Former US Open champion Matthew Fitzpatrick has made his thoughts brutally clear about continuing merger talks between the PGA Tour, the DP World Tour and LIV Golf’s backers
Matthew Fitzpatrick has made his feelings clear on golf merger talks (
Image: Oisin Keniry/Getty Images)
Matthew Fitzpatrick had admitted he is past the point of caring about golf merger talks.
There were hopes that negotiations between the PGA Tour, the DP World Tour and LIV Golf’s Saudi backers would accelerate at the current Alfred Dunhill Championship. PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan was in the same group as Yasir Al-Rumayyan, the governor of Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) – which bankrolls LIV – in Thursday’s first round at Carnoustie.
The pair have been pictured embracing and even sharing a joke. Away from the public eye, Monahan and Al-Rumayyan, plus other key stakeholders in the game, are expected to have held fresh talks about bringing the men’s game back together more than two years since the launch of the breakaway LIV tour.
But former US Open champion Fitzpatrick says it will take more than a cosy chat around a Scottish links course to end the sport’s civil war once and for all. The Englishman said: “I don’t think they are going to decide the future of golf in five hours around Carnoustie. I know Carnoustie is pretty bloody hard. Not much time for talking.”
He added bluntly: “I think in terms of bringing the game together this week, I’m passed the point of caring. I just don’t care.
“Me saying things to the PGA TOUR board, me saying things to the DP World Tour board, it’s not going to change, so why am I going to waste my time talking about it.”
A merger is believed to be close with Rory McIlroy claiming a deal could be finalised by the end of the year, although he admits a “50-50” split in player opinion is one of the final hurdles to overcome.
Asked if the bad blood between the two factions had passed, Fitzpatrick. He added: “Not necessarily. I think there’s probably some players in the States, their feelings, I don’t think they would be very happy.”
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Matt Fitzpatrick admits he is tired of the saga which has dominated men’s golf for more than two years ( Zac Goodwin/PA Wire)
On his own feelings towards LIV, he said: “If I’m probably brutally honest, at the start, I probably was pretty against it and it was not of any interest to me to go and play [in] LIV. But I’ve always said that I understood why people went. I’ve got no issues with that. No issues at all.
“My issue was always [that] you’ve gone over there. I don’t feel like it’s fair for you to try and come back and play. But I would say I’ve changed on that now. Again, I just don’t care. I just want to focus on myself.
“I think that’s what’s important, and try and play the best golf I can. I don’t want to get 10 years down the road and look back. I’m not going to sit there and think, ‘oh, I wish I’d got more involved in that LIV and PGA TOUR’. It’s like, you’re wasting your time.”
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