BILLY HORSCHEL has branded the LIV Golf rebels “hypocrites” and accused them of “lying” as the Floridian nailed his colours to the mast with a passionate defence of the DP World Tour and PGA Tour.
Speaking ahead of this week’s co-sanctioned Genesis Scottish Open at The Renaissance, Horschel jumped down off the fence and insisted he “can’t be diplomatic about it anymore” as he launched a stinging criticism of those who have defected to the cash-sodden Saudi-backed series.
Golf’s increasingly bitter civil war took a fresh twist on Monday night when three LIV Golf players – Ian Poulter, Adrian Otaegui and Justin Harding – were granted an injunction against a DP World Tour sanction which had banned them from competing in East Lothian this week. The trio will now tee-up in the domestic showpiece tomorrow under turbulent storm clouds of controversy.
Horschel, who became the first American since Arnold Palmer in 1975 to win the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth last season, said: “I believe they made their bed. They decided to go play a tour and they should go play that tour. They shouldn't be coming back over here to play the DP World Tour or the PGA Tour.
“To say that they wanted to also support the PGA Tour or DP World Tour going forward, while playing the LIV Tour, is completely asinine in my opinion. It's unfortunate that those guys made their bed and that's what they want to do. Leave us alone, honestly.”
While Horschel insisted he harbours no ill will towards such players for their career choice, the world No 15 made his feelings on the divisive topic perfectly clear.
He added: “They keep talking about how the PGA Tour doesn't listen. I've been really frustrated by it because there's a lot of guys that are hypocrites, that aren't telling the truth and that are lying about some things. I just I can't stand to sit here anymore and be diplomatic about it.
“The comments they make, comments that (PGA Tour commissioner) Jay Monahan doesn’t listen to us. Jay Monahan and everyone at headquarters work tirelessly for us to reap financial rewards and have all the opportunities that we have.
“I am one of the 200 plus members of the PGA Tour, so when you take shots at the PGA Tour you’re not just taking shots at them. You’re taking shots at us.”
Horschel, a seven-time winner on the PGA Tour, also took a swing at some of the reasons the rebels have used to explain their defections, including wanting to spend time with family.
“I’m not seeing my family for five weeks but that is what my wife and I decided,” he said. “Am I crying about it? No. I’m living my dream of trying to play golf professionally and support my family financially.
“There is a little division in the locker room and some are more upset than others. I have no ill will but I’m just tired of hearing comments that aren’t truthful.
“There are some guys that feel they are abandoning the PGA Tour and if that’s what they want to do, just go away, stay away.
“If you don’t want to be a part of this tour which has given you so many opportunities to make a name and build a financial stability for your family and everything, then that’s fine. Just stay away and we’ll be fine without you guys.”
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here