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Former Ryder Cup captain Tony Jacklin is not a big fan of LIV Golf<\/a>, as he offered some forthright opinions on not only the team golf tour but also the current state of the sport.<\/p>\n Jacklin accused the Saudi PIF of trying to “manufacture or buy history” by ploughing billions of dollars into LIV Golf<\/a> – and produce a format the two-time Major champion is no fan of.<\/p>\n CEO Scott O’Neil has just revealed a new investor he says will see LIV Golf<\/a> continue beyond this season, when the Saudi PIF pulls its funding<\/a> – but Jacklin always thought the league was a “non-starter”.<\/p>\n Speaking to business consultants<\/a> Champions (UK) ahead of hosting the annual British Par 3 Championship, Jacklin also gave his strong views on the new PGA Tour structure<\/a>, the DP World Tour and the continued distance debate in golf.<\/p>\n “It was backed by enormous wealth and supported by figures such as Phil Mickelson and Greg Norman, but I always thought it was a non-starter,” is how Jacklin describes LIV Golf.<\/p>\n “They thought they could manufacture or buy history, and you cannot do that.”<\/p>\n And unsurprisingly for a golfing traditionalist such as Jacklin, the LIV Golf format was not exactly to his liking.<\/p>\n “I do not understand who wants music playing on the tees, shotgun starts and uncertainty over where the eventual winner will finish,” he added.<\/p>\n “The whole thing feels contrived.”<\/p>\n Jacklin says LIV Golf caused “chaos” in the sport with the huge influx in cash countered by a similar move from the PGA Tour – all of which has turned him off from modern pro golf.<\/p>\n “That kind of money was brought into golf, and it threw everything into chaos, including the PGA Tour.<\/p>\n “There is now so much money swirling around the PGA Tour that, to a large extent, I have lost interest. The money in golf has become obscene, and it has turned it into a completely different game.”<\/p>\n DP World Tour just a feeder for PGA Tour<\/p>\n On the future of the PGA Tour, Jacklin does not think the new two-tiered system being introduced is a huge change, more an adjustment of the current format, while it’s confirmed in his mind the status of golf in Europe.<\/p>\n “I think they have essentially reshaped what they already had,” he says. “The Korn Ferry Tour was always the second tier and provided players with a route onto the main tour. They have simply made it a little clearer and more straightforward.<\/p>\n “It is also clear that the DP World Tour has become a feeder tour for the PGA Tour.”<\/p>\n As someone who played in a different era, Jacklin echoes the sentiments of many from that generation when it comes to the issue of technology and distance in golf.<\/p>\n “Do not even get me started on what the USGA and The R&A have allowed to happen with equipment and the ball,” said the 82-year-old.<\/p>\n “The game now has little to do with the one I started playing in 1953. It is time for me to step back and observe from afar. I will watch and hope everybody is happy doing what they are doing.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. Former…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":47284,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[552,127,982,759,144,1482,6814],"class_list":["post-47283","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ryder-cup","tag-ryder-cup","tag-dp-world-tour","tag-greg-norman","tag-liv","tag-pga-tour","tag-phil-mickelson","tag-tony-jacklin"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47283","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=47283"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47283\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/47284"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=47283"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=47283"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=47283"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}