Why this top coach wants LIV Golf player to pay him less!
LIV Golf League pro Richard Bland says his coach Tim Barter asked to be paid less despite the Indian summer his career is having.
LIV Golf's Richard Bland says his coach Tim Barter asked to be paid less despite the Indian summer his career is having.
Barter has been the Englishman's coach for more than two decades.
Tears were aplenty when the now 51-year-old finally claimed his maiden win on the European Tour on his 478th attempt at the British Masters three years ago.
Poignantly, Barter got to interview the golfer in the immediate aftermath of his emotional victory for Sky Sports.
"We have this argument now that he feels like he should be paid less because he's not doing as much work," Bland told reporters at Foxhills before the International Series event on the Asian Tour.
He explained that he only saw Barter last Friday for a tune-up for the first time in three months.
Bland said he likes to do the majority of the work on his swing these days on his own.
"Some people rely heavily on their coaches and that's fine," he said.
"I'm someone that I don't want to rely heavily on him, I want to be able to be able to everything myself to some degree.
"But that's something that we've both wanted and both worked very hard on over the last 25 years."
Bland continued: "I say to him, 'Look, we've had plenty of times when we first started where we would do a lot of work and you weren't getting paid because I wasn't playing well enough to earn any money.'
"So, it's kind of -- we're both reaping the rewards now."
Bland joined LIV Golf in 2022.
He did not receive a fee for joining, unlike other stars such as Dustin Johnson, Bryson DeChambeau, Cameron Smith, Phil Mickelson and Jon Rahm who are said to have been paid north of $150m for joining.
Bland has won $3,089,280 on the course with LIV this season.
He made $3,545,833 in LIV's inaugural campaign and $4,404,726 last year.
Bland's sensational rant
As you might be aware, Bland is no stranger to offering strong opinions.
Bland revealed earlier in the week he has so far racked up unpaid DP World Tour fines of £790,000.
The sanctions against him meant he was prohibited from teeing it up at this year's Senior Open at Carnoustie.
Although it was a moot point given the tournament clashed with LIV Golf United Kingdom at the JCB Golf & Country Club.
Bland said he wouldn't have asked for a tournament release from LIV anyway, given it would have opened a can of worms.
He also wasn't too pleased with the DP World Tour getting into bed with the PGA Tour and forming a strategic alliance.
Bland also expressed frustration at the changes to European Ryder Cup qualification.
"I think getting into bed with the Americans was completely the wrong idea," Bland said.
"That '10 player' deal was all about how he could get the best DP World Tour players competing on the PGA Tour.
"They don't care about the DP World Tour. They never have."
"Let's face it, anyone who knows anything about world golf knows that the DP World Tour made the wrong decision three or four years ago when they had the opportunity to go with the Saudis.
"I think most of the players have realised that."
Of the European Ryder Cup changes, he said: "The Ryder Cup is now just a PGA Tour event.
"It doesn't say much for the guys that are up-and-coming in the game.
"How many guys from the DP World Tour are in the top 100 in the world? Maybe two?
"This is a sad day for the DP World Tour."
