Gary Player is one of golf’s greatest.
Now he is attacking, among others, Henrik Stenson.
Now everything points to him being fired.
Gary Player is not the first to direct harsh criticism at the players who have switched to the much-maligned LIV tour. It is financed by Saudi Arabia and has been accused of “sportwashing”, i.e. a way of using sport to improve its own reputation regarding, above all, a lack of human rights.
The legend’s giant saw
But the fact that Player does it is remarkable. He has previously been seen himself in the golf world as he is an ambassador for Saudi golf. But he seems to have changed his mind completely, and is now attacking the tour. Everything points to the fact that he will not retain his lucrative assignment for much longer.
– I wouldn’t take a billion kroner against my nine majors. I worked hard, I had a will. I traveled the world. It was educational, and I met great people. How can you even be a champion when you only play 54 holes in a competition, he says on BBC radio.
The LIV tour has been heavily criticized, not only for sportwashing, but also for player format. This week, they signed the new major winner, also world number two Cameron Smith – for sums around 1.5 billion kroner. The money is not result-based, and during the competitions there is no “cut”, and you only play 54 holes, in contrast to the 72 you play on regular tours.
Cameron Smith is the LIV tour’s biggest signing to date, and Gary Player isn’t impressed that he made the move.
– He is a young man who I really thought would become a superstar. What kind of future does he even have now? Will he realize how big a dream it is to become a real champion. I don’t know that, says Player.
The mockery of Stenson
But Gary Player also throws in a mockery of Henrik Stenson, who he believes is finished in the golf world – and needed the money. Stenson was said to receive sums around half a billion kroner just to play on the tour.
– I don’t blame Henrik Stenson for moving. He needed the money, so he had to go. But Cameron Smith is a superstar. He has made the wrong decision, says Player.
When Henrik Stenson moved over to the sawn tour, he also lost his dream job as captain of Europe’s Ryder Cup team for the competitions in Rome next autumn. In the first competition for Stenson on the LIV tour, the Swede won, his first win in the golf world in many years.
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