Golf legend Gary Player goes on outrageous PGA Tour and LIV Golf rant

Golf legend Gary Player has gone on an epic rant about all things PGA Tour and LIV Golf where Saudi Arabian money in the game is concerned, and he believes his 'good friend' Greg Norman 'has had a personal vendetta against the PGA (Tour) for ages'. 

Player, 89, spoke from the heart ahead of this week's Nedbank Golf Challenge on the DP World Tour. 

The tournament is once again staged at his very own Gary Player Country Club in Sun City, South Africa. 

In a video clip posted to social media by golf pro Elliot Bradley earlier this week, Player hit out at both the PGA Tour and LIV Golf. 

Player believes the current situation in pro golf 'is a mess' and that 'it's not going to get better'.

Scroll below to watch Gary Player's rant...

Player, winner of nine major titles and a member of the career grand slam club, began his rant by complaining the PGA Tour made a huge mistake right from the word go when the Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund (PIF) initially wanted to do a deal with them even before LIV Golf began in 2022. 

He said that triggered 'the start of the war', especially when Greg Norman got snapped up to become LIV Golf CEO. 

“I think the PGA (Tour), we made the mistake in the beginning when the Saudis, all they wanted was five tournaments, to put in $20m dollars per tournament," said Player.

"Think about that - and they were turned down. That was the start of the war.

"Then they got Greg Norman, who I’m very friendly with. He’s had a personal vendetta against the PGA for ages. So it started off badly and it’s not going to get better. Now when you win a tournament, can you honestly say, ‘I’m beating the best in the world’?

"We wanted to beat the best. And let me tell you, you had Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus, Lee Trevino, Tom Watson, Raymond Floyd, Hale Irwin… You can go down the line.

"These guys are such fierce competitors. Now, you win a tournament, can you honestly say, ‘I beat the best in the world’? For me that’s sad. The people want to see that. There’s a bit of stubbornness on both sides."

Player then went on to claim not enough is being done by the PGA Tour to help players of his own generation such as himself, late great Arnold Palmer and record 18-time major record holder Jack Nicklaus. 

Despite an equity program being set up for a select number of PGA Tour players and golf legends, Player won't get his own first payment for another three years. 

"I don’t know what’s going to happen," continued Player, winner of 24 PGA Tour titles. 

"How are they going to help people like myself and Arnold - who’s gone - and Jack? They’ve come up with a system … and it’s bad.

"They’ve taken $75m, they put it there for 36 guys, the guys who won the most majors, made the most cuts, played the most tournaments, they get a certain amount of money.

"That money is put into an investment company and it might not do well and you might not get anything. The first payment we’re gonna get is when I’m 91. Will I be alive? I hope so. Jack Nicklaus, I don’t know whether he will be.

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"The second payment is when you’re 98. But here’s the sad thing, you’ve got a guy like Larry Nelson, won three major championships, captained the Ryder Cup. Tony Jacklin won the British Open and US Open and a host of tournaments worldwide. Dave Stockton won PGAs. They’re getting nothing.

"They’re not even on the list. Can you imagine how they feel just being discarded like that? The whole thing is a mess. Do they (PGA and LIV Golf) want to get together? A conclusion should have come about at least last December. It’s lingering and you’ve got a guy like Jimmy Dunne, who’s the most perfect man for the situation, he’s resigned.

"Then someone said, ‘They can come back on the tour if they give their money back’. Are you crazy? You gotta give $540m back? No siree. That’s a lot of money."

As it stands, the PGA Tour is still in ongoing talks with the PIF on its framework agreement. 

LIV Golf, which is bankrolled by the PIF, will continue with its fourth season in February 2025.

Tiger Woods, who sits on the PGA Tour Board of Directors, was pressed for comment by reporters on the ongoing PGA Tour / PIF deal ahead of this week's Hero World Challenge.

Woods appeared somewhat frustrated like the rest of the golf world that a deal still hadn't been made official, but did reveal talks are still in progress heading into 2025. 

"I think all of us who have been a part of this process would have thought it would have happened quicker than this," said Woods.

"Even if it did, we're still at the regulations of the DOJ saying it's giving us hominus dominus that it will go through. Even if we had gotten a deal done by now, it's still in the DOJ's hands, but we wish we would have had something more concrete and further along than we are right now.

"But things are very fluid, we're still working through it, it's happening daily. From a policy board standpoint or from an enterprise standpoint, things are moving and they're constructive. But yes, definitely moving."

A number of insiders believe a deal between the PGA Tour and PIF will be announced ahead of The Masters in April.

There has also been talk that the DP World Tour could form some sort of merger with LIV Golf in the future, too. 

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