SHANE LOWRY REGRETS his comments from earlier this year when he defended his participation in a golf tournament in Saudi Arabia by stating: “I am not a politician.”
The Irish golfer, who won the BMW PGA Championship in Wentworth last week, has become an outspoken critic of the Saudi-backed LIV Golf Tour.
In February he competed in the Saudi International and finished in a tie for 14th.
“I have always said I don’t play the game for money,” said Lowry on the golf podcast, No Laying Up.
“Others are different. This newly formed Tour has divided the sport, with certain players vehemently opposed to it, others happy to take the dollar.
“My wife said to me, all that money (on offer from the Saudi Arabian backed LIV Tour) is not going to make you happy. I play the game for trophies. The reason I have not gone to the LIV Tour is because I don’t think it is good for the game.”
And yet Lowry did play in the Saudi International tournament for three straight years.
On the podcast, he provided context to that decision.
Fresh off his victory at Wentworth, @ShaneLowryGolf chats BMW PGA, winning The Open at Portrush, the future of the DP World Tour, his decision to not pursue a LIV contract, and some outstanding stories from his first Ryder Cup.
— No Laying Up (@NoLayingUp) September 15, 2022
Apple: https://t.co/7jQSVhKult pic.twitter.com/aVvbvJUQZ9
“When I said the ‘I’m not a politician’ remark, my first thought was ‘why did I do that?’ It was the wrong thing to say. The thing is I played the Saudi International for the last three years. So, for me, I would have been very hypocritical if I had come out and complained about the LIV Tour by stating something along the lines of ‘my opposition to LIV stems from where the money is coming from’.
“I just think the LIV tour is bad for the game because it is very divisive.
“I would love if DJ (Johnson), Bryson (DeChambeau), Brooks (Koepka), were playing against each us (every week on the PGA Tour events) but the reason they aren’t is because of LIV. I don’t think it is good for the game.”
Elaborating on his reasons for playing in the Saudi International, Lowry explained it was partly down to a desire to acquire Ryder Cup points. Clearly he regrets doing so now.
“I misjudged the room when I did that,” he said. “I definitely felt that this year when I was going there. I was not one of the better loved golfers in the world at the time but I had to fulfill the contract and so I went.
“I am one of the players that thinks LIV should not (exist as a tour)
“I don’t like the idea of it.
“It is a tough subject for me to talk on because I have never been outspoken. Rory (McIlroy) is outspoken because every day he is in front of the media. I’m not. Nobody had asked me about it before last week.”
The presence of LIV players at last weekend’s PGA Championship at Wentworth caused disruption in the locker room.
“I felt it was awkward,” said Lowry. “I personally didn’t like seeing a couple of fellas there at the tournament. Some very good friends of mine have joined LIV and while I don’t think it is going to tarnish our friendship, I just am not going to see much of them anymore.
“If I was one of those players going to LIV, I wouldn’t have shown up at Wentworth, not a chance of me doing that because it would have been too uncomfortable for me.
“They knew it was going to be disruptive. For them to think they can just come back and play (in DP World Tour events) when they want. …… it is wrong. This is causing a division in the game and it could piss people off.
“All people talk about around golf these days is money. It is disgusting how much money is being won. A general Joe Soap who loves the game and who perhaps struggles to pay his membership at his local club, this is pissing him off.”
Lowry went on to say he is positive about the future of the DP World Tour providing it can continue to forge closer links with the American-based PGA Tour. Suggestions that certain events on the DP World Tour could be co-sanctioned by the PGA Tour would have a hugely positive impact, Lowry feels.
“It has been a tough couple of years for the DP World Tour with Covid as well as the other stuff (the newly formed LIV tour). When the rumours were going around with LIV, I worried for the DP World Tour and wondered what they were going to do.
“Aligning with the PGA Tour is good for me selfishly, but also good for golf because with the support of the PGA Tour, the DP World Tour can become stronger and it can look after its players better. The issues players might have that LIV golf is throwing around so much money that people feel the DP World Tour could have taken that (Saudi Arabian) money.
“But that is too quick of a fix when you are talking about golf in general. We – as golfers – need to make sure we do what is right for golf, not what is right for us because we are not always going to be here but the sport is.
“I do feel what the PGA Tour and the DP World Tour have done in the last year is better for the game of golf. I am very lucky to have the life I have through golf, through the PGA Tour and the DP World Tour.
“It is not my God-given right to go off and be part of something that could bury those tours. It is up to me to hold my place there and pass it on.”
