'Coming to try and buy a sport' - Eddie Pepperell compares LIV Golf to failed European Super League project
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Updated 29/07/2022 at 17:55 GMT
Eddie Pepperell has been a vocal critic of LIV Golf and what it is attempting to do in the game. The Englishman is fighting to get his career back on track following a major slump in form. He is in the hunt at the Hero Open this week, and has said that LIV Golf is comparable to the failed Super League in football.
Stenson weighing up options after losing Ryder Cup captaincy over LIV Golf
Eddie Pepperell has compared LIV Golf’s disruption of the sport to the failed European Super League project in football.
LIV Golf, backed by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, has muscled in on the sport by shelling out huge sums to lure players from the PGA Tour.
Pepperell has been vocal in his criticism of LIV, saying it is a bad move for golf for a number of reasons - one of which is the potential to put more money into the hands of fewer individuals.
The Englishman has also questioned the decision of players such as Henrik Stenson, Lee Westwood and Sergio Garcia for walking away from an environment that made them extremely wealthy.
Stenson was the most recent addition to LIV, with his move resulting in the Swede being stripped of Team Europe’s Ryder Cup captaincy.
It was such a controversial move because Stenson said he had no intention of moving to LIV when handed the captaincy in March.
“It is disrespectful to the Ryder Cup,” Pepperell told the Drop Zone podcast of Stenson’s move to LIV. “The surprising thing to me is Henrik was rumoured to be one of the LIV guys months ago.
“So it seemed strange and odd that he took the captaincy. I was not expecting him to take the captaincy. I took that as him not going to LIV before the Ryder Cup.”
LIV chief Greg Norman and PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan seem entrenched in their positions.
As has been widely reported, if it came down to a battle of money LIV would be the only winner.
The liberal sprinkling of money from LIV does not sit well with Pepperell, as he compared it to how the likes of Real Madrid, Barcelona and Juventus attempted to transform the football landscape with the breakaway Super League.
“We had a similar proposal in the UK last year with the European Super League,” Pepperell said. “It was a similar proposal in that the top clubs were conspiring to all come together and create this Super League across Europe.
“It caused a massive revolt in the world of sport and football. To me, this is tantamount to that. It is not like going and buying a football club or sponsoring an F1 team, they are effectively coming to try and buy a sport and reshape and remodel a sport."
Pepperell would not be against such a move, provided it was done for the betterment of the game.
He added: “Depending on the idea, funding, lots of different factors, it could be a good thing. But if you consider the funding stream, the way it is being done, who is spearheading it in Greg Norman and what he thinks of the PGA Tour - it does leave a bitter taste in my mouth.
“None of these things are surprising and they do not sit well with me.
“Ripping up the meritocratic nature of golf, it would be a disaster. It would be more wealth in the hands of the elite few.”
Pepperell can understand why players’ heads were turned by the money from LIV, but was still disappointed to see them move on.
“We can all understand it,” Pepperell said. “The sense I get is that a lot of these guys were approaching an earnings cliff. This opportunity that has come along is going to be doubly interesting and be extremely well remunerated.
“I can understand it, but the unfortunate thing is they have benefited from the structures and systems that have been in place for 20-25 years, they have done well out of it.
“These guys have been financially very well rewarded for their efforts as professional golfers.
"So I find it a little disappointing that a lot of these guys have reached the back end of their careers and have chosen this path that looks fairly apparent that you are going to damage to some degree, we don’t know how much yet, the structures in place namely the PGA Tour and DP World Tour.
“These are self-serving positions, totally understand it, the money is incredible, but the game is going to suffer and become more fragmented.”
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