Richard Bland details his ambitious 5 year vision for Golf amid LIV-PGA merger talks – “We want to see the best playing against the very best”
51-year-old professional golfer Richard Bland is a veteran of the sport. Since turning professional in 1996, Bland mainly competed on the European Tour and even played on the PGA Tour of Champions to make a name for himself. Amidst talk of a merger between PGA and LIV, Bland spoke about the future of golf.
During an appearance on "Golf Monthly", Bland spoke about how the world of golf must look in the next five years. Whilst pointing out the names of some big golfers, Bland felt that the best players in the world must be playing together more often. He said (via "Golf Monthly" on YouTube):
"We all want the best players in the world playing together more often, of course, we do. As a golf fan, we all want that, you want to see Rahm and DJ and Brooks up against Scheffler and Rory and Xander coming down the stretch. We all want that, not say it happens an awful lot even when they do play together. But that's what we want to see. The best playing against the very best." (34:41 onwards)
As of 2024, Richard Bland is playing in LIV Golf. He was part of the recently concluded LIV Golf Nashville and even competed at the recently held US Senior Open Championship.
A look at Richard Bland's performances in 2024
Even though Richard Bland has been unable to achieve a win in LIV Golf this season, he registered a victory at the KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship and the 2024 Senior US Open. Here is a complete list of Bland's performances this year:
LIV Golf:
- Date: 2/2 - 2/4
- Event: LIV Golf Mayakoba (El Camaleón Golf Course at Mayakoba)
- Position: T11
- Overall Score: 66-74-67 207 (-6)
- Date: 2/8 - 2/10
- Event: LIV Golf Las Vegas (Las Vegas Country Club)
- Position: T15
- Overall Score: 69-65-71 205 (-5)
- Date: 3/1 - 3/3
- Event: LIV Golf Jeddah (Royal Greens G&CC)
- Position: T31
- Overall Score: 68-69-70 207 (-3)
- Date: 3/8 - 3/10
- Event: LIV Golf Hong Kong (Hong Kong Country Club)
- Position: T8
- Overall Score: 66-68-66 200 (-10)
- Date: 4/5 - 4/7
- Event: LIV Golf Miami (Trump National Doral Golf Course)
- Position: T14
- Overall Score: 71-67-73 211 (-5)
- Date: 4/26 - 4/28
- Event: LIV Golf Adelaide (The Grange Golf Club)
- Position: T22
- Overall Score: 68-68-69 205 (-11)
- Date: 5/3 - 5/5
- Event: LIV Golf Singapore (Sentosa Golf Club, Serapong Course)
- Position: T22
- Overall Score: 70-68-69 207 (-6)
- Date: 6/7 - 6/9
- Event: LIV Golf Houston (Golf Club of Houston)
- Position: T24
- Overall Score: 74-71-67 212 (-4)
- Date: 6/21 - 6/23
- Event: LIV Golf Nashville (The Grove)
- Position: T9
- Overall Score: 70-67-66 203 (-10)
2024 PGA TOUR Champions Tournaments:
- Date: 5/23 - 5/26
- Event: KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship (Harbor Shores Resort)
- Position: 1
- Overall Score: 64-66-74-63 267 (-17)
- Date: 6/27 - 7/1
- Event: U.S. Senior Open Championship (Newport Country Club)
- Position: 1-x
- Overall Score: 68-64-69-66