PGA Tour chief slams LIV Series

TORONTO • PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan took potshots at the breakaway LIV Golf Invitational Series on Sunday, calling the inaugural series a bunch of "exhibition matches against the same players over and over again".

During CBS' coverage of the final round of the Canadian Open on Sunday, the American gave his first interview since last week's decision to suspend 17 tour members for their decision to play in the opening event of the budding rival circuit over the weekend in London.

LIV offers the most lucrative purse in golf history - 2011 Masters winner Charl Schwartzel banked US$4.75 million (S$6.6 million) after his victory on Saturday - and more PGA members will jump ship when the series moves to Portland, Oregon, later this month.

Former US Open champion Bryson DeChambeau and former Masters champion Patrick Reed will make their debuts there, alongside Rickie Fowler, Matt Wolff, Pat Perez, Bubba Watson and Jason Kokrak.

But Monahan remains dismissive of LIV, saying: "Why do they need us so badly? Because those players have chosen to sign multi-year lucrative contracts to play in a series of exhibition matches against the same players over and over again. You look at that versus what we see here today, and that's why they need us so badly.

"You've got true, pure competition. The best players in the world are here at the Canadian Open, with millions of fans watching, and in this game, it's true and pure competition that creates the profile in the presence of the world's greatest players.

"And that's why they need us. That's what we do. But we're not going to allow players to free ride off of our loyal members, the best players in the world."

Four-time Major champion Rory McIlroy also took the chance to get a jab in at LIV after closing with an eight-under 62 to finish on 19-under 261, with the Ulsterman retaining his title in Toronto.

A long-time critic of the rival tour, the world No. 3, who was two shots better off than Tony Finau (64), was glad to note that he surpassed LIV chief executive officer Greg Norman's career mark of 20 PGA wins with his 21st victory.

"I had extra motivation of what's going on across the pond," McIlroy said. "The guy that's spearheading that tour has 20 wins on the PGA Tour and I was tied with him and I wanted to get one ahead of him. And I did. So that was really cool for me, just a little sense of pride on that one."

REUTERS