"We miss Bryson DeChambeau" - Padraig Harrington calls for unification of men’s pro golf after 'box office' performance from Bryson
Padraig Harrington has called for the unification of men's golf following Bryson DeChambeau's impressive performance at the 2024 PGA Championship. DeChambeau, the only LIV golfer to finish in the top 10, secured second place at the Major.
Harrington is preparing to tee off at this week's Senior PGA Championship. Furthermore, in an interview with Golf Channel, the Irish golfer discussed the PGA Tour and LIV Golf. He praised DeChambeau for his "box office" performance and said he missed playing with the players who joined LIV.
Speaking about LIV golfers, Harrington said (via Golf Channel's YouTube):
"I got to say, I didn't realize when it came to LIV, you know, some of the guys left, and he said, you know, didn't bother me. A lot of my friends went to LIV as well, but some of the guys left. But I realized last week, God, we missed Bryson.
"Like, Bryson was box office last week, and really, really helped that tournament, helped push Xanders win on it. It was fantastic. Interesting, exciting watching, you know? So, yeah, we do miss. We miss those guys, I think, you know, as I said before, it's hard to believe we miss Patrick Reed." (0:50- 1:15)
With the inception of LIV Golf, dozens of players from different golf series joined the Saudi Circuit. However, following this, they were banned from competing on the PGA Tour, and the Europe Tour imposed fines on them.
The LIV golfers also did not receive ranking points, which further diminished their chances of qualifying for majors. Only a handful of LIV players could make it to the Majors and play alongside PGA Tour and Europe Tour players.
At last week's PGA Championship, 16 LIV golfers earned exemption for the competition, but several big names, including Jon Rahm and Phil Mickelson, failed to make the cut. Meanwhile, Bryson DeChambeau was dominant and finished just one stroke behind the winner. He played well at the Masters as well, finishing in a tie for sixth place.
Padraig Harrington advocates having big Tours
Padraig Harrington also spoke about the benefits of having more tours in golf in the same interview. He believes that if everyone played exclusively on the PGA Tour, it would be difficult to create more stars. He said (via Golf Channel's YouTube):
"Look, I seem to live through the golden era of gulf, when there was a very strong European tour. We didn't realize at the time that the two tours being strong was. I felt, in hindsight, looks like it was a great thing. There's not enough.
"If everybody plays the PGA Tour, there are not enough tournaments for everybody to win. You can't build stars. It's just so hard. Like, if Scotty wins eight tournaments this year and Rory wins five, and Xander wins four, what is everybody else going to win? So you need other big tours, whether it's Europe or wherever else."(0:15-0.55)
Meanwhile, Padraig Harrington will tee off at this week's Senior PGA Championship, starting with its inaugural round on May 23 and concluding with the finale on Sunday, May 26. He had also played at the PGA Championship last week but failed to make the cut. Xander Schauffele won the Major last week.