LIV Golfer claims it was “embarrassing to be a professional golfer” during Saudi-backed league’s feud with PGA
Laurie Canter gave his opinion on the controversy surrounding the emergence of the LIV Golf circuit and the differences with the PGA Tour. In his opinion, "there has not been enough people sitting in a room, chatting."
Englishman Canter marched to the LIV Golf circuit from its inaugural tournament in June 2022. More than a year later, he thinks it has been difficult to live through the whole process, even becoming "embarrassing to be a professional golfer."
He told this in an interview given in recent days to The Guardian:
“There have been points where it has been embarrassing to be a professional golfer. I have had teaching pros say to me that they have been embarrassed by some of the conduct that has gone on. That is not what being a golfer is about."
He added:
“Camaraderie between pros should be one of the best things about being a golfer. There has not been enough people sitting in a room, chatting. I think if you are a member of a tour, you have a responsibility to air grievances privately. Saying things through the press is not the way to go about it if you are serious about doing what is best for the game.”
Laurie Canter also stated that, while it has been a difficult period for him to face, it has been much worse for other more renowned players, such as Dustin Johnson and Phil Mickelson.
This was part of his words on the matter:
“It is way more difficult for those guys than me. They have had way more to deal with. The burden those guys have had … I have never been in the spotlight or chased that."
Also not left out of Laurie Canter's remarks was the issue of allegations of human rights violations in Saudi Arabia.
Some of the critics of the LIV Golf circuit say it is reprehensible that it is funded by money from a government that critics say has committed serious human rights violations.
This is what Canter told The Guardian:
“My sister works in foreign development. She has lived in Africa and Asia for the last 12 years, working on behalf of women’s rights. I can sit at the Christmas dinner table with her every year and look her in the eye."
"The month before I first played on LIV, I played in a US state that had just banned abortions; I don’t agree with that. Some of the laws around guns in America, I disagree with. There are laws in the UK that are not consistent with what I believe in."
"If every place I went to, I had to do due diligence in that manner, then I don’t think I would play any golf."
Laurie Canter and his reason for going to LIV Golf
Laurie Canter explained that he went to LIV Golf because he was presented with an incredible opportunity, financially speaking.
He said:
"Even if you didn't play that well the money would still be good. Financially, it was a complete life change. If you have the opportunity to play a schedule of events for that much money, you have to be realistic about it. ... Frankly, even if you don't play as well, the money would still be good, but I haven't met people who think that way because you want to keep your status and grow."
Canter finished the second round of The Open Championship in T11, with a score of -1. In the current LIV Golf season, he has participated in all nine tournaments played, with a 15th-place finish in Orlando as his best result.