Ahead of the 150th Open Championship at St Andrews, golf legend Tiger Woods has offered his opinion on the emergence of LIV Golf.
The 2022 Open, held at the Old Course in St Andrews, Scotland, is the last of the four major championships to be played each year.
It follows a rota of different courses, with St Andrews hosting the most with 29. The Open was last hosted on the Old Course in 2015, and supporters will be eager to spot some golfing legends when it begins on Thursday.
Who will be playing?
US Open champions Matt Fitzpatrick will tee-off with Woods, who has won the Open three times.
Other former victors participating include defending champion Collin Morikawa, 2014 winner Rory McIlroy, 2017 champion Jordan Spieth and 2019 winner Shane Lowry.
In addition, Paul Lawrie, who won the Open in 1999, is also taking part.
Who is absent?
Notable players who are missing this week include former majors champions Bryson DeChambeau, Dustin Johnson and Greg Norman.
Several golfers accepted lucrative packages to be involved in the Saudi-backed new circuit, which is separate from the PGA Tour.
Players who have moved across to the LIV Golf Invitational have also taken on other risks. They may never have the opportunity to play in major championships or the Ryder Cup again.
Wood criticises LIV golfers
In a news conference ahead of the 150th Open, Woods spoke out about this issue. He questioned the reasoning behind his fellow professionals’ decision to walk away from the PGA Tour.
He said: “I disagree with it. I think that what they’ve done is they’ve turned their back on what has allowed them to get to this position.”
The LIV Golf Invitational is yet to be recognised by the Official World Golf Ranking. This means players do not receive any world points for their participation and successes.
“Who knows what’s going to happen in the near future with world-ranking points, the criteria for entering major championships,” said Woods. “The governing body is going to have to figure that out.
“Some of these players may not ever get a chance to play in major championships. That is a possibility. We don’t know that for sure yet.
“It’s up to all the major championship bodies to make that determination. But that is a possibility that some players will never, ever get a chance to play in a major championship, never get a chance to experience this right here, walk down the fairways at Augusta National. That, to me, I just don’t understand it.”
Following Woods’ comments, it is clear where Wood stands. The 15-time major champion would simply not trade the experience of playing in the PGA Tour for the money offered by LIV.
Featured image credit: Getty
