LIV Golf’s Richard Bland off Twitter after starting spat ‘under the influence’
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England's Richard Bland hitting a shot during the second round of the LIV Golf tournament in Adelaide on April 22.
PHOTO: AFP
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SOUTHAMPTON – Richard Bland admitted he should not “tweet under the influence” after getting into a LIV Golf-related argument with fellow Englishman Eddie Pepperell. Now he has deactivated his account altogether.
Bland, 50, plays for LIV Golf, which had one of the most memorable moments in its short history last weekend at its first event in Australia. Chase Koepka made a hole-in-one on the par-three, 12th hole
Some proponents of the Saudi-backed breakaway league said it was evidence of LIV creating an unparalleled atmosphere for professional golf tournaments, but Pepperell told a commenter that the PGA Tour has had a similar environment at the WM Phoenix Open.
“This has been happening at Scottsdale for years now, so not sure how much LIV is really changing things here,” wrote the 32-year-old Pepperell, who plays on the DP World Tour.
The comment clearly caught Bland’s attention.
“Ed.. tell me where on DP World there’s been a hole like this?“ Bland wrote. “Because in 22 years of playing the tour I can’t think of any. But maybe your 15 minutes on tour you know different.”
Pepperell responded with a short list of examples, along with a jab back: “Suppose it’s simple; in my 15 minutes I won more events than you did in 22 years.”
Bland’s apology blamed it on the alcohol.
“Unfortunately I did have too many last (night) Ed,” Bland reportedly wrote before deactivating the account Tuesday. “I apologise for what I said. I should know better not to tweet under the influence.” REUTERS
