20 July 2023 , 10:53
490
0
Former Open champion Tony Jacklin believes LIV Golf has 'messed up' professional golf, as uncertainty surrounding the PGA Tour's agreement with the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia (PIF) remains.
The Tour shocked the world of golf last month, after making a framework agreement with PIF that will see them work in unison with rivals LIV Golf, as well as the DP World Tour. The deal appears to have brought to an end the year-long feud between the PGA Tour and the breakaway league, with golf finally beginning to heal.
One man who is still less than impressed with the impact the LIV setup has had on the game though is Jacklin, on the back of the 'friction' that the breakaway circuit has formed since its inception at Centurion last summer.
"LIV has messed golf up and it’s sad to see the impact it’s had and it’s not over yet. We still don’t know what the future holds for the game of golf," Jacklin told BoyleSports. "It’s been a very disruptive time and there’s a lot of friction and friendships which have been shaken."
Following their agreement with PIF, the PGA Tour were called to appear in front of the U.S. Senate with their deal being assessed by the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations. The Tour's Chief Operating Officer Ron Price and board member Jimmy Dunne testified in front of the committee on Tuesday, and defended the deal.
Bubba Watson shares details of horror knee injury ahead of LIV Golf debut
As a result, Dunne admitted the American-based circuit had no option but to strike a deal with their once Saudi rivals, due to the fear they would be 'destroyed' by the financial powers of PIF. "My fear is if we don’t get to an agreement, they are already putting billions of dollars into golf," Dunne claimed.
Tony Jacklin had his say on the state of professional golf (Getty Images)"They have a management team that wants to destroy the tour. And even though you could say they [only] take five or six players a year, they have an unlimited horizon and an unlimited amount of money. It isn’t like the product is better, it is just that there is a lot more money that will make people move.
"I am concerned if we do nothing, they will end up owning golf. They can, they can do it. It isn’t that big, it is only a couple of hundred players. I am deeply concerned.” A number of players have been quick to criticise the Tour's approach to the PIF deal, having seemingly been left in the dark with negotiations.
The latest to express his concern was world No.1 Scottie Scheffler, who revealed at last week's Scottish Open: "As a player on Tour, we still don't really have a lot of clarity as to what's going on and that's a bit worrisome. They keep saying it's a player-run organisation, and we don't really have the information that we need. I watched part of yesterday and didn't learn anything. So I really don't know what to say."