we consider ourselves to be a fifth major, as I think we are?
We had an excellent discussion about it, and I was able to understand both his and the PGA Tour’s points of view. However, in my opinion, it’s difficult to argue that the world’s top players aren’t present. Eliminate the global rankings and everything else. Everyone can tell who the world’s best players are by looking at their eyeballs, and hopefully in a year we’ll have all of them back here competing.
As things stand, the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia (PIF) and the PGA Tour are still in talks. Commissioner Monahan claims he flew to the Middle East to meet with Yasir Al-Rumayyan, the governor of the PIF, and that both parties were eager to sign a big contract to reunite the sport. “Our talks are moving more quickly,” stated Monahan. “We still have a few major problems to resolve, but we have a common goal to stop the commotion and realize golf’s full potential globally.
“I do think that negotiating a deal with PIF is the best outcome, but it will take time.” It must, of course, be the best agreement for both parties. Horschel’s remarks follow Talor Gooch’s assertion that Rory McIlroy’s name would have an asterisk if he were to win the 2024 Masters.
This is because, according to the 32-year-old, who signed with LIV in May 2022, not all of the top players in the world will be present at Augusta in April. After he didn’t receive a special invitation from the major to compete for the Green Jacket, he made his remarks.
Horschel has urged the PGA to follow suit and hopes that all of the players in the game can once again come together in harmony, even though the majors are more receptive to LIV players participating, particularly if they have previously won one of golf’s four major events.
“I believe that in order to improve the game of golf and return it to its proper state, we must put aside our personal emotions and take the appropriate actions,” he continued. “Perhaps that will follow the agreement with PIF and all, so there’s a route where the world’s top players are competing once more at – what I think – the fifth major.”
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