'They will be welcome' - LIV Golf members can play in PGA of Australia events, CEO Gavin Kirkman says
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Published 11/08/2022 at 14:32 GMT
The PGA Tour has elected to ban all players who signed up to LIV Golf and won a court case preventing Hudson Swafford, Talor Gooch and Matt Jones from playing in the FedEx Cup play-offs. Other tours are having to take a stance, and the PGA of Australia has said its members are free to play in Australia irrespective of whether they have signed contracts with LIV.
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LIV Golf members will be allowed to play in events in Australia, PGA of Australia CEO Gavin Kirkman has confirmed.
The emergence of LIV has driven a wedge through the sport, with the PGA Tour handing out suspensions to players who have jumped ship.
The DP World Tour has adopted a similar stance, albeit a group of players obtained an injunction to allow them to play.
Patrick Reed, who signed up to LIV before its second event, is currently playing on the Asian Tour, which LIV is affiliated to.
There is speculation as to what other tours and major championships will do, but LIV golfers will have a place to play in Australia.
At present, there are four Australians signed up to play LIV events - Wade Ormsby, Matt Jones, Travis Smith and Jediah Morgan.
It has been widely reported that Open champion Cameron Smith is poised to join LIV, but such a move would not prevent him from playing in events in his native land.
“The players coming home to play, as long as there is no conflicting event they will be welcome to play,” Kirkman told Reuters. "The Australian players that come home from wherever they’re playing at the moment, if they’re members of our organisation they’ll be eligible to play and that’s been discussed with the other tours."
The PGA Tour of Australia's flagship events, the Australian Open and Australian PGA Championship, are co-sanctioned by the DP World Tour but Kirkman has said players will not be barred.
LIV intends to expand to 14 events in 2023, with venues to be confirmed. It is likely that at least one event will take place in Australia, and Kirkman is unfazed by the talk.
"Some people are going to love it and some people aren’t, but if it comes to Australia we’ve got to be in a position where we stay focused on our strategy," he said.
"Is it going to be good for the game? What I don’t want and what I don’t like to hear about and read about at the moment is people arguing what is good for the game and what is not.
"If (fans) get out and see some golf under a different format, that’s up to them."
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