Graeme McDowell RESIGNED from PGA Tour 30 minutes before LIV Golf tee time

Graeme McDowell has confirmed he resigned his PGA Tour membership 30 minutes prior to his first round of the LIV Golf Invitational London at Centurion Club this afternoon. 

News broke within minutes of the shotgun start that all PGA Tour players competing in the LIV Golf opener would be suspended following a statement that was released by PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan. 

Related: PGA Tour BANS all players competing in the LIV Golf series

McDowell, who has won four times on the PGA Tour highlighted by his 2010 US Open victory, believes it was a tough decision to call time on his PGA Tour membership but that he has been vindicated in doing so from his experience at LIV Golf so far this week. 

"Yeah, I actually resigned about 30 minutes before I teed it up today," said McDowell, who carded a lacklustre 4-over par in the opening round of the inaugural LIV Golf tournament. 

"It was a tough decision, I wanted to keep the moral high ground and kind of remain a member of the Tour because I really didn't feel like I needed to resign, I shouldn't have to resign. 

Related: Phil Mickelson will not discuss PGA Tour issues again despite solid LIV Golf start at Centurion Club

"It was a very difficult decision and I kind of resigned out of an abundance of caution honestly just because I felt like it puts me in a less litigious situation regards getting drawn into anything unnecessary, but like I say, I didn't want to resign. I love the PGA Tour, it's been great to me.

"This is not about the PGA Tour being a bad Tour, this is about wanting to be able to add on additional opportunities to my golf career so it's really hard... unfortunately this is going to be short-term pain but I think all the players that are here this week have only been strengthened in their confidence that we're making the right decision here because we feel like the execution level we are seeing here, the passion, the love of the game of golf these guys have at LIV is, that's the reason we are here.

"I think confidence has been strengthened even in the face of consequences which we knew were kind of on the horizon."

Despite no longer needing to worry about what a suspension could potentially mean for his career having binned his PGA Tour card, McDowell certainly does not agree with their decision to issue bans for their players. 

McDowell added: "The PGA Tour have to do what they feel is necessary. As I mentioned earlier in the week, I don't think it's healthy for the sport.

"We are here because we believe we are independent contractors and we should be allowed to compete and play where we want to all over the world.

"A guy like Sergio Garcia, you know, has been doing that for the last 25 years. I've been doing it for the last 20 years of my life with no hesitation and no arguments from anybody. But we are in the midst of a competitive threat, we have a compelling option that is not agreeable by the big Tours in the world and we have a situation. It's disappointing and not a whole lot we can do about it.

"As players, we are here understanding the consequences of what may lay ahead of us and we are trying to operate best we can. The team at LIV have done a phenomenal job of helping us navigate those potential consequences and they have said they will stand by us as we go by this process."

Next Page: Disappointed Ian Poulter says he will appeal his PGA Tour ban