Padraig Harrington says he can’t see the PGA Tour and LIV Golf merging anytime soon, but has a proposed solution he thinks would be great for the game of golf.
As negotiations drag on between the PGA Tour and Saudi PIF, all the talk is about bringing the game back together and ensuring all the best players are reunited again on one tour.
Three-time Major champion Harrington can’t see any way that happens now, but thinks that just having a few invites across the PGA Tour, DP World Tour and LIV Golf could be a great solution.
By having LIV players take part in other events, and having a guest team of PGA Tour players in a LIV Golf event would help create a huge buzz around those tournaments, says Harrington.
Harrington believes the slow progress in talks is because the two parties will never agree on a merger, but some cross-competition such as in the current Majors would create the solution.
“I don’t see the golfing merger. That’s what they are struggling with,” said Harrington.
“So ideally for me I would suggest that every PGA Tour and European Tour event should have four invites for LIV players, and every LIV event should have four invites for an International team.
“That way we have enough crossover that we can get Jon Rahm to play the European Tour and we get Abraham Ancer to play the Mexican Open. If four PGA Tour guys come over, it’s not like they are going to be welcomed with open arms; so that creates buzz at their events.
“Like if we had four LIV players this week, they would be focused on them, and people would be watching it. Some people would be wanting them to do well and some people would be wanting them to do badly.
“But that would create a bit of a buzz and vice versa, if four PGA Tour players or four international players turned up at a LIV event, they wouldn’t want that team winning, they wouldn’t want the outsiders, so that creates a bit of a buzz for them.”
PGA Tour chief Jay Monahan and PIF boss Yasir Al-Rumayyan
(Image credit: Getty Images)
Harrington says that this sporting solution differs from the business solutions the talks are currently trying to find – and is the only solution as PGA Tour players will not want to play more events across the globe.
And his solution would also see plenty more golf events have a similar feel to the Majors, which he says are thriving due to the rivalry between LIV Golf players and the PGA Tour.
“That’s the only solution I see in golfing,” Harrington added. “They can do all the business solutions, that’s a completely different thing but you’re not convincing the guys on the PGA Tour that they are going to play an extra ten events, 14 events around the world.
“But maybe having an invite – and nobody has to like each other. You know, it’s good for sport when you have rivalries, and we’ve seen it at the Majors this year.
“The Majors have never been better because of those rivalries, so why couldn’t we have that this week [at the Irish Open]? Why couldn’t we have a few guys – like I’m sure Tyrrell playing last week created a great buzz, two weeks ago at the British Masters.
“There will be a lot of home fans wanting him to do well and then there’s plenty of people that didn’t want him to do well. In the right context, that’s good.
“That’s my solution. I’m not sitting at the top table. That’s why I’m sitting in the media centre telling you my solution.”
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