After his recent emotional PGA Tour victory, Peter Malnati says that golf fans are being turned off by the continuing arguments and focus on money.
Victory at the Valspar Championship was Malnati's first since 2015 and his emotions spilled over as he gave a memorable tearful interview on the 18th green after clinching the trophy.
Malnati has already spoken passionately about the need to keep traditional PGA Tour events on the schedule in whatever new golfing landscape emerges, and now he's talked about how the continued LIV Golf battle is damaging the sport.
Despite making headlines with his win, Malnati's Valspar success continued the downward trend for PGA Tour viewing figures - and he believes golf being immersed in money talk has turned fans off.
"I think people are just sick of the narrative in golf being about, you know, contracts on LIV, purses on the Tour, guaranteed comp on the PGA Tour," Malnati said ahead of the Texas Children's Houston Open.
"I think people are so sick of that. They want to see sport, they want to see people who are the best in the world at what they do do it at a high level and celebrate that, celebrate the athleticism, celebrate the achievement.
"We can all probably remember when we were kids. I remember watching [Michael] Jordan and the '97 [Chicago] Bulls, I remember watching Tiger in the 2000 Masters. I didn't care one iota what Jordan's contract was. I didn't care one iota what the winner's cheque at the US Open was. I think people are sick of that."
Malnati accepts that the players at the very top of the game, who drive the majority of the interest in golf, need to be rewarded, but making the sport almost exclusively about money is not what fans want.
"Obviously this is a business and to the top players who drive a lot of the value in this business, we've got to compensate them fairly, we've got to make that happen," he added.
"But I think we're doing that above and beyond, and the narrative, the storylines, the conversation needs to come back to the product on the course and what we do.
"I think for me that was like I just, I just feel like no kid dreamed when they were watching Jordan dreamed of having his salary, they didn't care about that. They dreamed of being in that moment, hitting that shot. I think that's what our fans care about too and that's what they want to see."
As a PGA Tour policy board member, Malnati has a vested interest in trying to help the circuit succeed, but he insisted that his tears at Innisbrook last week completely authentic and only due to his achievement - not the money.
"I hope those tears that I was crying on that 18th green had nothing to do with my share of that, what was it, an $8.4 million purse last week," he added.
"My tears had nothing to do with my share of that. I'm going to enjoy it and we're going to use it to do a lot of good in this world, but it had nothing to do with that.
"And I don't think our fans care about that either. I hope that connected with some people and I hope that that can be - I do think everyone out here who plays and competes would agree with me on that.
"I just hope that can be the story that we tell can come back to the best athletes in the world competing on the biggest stage in the world and doing it to show off this amazing skill that we have that can be so entertaining for people. I want that to be our story."
