09 March 2023 , 12:54
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Matthew Fitzpatrick is adamant LIV Golf players should not be allowed to return to the PGA Tour following their controversial switches to the breakaway series.
Fitzpatrick and his fellow PGA Tour stars are at the iconic TPC Sawgrass for the American-based circuit's flagship event, The Players Championship this week. The limelight however has once again been taken away from the action on the course, and been shone on the Tour's ongoing dispute with their rivals over at LIV Golf.
This comes after defending champion Cameron Smith was banned from the tournament dubbed 'golf's fifth major' due to his new-found LIV allegiances.
Questions on whether players who have made the Saudi switch should be able to compete on the PGA Tour have once again been raised, and one man who made his feelings abundantly clear is Fitzpatrick.
He told Sky Sports: "My personal view is that you can't have your cake and eat it. 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.
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Matthew Fitzpatrick is in action at TPC Sawgrass this week (Getty Images)"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. "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."
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Despite his strong stance, Fitzpatrick was more open to the idea of his LIV rivals competing at the Ryder Cup, with captains Luke Donald and Zach Johnson facing selection dilemmas ahead of the event in Rome in September. He added: "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. That is what the goal should be, to try and win, not to be nice about who should be playing in my opinion."