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some Top Ranked Players of the PGA Tour has given different reasons for resigning from its membership and deciding to participate in the LIV Golf Circuit.
But, for a longtime tour member, the logic is quite simple.
Curtis Strange, 17-time PGA Tour winner and Back-to-Back US Open Champion (1988-89) told Fox News Digital this week that he believes the biggest motivator for players joining the rival Saudi-backed golf league is money.
Curtis Strange emerges victorious after a shot during the US Open at The Country Club in Brookline, Mass., on June 19, 1988.
(John Beaver/Sports Illustrated via Getty Images)
“You know, there’s a reason for these players to leave, and there’s only one reason, and that’s money for the appearance,” Strange said.
Liv Golf’s Patrick Reed, Pat Perez offer complaints about PGA Tour
“I used to go abroad two or three times a year when I was playing well, and it was about the money. It was about the attendance fee. But, at the same time, you were playing in tournaments that had substantial prize money. So you always try. I mean, but they were real-life world ranking tournaments, so it meant something – financially, prize-wise as far as world ranking points and your position in the game, which is a lot. It’s important. It’s not.
The PGA Tour does not allow an attendance fee while LIV Golf does – similar to the DP World Tour. Players also compete for a $20 million purse in addition to an additional $5 million prize for team competition for each tournament.
Players like Dustin Johnson and Phil Mickelson has reportedly signed deals with bonuses of $150 million and $200 million respectively.
Phil Mickelson of High Flyers GC smiles for the third day at the LIV Golf Invitational – The Centurion Club on June 11, 2022 in St Albans, London, England.
(Charlie Crowhurst/Liv Golf/Getty Images)
Strange also stated that the tour’s latest measure to increase the size of the purse, which was accelerated due to Birth of LIV GolfBrings the two circuits closer but makes appearance money more important.
He said he could understand the financial greed for some players, but dismissed some of the reasons that were publicly offered for his departure.
“I understand the players going. I do it because it’s so big, it’s life changing,” said strange, “Now, some people will say, ‘Well, they already make a lot of money.’ Yes, they do. But some of these players are at the end of their careers, and so they’re not going to make huge amounts of money for the next, you know, number of years.
Curtis Strange at the 1991 Phoenix Open.
(Kevin Warren / PGA Tour Archive)
“It’s not about what you don’t like. It’s not about what the tour hasn’t done. It’s not about whether I want to see more of my family in a year. That’s more for me There’s no time. These guys don’t play that much anyway. It’s all about this huge presence money. And that’s it. That’s the bottom line.”
Brooks Koepka, who joined LIV Golf ahead of its first US-based event in Oregon this week, told reporters during a news conference that his main reason for joining the tour was that Injury and willingness to spend more time in rehab,
“The last two years I’ve had to go through my knees, aches, rehab, all these things, you know, I need a little more time,” he said. “I’ll be the first to say this: it hasn’t been easy over the years, and I think having a little more break, a little more time at home to make sure I’m 100% before I go to play. One incident and don’t feel like I’m forced to play immediately [is good],
Pat Perez, Brooks Koepka and Patrick Reed speak to the media during a press conference ahead of the LIV Golf Invitational – at the Portland Pumpkin Ridge Golf Club on June 28, 2022, in North Plains, Oregon.
(Jonathan Ferre/Liv Golf via Getty Images)
in February, Koepka said about LIV Golf: “They will take their boys. Somebody will sell and go to him.”
But, on Tuesday, he said, “opinions change,” adding that he made his decision after the US Open.
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Strange expressed his understanding but said he believed it would harm both the PGA Tour and the game of golf in the long run.
“Is it harmful to the tour? Yes, because it has taken some big players’ names away from the tour. Is it harmful to golf? Yes. Because it is weakening the whole system. This extremely deep pocket Vala is a rebel system, and they’re buying their tour.
Curtis Strange hits a bunker shot on the first hole during the first round of the Inspirity Invitational on the tournament course at The Woodlands Country Club on May 2, 2014 in The Woodlands, Texas.
(Scott Halleran/Getty Images)
“It’s one of the biggest things to happen in a negative way to our sport. And so it’s not good for anyone. But will it keep happening? You know, as long as they keep throwing that kind of money, Always a chance until then. Does that tour go on for more than a few years? It all depends on how much money they want to invest in it.”
Strange defends PGA Tour and commissioner Jay Monahan To suspend the membership of those defectors, saying that he was attempting to protect the integrity of the tour for those remaining members.
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Curtis Strange kisses the US Open trophy in 1989 at Oak Hill Country Club in Rochester, New York.
(Rick Stewart/AllSport)
“I can’t imagine turning my back on the organization that gave you the platform to be who you are,” Strange said. “At the same time, I understand a guy who doesn’t think he can play well anymore. But I’m having a tough time right now. After playing on tour for so long, turning away from an organization and really something To the extent it’s harmful. But I get it. I get it. It’s money.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.