Jack Nicklaus has delivered one of the most brutal verdicts yet on the state of LIV Golf, as the dispute between the PGA Tour and the Saudi-backed series continues.
LIV has been at war with its rivals at the PGA and DP World Tour for 12 months, with the latter two keen to mute the momentum of the newly-formed breakaway league. Some of the sport's biggest names have found themselves on either side of the ongoing battle.
For Nicklaus, the 18-time major champion is firmly in the camp of the PGA Tour, and one year on from its formation, has seemingly put the idea of LIV Golf to the back of his mind.
Dismissing the playing members of the Saudi-backed series, he told Sports Illustrated: "I don’t really consider those guys part of the game anymore and I don’t mean that in a nasty way… or really mean it that way.
"To me, this is a PGA Tour event and we’ve got the best field we can possibly have on the PGA Tour. Those who are eligible to be here. The other guys made a choice to go where they went. We don’t really talk about it." Nicklaus is on PGA Tour hosting duty this week at the annual Memorial Tournament.
And the veteran believes those who have chosen to stay loyal to the Tour care more about playing game than the financial reward that comes with it. "I think the guys who have stayed on the PGA Tour for the most part are guys who play golf for the game of golf," he added.
"I was all about how good I could be in the sport and the money just took care of itself. Some guys might not really care about playing golf, they’re just pretty good at it. It’s a means to an end to them. And if that’s what it is, that’s fine." The latest debate surrounding LIV Golf is that of their Ryder Cup eligibility.
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This comes after European stalwarts Ian Poulter, Sergio Garcia Lee Westwood were forced to cut their ties with the event due to their LIV allegiances. One man who is less than impressed with the divide in European golf is the continent's top-ranked player Jon Rahm, and in particular the loss of his fellow Spaniard Garcia.
Speaking ahead of this week's event at Muirfield Village, Rahm said: "I’m going to miss him [Garcia]. We had a great partnership at Whistling Straits. I’m going to mention history again one more time... So it’s a little sad to me that politics have gotten in the way of such a beautiful event... Whatever is going on, who is playing LIV and who is not playing LIV to me shouldn’t matter. It’s whoever is best suited to represent the European side.
