Speaking at The Masters, Butch Harmon commented on the recent announcement around the DP World Tour winning its arbitration hearing against LIV Golf, with the American stating on Sky Sports Golf that "I'm just tired of the verbal pillow fights between the players."
Since LIV Golf came onto the scene, the 79-year-old has regularly stated that he isn’t “anti-LIV Golf like a lot of people,” with Harmon actually recently insisting that players on the PGA Tour should thank LIV Golf due to an increase in prize money on Tour since the Saudi-backed series' inception.
Now, following the news of the DP World Tour's arbitration hearing, Harmon has explained that: "The PGA Tour made it very easy to understand. They said if you're going to go play LIV Golf you're not going to come back and play on the PGA Tour and they've said that all along. There are lawsuits involved with LIV and the PGA Tour that are going on right now.
"For me, I'm not pro LIV or anti LIV. I figure competition is good for a lot of things. I think if the Tour had done three years ago, what they've done now, with their prize money change and everything, LIV may not have got off the ground, but that doesn't matter because LIV is off the ground.
"I'm just tired of the verbal pillow fights between the players. Let them be who they are and both the DP World Tour and the PGA Tour be who they are and then let's just get on and play golf. It's sad that it's come to this. Unfortunately, we're here, I agree 100% with a ruling that just came down for the DP World Tour and I think they did the right thing and the way they handled it.
"Look, you guys want to play over there, you went over there and played, I got no problem with the guys that went over there. The PGA Tour players stayed over here. Let's just get along. Let's just have some good time and play golf. That's what it's all about."
A lot has been made of LIV players featuring at the first Major of the year at Augusta National, with Jack Nicklaus recently stating that, at the Champions Dinner, "everybody was wondering whether there was going to be any problems with the LIV players and things. Zero. It was the most cordial evening you could ever have spent. It was terrific."
Many have praised The Masters for allowing those players to feature and, in Harmon's eyes, that's also the case, as the legendary coach explained that: "This is a Major Championship, and I commend the members here at Augusta and the Chairman for allowing us to have the best players in the world in this great tournament.
"Those that play on the other Tour and those who play on the various Tours, that all goes out the window this week. This is golf, this is the first Championship of the year, our first great Championship of the year and, I'll tell you what, it's going to be a good one."
