Tiger Woods railed against the breakaway LIV Golf Series on Tuesday as he spoke ahead of the British Open in St Andrews, questioning why young players would join the Saudi-backed circuit when it remains unclear if they will be able to participate in majors in the future.
Woods, who has fought to be fit to play in the 150th Open this week as he continues his recovery from severe leg injuries suffered in a car crash last year, was scathing in his assessment of the new series and wondered what incentive those involved even had to practise given the guaranteed sums of money involved.
“I disagree with it. I think that what they’ve done is they’ve turned their back on what has allowed them to get to this position,” Woods said when asked about his fellow professionals who have been tempted to join the controversial tour.
“And who knows what’s going to happen in the near future with world-ranking points, the criteria for entering major championships.
“Some of these players may not ever get a chance to play in major championships. That is a possibility. We don’t know that for sure yet.”
British Open organisers followed the US Open in allowing rebel players to compete at St Andrews, despite the PGA Tour and DP World Tour moving to ban them.
That means four-time major winner Brooks Koepka, Sergio Garcia, Bryson DeChambeau, Dustin Johnson and former Open champion Phil Mickelson can tee off in St Andrews on Thursday.