Former World No 1 Martin Kaymer admitted he 'would be lying' if money wasn’t a factor but he cited a number of other reasons for venturing over to the controversial LIV Golf Invitational series.
LIV Golf Investments and its CEO Greg Norman announced the LIV Golf Invitational Series will host eight events, beginning in London this weekend at the Centurion Club - just one week prior to the US Open. The series, which is backed by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, includes eye-watering prize money pots on offer.
Total prize money for the eight events - five of which are scheduled to be held in the United States - will be over £200million and the seven regular-season tournaments will have total purses of £20m, which would be the richest in professional golf, with £16m in individual prizes and £4m for the top three teams. The top three individuals after the seven regular-season events will also share a £24m bonus, while the season-ending team match-play championship is scheduled for October 27-30 at Trump National Doral in Miami. It will provide another £40m in prize money.
Kaymer, whose last professional win was the 2014 US Open, believes the new series gives fledgling golfers a welcome alternative to the PGA Tour while also offering a new format. Speaking to Sky Sports , Kaymer discussed why he had joined forces, saying: “To be completely honest, if you see where I am in my career right now, I don’t have a full PGA Tour card. I would love to play against the best in the world but at the moment I can’t.
“I won’t play on the PGA Tour next year because I won’t have enough tournaments this year, so I will only compete on the European Tour, and there was a great opportunity to play a different kind of golf with different kinds of golf tournaments. I think the format is exciting as well - it’s very fair, everybody plays at the same time. At this stage of my career, I want to try something different.
“I would be lying if I said money wasn’t a motivator. Of course, we’d love to earn a little bit more money in the tournaments that we play - it’s very human - but money was never a motivator when I started playing golf. The world we live in has become very money-driven, and that’s why I like the field that they invited this week. It goes from amateurs to older guys who played majors and Ryder Cups.
“As I said, [money] has never been a motivator but I would be lying if we wouldn’t enjoy a few dollars more.”
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The 37-year-old still hopes to play the four major championships while declaring that he ‘does not know’ if players can ‘ever forget’ the human rights issues affecting the Saudi image ahead of the LIV series. However, Kaymer believes it ’should not limit you too much’.
Money is clearly a key factor, but other elements highlighted by Kaymer have been pointed to by people like DP World Tour player Laurie Canter. The Englishman revealed he is excited to play with his ‘heroes’ while also playing two weeks of golf before he is ‘set for life’.
Kevin Na, who won five tournaments on the PGA Tour between 2011 and 2021, has spoken highly of the shortened schedule, which allows for greater longevity in a golfer’s career. The Korean-American cited frustrating ‘wear and tear’ on his body as one reason for switching from the PGA Tour to LIV.
