“I never thought LIV Golf would happen”: Fred Couples on Saudi-backed league and it’s future
Fred Couples is one of the players in world golf who is not particularly fond of LIV Golf. He has made his position clear on several occasions and reiterated it in recent days.
Couples gave an interview to CNBC to talk about the Ryder Cup, where he will be vice-captain of the American team. The subject of LIV Golf came up again, and the 1992 Masters winner again reflected his disappointment with the whole affair.
"I never thought it would happen," he said.
This is what Fred Couples told CNBC, according to Golf.com:
“I never thought it [LIV Golf] would happen. I never thought they would get off the ground, but I guess when you have — I’m not even smart enough to figure out how many billions — you can get people to follow the money. I don’t know if it’s going to go away."
He added:
“But we do have Brooks Koepka on the Ryder Cup team — he’s not really a PGA Tour player and every player on that team wanted him, so we still have some nice feelings about the LIV guys. But would I want to see it go away? It doesn’t matter to me really anymore if — their tour is set, they have their 48 guys. I don’t think any new guys have joined in five or six months, so it is what it is.”
Other big names in golf, such as Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods, have expressed their opposition to the creation and development of LIV Golf. However, they have been open to the possibility of an agreement between the PGA Tour and the Public Investment Fund (PIF) of Saudi Arabia.
Who is Fred Couples?
Fred Couples, 63, is one of the world's leading golfers of the 1980s and 1990s. After playing golf for the University of Houston for three years, Couples turned professional in 1980.
He immediately joined the PGA Tour, where he remained throughout his career. His first victory came in the 1983 Kemper Open.
Since then, he has won 15 times on the PGA Tour, including The Masters in 1992 and The PLAYERS in 1984 and 1996. He also had two wins on the European Tour and another 33 victories on other professional circuits.
He made his PGA Tour Champions debut in 2010 and has since won 14 tournaments at that level, most recently the 2022 SAS Championship.
Although he has not played consistently on the PGA Tour since 2009, he has not failed to play at least one tournament at this level each year. He played in the 2023 Masters and finished T50.
Fred Couples represented the United States in five editions of the Ryder Cup, winning two and tying one. His record in the event is seven wins, nine losses, and four ties.