LIV Golf star risks wrath of Tiger Woods with comparison golf legend would hate
LIV Golf star Graeme McDowell has compared the breakaway circuit's impact on growing golf's audience to that of the influence of the great Tiger Woods.
Woods revolutionised the sport during his prime, becoming the face of golf during the late 1990's and beyond. His greatness on the course grew his stardom off it, as the 82-time PGA Tour winner shined the sporting spotlight on the game during his era of dominance.
Professional golf has gone through somewhat of a resurgence over the past year, with the battle between the PGA Tour and LIV Golf becoming one of the biggest stories in sport in recent months.
This was only heightened in June, when the PGA Tour shocked the world of sport by making a shock agreement with the Public Investment Fund of Saudi (PIF), that will see them work alongside their now former LIV rivals. Whilst the amount of eyes on professional golf have increased on the back of the saga, it may well not have been for all the right reasons.
For the most part of the Tour's dispute with the LIV setup things were often ugly, with disputes breaking out between the powers that be, as well as players who found themselves on both sides of the battle. One man who made the decision to make the controversial Saudi switch last summer was McDowell.
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Following plenty of initial criticism it seems the choice of McDowell and co, is beginning to be more accepted, especially on the back of the proposed merger with the PGA Tour and DP World Tour. On the back a rollercoaster year the Northern Irishman had his say on the deal, telling the 'Don’t @ Me With Dan Dakich Podcast': "I look at the last 18 months, it’s been incredibly impactful.
Tiger Woods has proven to be the face of golf on the back of his dominance (Getty Images)"And there’s been a huge amount of negativity in our sport, but there’s also probably never been so many eyeballs on our sport either." Describing the chapter to that of Woods' emergence, he went on: "We’re potentially at one of the most-pivotal moments in our sport since Tiger Woods, in 1996, the greatest player of all time, who transcended our sport, came onto the scene.”
It seems unlikely Woods himself would agree with McDowell, with the golfing great being a vocal critic of the LIV setup. During the year of civil war, Woods pledged his allegiances to the PGA Tour, taking aim at the Saudi-backed league and its CEO Greg Norman on a number of occasions.
Infamously, the 15-time major champion echoed the thoughts of fellow star Rory McIlroy, calling on bullish boss Norman to step aside in a bid for the PGA Tour to work in peace alongside LIV Golf. However, he has now seen the breakaway tour compared to his own career in terms of its impact on the game.
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