Report: LIV Golf Players Excluded From BMW PGA Championship Pro-Am
LIV Golf may be going from strength to strength with the addition of six new signings, but for its 18 players who will tee it up at next week’s BMW PGA Championship on the DP World Tour, there is little doubt that they will feel like outcasts.
According to a report from The Telegraph’s Golf Correspondent, James Corrigan, LIV Golf players including Ian Poulter, Lee Westwood, Kevin Na, Talor Gooch, Patrick Reed, Abraham Ancer and Jason Kokrak will not face the warmest welcome in the Wentworth tournament – either before or during the event.
Video: What Is LIV Golf?
A letter sent to the affected players reportedly read: “As an FYI, you will not be required to play in the Wednesday pro-am and out of respect for our broadcasters and your fellow competitors we would kindly ask you to consider not wearing LIV-golf apparel.”
There had been signs before the latest twist that there was unease at the prospect of LIV Golf players competing in the DP World Tour’s flagship event. For example, after winning the FedEx Cup last week, Rory McIlroy, who has long been a critic of the Series, said: “It's going to be hard to stomach going to Wentworth in a couple of weeks' time and seeing 18 of them there. That just doesn't sit right with me. I feel strongly. I believe what I'm saying are the right things, and I think when you believe that what you're saying is the right thing, you're happy to stick your neck out on the line.”
Meanwhile, US Open champion Matt Fitzpatrick said it was “odd” and “disappointing” that LIV Golf players are in the BMW PGA Championship field. Speaking at the Tour Championship, he said: "It's going to be odd seeing certain people, obviously, at Wentworth. That is going to be a bit weird, and obviously it's a little bit disappointing. But they won their little thing.”
The presence of so many LIV Golf players is partly due to an injunction that temporarily prevents the DP World Tour suspending eligible LIV Golf players from competing in its tournaments, and partly thanks to an exemption category that allows the top 60 players in the world to take part.
With both displeasure from some PGA Tour players and the powers-that-be at Wentworth HQ appearing to take exception to the presence of LIV Golf players at the event, it seems certain there will be some awkward moments when the players tee it up a week on Thursday.
