Justin Thomas wants one LIV Golf player to "have the balls" to admit this
Justin Thomas has explained why the LIV Golf players have "betrayed" and "saddened" him.
Justin Thomas says he wishes just one LIV Golf Invitational series player “would have the balls” to say they are playing for the money as he explained why he feels “saddened” and “betrayed” by the PGA Tour defectors.
Thomas recently hopped on the No Laying Up podcast where he spoke about winning his second major at the US PGA Championship at Southern Hills.
According to Thomas, that lone major trophy he had in his cabinet was starting to look a bit lonely as the years went on but now, he’s looking at adding to that collection.
Of course, Thomas couldn’t escape the podcast without being asked about the situation regarding the LIV Golf Invitational series and the PGA Tour’s response to it.
It seems as if every single day there is a new development.
Brooks Koepka spent the better part of the last year saying how he wasn’t planning on going anywhere. Then his opinion changed, man.
Is Thomas worn out by all of the drama?
Thomas told the podcast: “Yeah …I would. Yeah, exhausted… annoyed. I’m over it, for sure.”
Then he explained: “It’s tough and I never thought I would be laying in bed so many nights thinking about this freakin’ tour and what’s going on and all of this stuff.
“I go back and forth in how involved I should be, how involved I shouldn’t be, what I should say, what I shouldn’t say, what I want to say and what I know I can’t say and back and forth of all these different things.”
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Thomas said he wished some players didn’t make the jump over to LIV Golf.
He added that he “still thinks that way”.
Thomas pointed to an article written by Jimmy Dunne that summed up how he feels about it all.
Thomas said: “I understand they’re [the LIV Golf players] being fed everything what to say and all this stuff, but it’s just … for them to say that this is all for the betterment of the game … I mean, to be perfectly honest I just wish one of them would have the balls to say, ‘I am doing this for the money.’
“Like, I personally would gain a lot more respect for that but it’s just the more they keep talking, the players keep talking and saying this is for the betterment of the game the more agitated and irritated I get about it.”
Thomas pointed to the fact he has spent less than 10 years on the PGA Tour and feels “very strongly” about this situation so he wonders how strongly players like Rory McIlroy and Tiger Woods feel.
The two-time major champion said that he thinks McIlroy and Woods feel “betrayed and hurt” by the developments in professional golf.
“I do a little bit,” said Thomas. “The more and more I think about it the more agitated and annoyed I get with the guys that have done it again.
“But so be it, they took their money and the Saudis reached their number. But, like I’ve said, I grew up my entire life wanting to play the PGA Tour and play in Ryder Cups and Presidents Cups.”
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Thomas described the whole situation as “sad”.
The 29-year-old was asked to explain why he and other PGA Tour members would feel betrayed.
He told the podcast: “It hurts our tour, and it hurts us. So, I mean, that’s the thing, I heard someone that brought up a good point; I’m sure at some point some kind of lawsuits will be going and if any of those guys that left to go play the other tour sue the tour, they are suing me, they are suing Rory, they are suing Tiger, they are suing every single one of us that they’ve looked in the face, looked in the eyes and played rounds of golf with, played on cup teams with, shared moments with and they are suing us.
“To me, that’s where a little bit of the betrayal and the upsetting and sad feelings come from. Again, they are clearly doing what they feel is best for them so they are going to continue to go down that route in terms of lawsuits and whatnot.
“When someone said it that way it kind of hit home.”