NBC and Golf Channel analyst Brandel Chamblee has called out PGA Tour members Jordan Spieth, Justin Thomas, Scottie Scheffler and Xander Schauffele for failing to take a stand alongside Rory McIlroy against LIV Golf.
The PGA and LIV remain in deep negotiations to merge the two entities together after a shock announcement last summer was released without any of the sport’s biggest stars were made aware.
McIlroy had long been a defender of the PGA Tour throughout LIV Golf’s emergence, with many of his rivals joining the new Saudi-backed league for huge pay packets. However, McIlroy chose to remove himself from the PGA board, after stating that a merger with LIV was “not what I signed for whenever I went on the board”.
McIlroy had openly spoke on his ‘hate’ for LIV Golf, but has since cooled his emotions on the Saudi-backed league.
And Chamblee believes that McIlroy was let down by four big names who remained in the PGA Tour alongside him, namely in Spieth, Thomas, Scheffler and Schauffele.
The Golf Channel analyst told Golfweek : “I felt like Rory didn’t get the support that he needed. I wouldn’t go so far as to say that players were selfish. But I felt like Rory was out there and was a force against the source of the money for LIV, and he was a formidable source for the PGA Tour, and he didn’t get the support from any of the players.
“I didn’t hear Jordan Spieth being vocal in support of him. I didn’t hear Justin Thomas. I didn’t hear Scottie Scheffler. I didn’t hear Xander Schauffele. I didn’t hear any of them as forcefully as Rory was speaking out on the issue.
“It was like he was taking most of the heat if not all of the heat, and I think after a while, I don’t know it to be the case, I haven’t talked to Rory, but I think after a while, it was listen, I’ve done everything I can do and I’m not getting any support, so I’m going to bow out. Why is it up to me to fight this whole battle myself?
“I would have loved to see more players come out and speak on behalf of the PGA Tour or just the traditions of the game and the foundation of the game and talk about how where the game has gone over the last couple years has been bad for professional golf. It’s been great for them from a financial standpoint, but they’re alienating the biggest stakeholder in the game of golf, which is the core fan.
