Shane Lowry has revealed that he spoke against possible strike action by PGA Tour players at last week's Canadian Open.
Lowry is a member of the Player Advisory Committee on the Tour and, in the wake of the shock revelation by PGA Tour chief Jay Monahan that a merger deal had been struck between the Tour, LIV Golf and the DP World Tour, there was some discussion among blindsided players about taking industrial action.
The Clara man spoke at the meeting, revealing: "Yeah I did, it was brief. Obviously tensions were a little bit high, they're not really high but a couple of lads started talking about 'what if we didn't play this week'.
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"And I was like, 'Right lads, let’s take a chill for a minute here. RBC have been a great sponsor to the Tour and are great to us, and they put on two great tournaments, so that’s not going to do anything for anybody doing that, so let’s just go out and do our jobs which is what we're all here to do, and everything else will take care of itself'."
Speaking to RTE Radio ahead of the US Open that gets underway at LACC tomorrow, major winner Lowry admitted he was still in the dark over the ramifications of the controversial deal between the PGA Tour and the Saudi-backed Public Investment Fund.
"I just don't know any more, I guess we don't really know what's going on," he said.
"We have no information, we have no idea what deal the PGA Tour have signed up for so we just don't know.
"I’ve said this all along, but it’s the only thing you can do as a golfer, is worry about yourself and try to play good golf and the rest will take care of itself.
"I stayed quiet enough last week, I didn’t do much media or I didn't do any media because I actually have no answers to any questions because I just don’t know."
Lowry insisted that the questions and speculation hadn't got to him, but that he felt sorry for the elite players who have constantly had to talk about the state of golf.
Rory McIlroy, for one, cancelled his pre-tournament press conference this week to avoid the circus.
"I do feel for the top, top guys that have been involved in the whole thing," said Lowry.
"Like, I've obviously been there among the pack and I've been involved in a lot of meetings and stuff over the last number of months but the guys who have to go out and sit in front of the world's media and explain stuff that they don't really know much about, I do feel for them.
"There's so much unknown and I think if you ask anybody in any industry or business that they're involved in, if there's unknown it does give you a little bit of 'wow, what's going to happen'.
"But that's all it is right now, it's unknown. I think in the coming weeks, us as players will have more information and we will be able to talk more about it then. But for now we just don't know."
Lowry, who famously triumphed at the British Open when it was staged in Portrush, believes the situation will become clearer in the near future.
"I think it will," he said. "I think in the coming weeks, us as players will have more information and we will be able to talk more about it then."
With that in mind, he is content to get on with the business of getting into contention again this week as he looks for his first win of the year.
Lowry remarked: "Look at everything that has gone on in the last year, people talk about what's going to happen when the LIV players rock up to majors and are playing against PGA Tour players...we've seen all along that it's just another golf tournament, another major, and we're all just here to try and do our best.
"The way I look at it is, on weeks like this, if I put myself within touching distance of the leaders on Saturday afternoon, Sunday morning going into the final round, that would be a somewhat successful week for me.
"My thing is to get myself into contention, if I can do that, I feel I have what it takes to do it.
"Often times, in tournaments like this, the hardest part is actually getting yourself there."
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