PGA wave · LIV wave ‘uncomfortable meeting’… Is World War II on the Golf Board Exploding?

A small quarrel in the ‘neutral area’ is spreading into waves. It is expected that it will be the trigger (trigger) of the ‘World War II on the golf board’ between LIV Golf and the American Professional Golf (PGA) Tour.

World No. 1 Rory McIlroy (Northern Ireland) said at the DP World Tour Hero Dubai Desert Classic press conference on the 26th (Korean time), “If I were him, I wouldn’t have thought to say hello or ask for a handshake. I don’t know what kind of world he lives in.” Here, ‘he’ is Patrick Reed (USA). Two days ago, Reid approached McIlroy at the driving range of Dubai Emirates GC, the venue for the event, and was ignored. Reid, who shook hands with McIlroy’s caddy, greeted McIlroy as well, but McIlroy, who was squatting next to his golf bag and touching his practice equipment, didn’t even raise his head. Embarrassed, Reed threw his tee at McKilroy and returned to his plate with a bitter smile on his face. McIlroy didn’t even look at Reed until the end.

The uncomfortable meeting between McIlroy and Reed, dubbed “tee-gate” by local media, spread rapidly through social media (SNS) videos. It is as if a tee that is only 5 cm or so has brought about a typhoon. McIlroy, who remains on the PGA Tour, is the spearhead of anti-LIV, and Reed, who left the PGA Tour, is the representative star of LIV golf. Reed and McIlroy fought bloody battles in the 2016 Ryder Cup singles match, representing the United States and Europe, respectively. At that time, Reed won by one hole. It is ironic that Reed, who was called ‘Captain America’, has now turned into an enemy of the US tour, and McIlroy, who was a European team jockey, is playing the role of a fighting cock guarding the US tour.

McIlroy said, “I didn’t see the tee fly. And it’s not going to be this big,” he said. “I knew Reed came up and said hello, but I really hated him.” When he revealed that he had received a subpoena from Reed’s attorney on Christmas Eve, he said, “You can imagine how I felt when I received such a document while I was about to spend some quality time with my family.” The subpoena from Reed’s side wasn’t just aimed at McIlroy, it was a broader process for investigating the PGA Tour’s antitrust violations.

McIlroy said “no” even when asked if there was any possibility of restoring relations with Sergio Garcia (Spain). Garcia is also a player who left the PGA Tour and went to LIV. Regarding Garcia’s eligibility to participate in the Ryder Cup this September, the DP World Tour’s interpretation that it might be possible with the recommendation of the European team leader recently came out, but McIlroy’s view of LIV transfer players has not changed. 스포츠토토

Reed said, “The tee I threw at McIlroy was a tee with the LIV logo on it. He looked at me and didn’t even pretend to know me,” he said, leaving sharp remarks, saying, “If you come out childish, you will be treated the same way.” Reed, who has won 9 wins on the PGA Tour, including winning the Masters in 2018, once rose to 6th in the world rankings, but after moving to LIV, he continued to fall and is now ranked 90th in the world. This is because there are no world ranking points at stake in the LIV tournament.

While the PGA Tour bans LIV players from participating, the former European tour, the DP World Tour, is a neutral tour that does not block LIV players either. The same goes for the four major tournaments. The Hero Dubai Desert Classic is McIlroy’s first competition in the new year, and he is aiming for his third win in this event.

Meanwhile, LIV Golf, which is led by Saudi Arabian capital, will enter its second season of 14 tournaments starting with the Mexico tournament on the 24th of next month. The total prize money for the season is 405 million dollars (approximately 500 billion won). It is scheduled to tour 6 countries from Mexico to Australia, Singapore, Spain, England and Saudi Arabia, and in particular, 8 tournaments are scheduled to be held in the United States, so the battle of pride with the PGA Tour, which flared up last year, is expected to intensify. In the first season of LIV last year, there were a total of eight competitions on the schedule.

A small quarrel in the ‘neutral area’ is spreading into waves. It is expected that it will be the trigger (trigger) of the ‘World War II on the golf board’ between LIV Golf and the American Professional Golf (PGA) Tour. World No. 1 Rory McIlroy (Northern Ireland) said at the DP World Tour Hero Dubai Desert…