"If you spoke to Tiger Woods...": Matt Fitzpatrick opines 'incredibly unfair' stance against LIV golfers
Matt Fitzpatrick has taken a shot at LIV Golf and believes Tiger Woods would have his back. Both have been vocal against the rebel tour, with Woods reportedly turning down almost $1 billion to join and saying that LIV CEO Greg Norman needed to be removed.
When asked about LIV, Fitzpatrick was blunt. He stood firm on his stance, even saying that Woods would have the exact same opinion:
“I would not let people come back if they’ve gone to LIV. I just wouldn’t. I think that’s just incredibly unfair for the PGA Tour to do that. I’d be staggered if they did allow them, I think if you spoke to Tiger Woods he would have the same stance.”
“I would not let people come back. I think that’s incredibly unfair. I’d be staggered if they did allow them”
Asked Matt Fitzpatrick about players with buyer’s remorse potentially trying to return to the PGA Tour, and the dilemma of Ryder Cup eligibility https://t.co/5trNnczGSj
Via Sky Sports, Matt Fitzpatrick also said:
"My personal view is that you can't have your cake and eat it...Don't get me wrong, they could turn around and say you can come and play LIV if you want, but I don't want to do that. I want to stay here and I want to play DP World Tour and PGA Tour.
"If you have left the Tour that you have been on for so long and done so well then you have left for something you think is better, even if it maybe is not always greener."
Matt Fitzpatrick evoked perhaps the best golfer of all time in saying that Tiger Woods would have a similar stance. Put simply, Fitzpatrick and others have no love lost for their former tourmates.
Unlike Matt Fitzpatrick, Max Homa is conflicted on LIV players returning
Matt Fitzpatrick was blunt when asked about LIV Golf members ever returning to the PGA Tour. On the other hand, Max Homa had to think about it.
"My selfish, petty side would be really frustrated, because I have not been annoyed at anyone leaving. It's your own choice and you have to do what you believe you should do. I'm totally cool with that.
"I'm not super close with a ton of guys, but like it does feel like we're all kind of in this together to push competitive golf and push the game forward. I think my petty side would be a little bit annoyed, but also kind of smiling underneath thinking welcome back to what you could have just been doing."
Homa believes a return by these players would signify a mistake on their part, thus proving the PGA Tour to be superior. That would be a good thing in his eyes.
Homa added:
"I think my unselfish side and my realistic side is that as I just mentioned, all of those guys that you can name that left are great for golf. Champion golfers, interesting golfers, so many great stories across their careers. I think if I could put my selfish part aside and maybe my and put on my big-boy hat, I would realize that having them back would be a good thing for golf at large."
There's no telling whether or not this will happen, but there's clearly a lot of different philosophies about the divide within the PGA Tour.