Cork, Ireland- The 2010 US Open champion, Graeme McDowell, has once again defended the Saudi-backed LIV Golf Series.
According to the Northern Irishman, golf is a force of good in the world adding that golfers are not politicians.
“We are golfers. Speaking personally, I really feel like golf is a force of good in the world. I just try to be a great role model to kids. I know what the game of golf has taught me. I love using the game of golf as something to kind of help grow around the world. That’s pretty much what we have been doing for the last 20 years, being role models for kids and trying to use this game, like I say, as a force of good really.
(Moreso), we are not politicians. I know you guys hate that expression, but we are really not, unfortunately. We are professional golfers. If Saudi Arabia wanted to use the game of golf as a way for them to get to where they want to be and they have the resources to accelerate that experience, I think we are proud to help them on that journey using the game of golf and the abilities that we have to help grow the sport and take them to where they want to be,” said McDowell.
In addition, McDowell said the issue of human rights abuse in Saudi Arabia did not bother him that much as he has played golf in similar countries.
“I have played golf all over the world, in countries whose human rights records could probably be torn apart as well. I have never questioned being in China, the Middle East, or all over the world and what I do is play professional golf. I play golf for money. I have chased that money all over the world all my career. Do I research into the morals of every Dollar I have ever made? No, I don’t,” added the Northern Irishman.
The three-day 54-hole strokeplay format teed off in Hemel Hempstead, England on the 9th of June, 2022 with the latest event taking place in Portland, United States last week.
Moreso, the series will feature five more tournaments of this nature in 2022, three in the United States, one in Thailand, and one in Saudi Arabia each having the same US$25 million prize fund, meaning every leg of the series is more lucrative than the richest tournament on the PGA Tour.
LIV Golf is a start-up organization, fronted by the two-time major winner and former world number one Greg Norman, the 67-year-old Australian is also chief executive of LIV Golf Investments with Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF), which helped bankroll the recent takeover of Newcastle United, being the majority shareholder in the firm.
