Henrik Stenson goes to the crazy-saw LIV tour.
Then the icon Helen Alfredsson roars away.
– How much money do you really need ?, she says to SVT.
The LIV tour is new in golf and is intended to take up the fight against the PGA and Europe tour. But it has been heavily criticized, mainly because it is funded by Saudi Arabia, and Amnesty has, among other things, saw the tour as “sportwashing”.
Criticism of Stenson
This means, in short, that Saudi Arabia is trying to clean up its bad reputation around, for example, human reputation through sports. Henrik Stenson has so far been faithful to the original tours, and many thought he would be, as he has previously been named captain of next year’s European Ryder Cup team.
But yesterday came the news that Stenson is now being removed from the role, and he himself went out hours later with the news that he is taking the step over to LIV. And it has been met with huge criticism from large parts of the golf world. Now he also gets criticism from golf icon Helen Alfredsson.
– They earn so much anyway, and how much money do you really need? Money does not make life better, Alfredsson tells SVT.
“Feels tragic”
Helen Alfredsson was a professional from the 80s until 2013, and participated in the Solheim Cup, the women’s version of the Ryder Cup, eight times. She mainly thinks the fact that Stenson opts out of the captaincy for the Ryder Cup team hurts.
– It is an honorable assignment and this undermines the value of the Ryder Cup, that money is worth more. I think it feels tragic to be honest: The integrity of the Gulf is in jeopardy.
Alfredsson, who has also been captain of Europe in the Solheim Cup, also believes that Stenson does not keep his word.
– I feel that when he got the role of captain, he said that it was a “dream”. Aren’t they longer then? You have to stand for what you say. As soon as you become a public figure, it comes with a certain responsibility.
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