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Butch Harmon wants the deal between the PGA Tour and the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia to succeed.
But the legendary swing coach believes the conversation should have been more open — and the current plan lacks direction.
“I didn’t get it — for me, I’d rather have seen them say, rather than say we have a deal, I’d have rather heard them say, ‘We’re trying to figure out a way we can get a better deal’,” Harmon said this week. On the Sky Sports Golf Podcast. “The two sides have started talking with the DP World tour involved, and we will work this out, and it will take some time.” And everybody was going to say, Oh, wow, that’s cool.
“If you go out and say, well, we got it together, we have this and that, and then you don’t have a plan. No plan at all. I mean, to this day, we don’t know what’s going on and how this is going to work.”
“And now unfortunately the US federal government is involved and whether they’ve done things right or wrong. And any time the government gets involved, they can screw anything up. And now they’re going to tell golf how to run. Oh my God, come on. Please mind the budget; don’t worry about exercise.” The sport of golf.
Harmon’s comments come about a month after the PGA Tour, DP World Tour and Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund – which funds LIV Golf – announced they had reached an agreement to operate a new for-profit venture and end pending litigation between the two sides, with a way back for LIV players. Notably, the deal was negotiated by just four people — Monahan, PGA Tour policy board members Ed Herlihy and Jimmy Dunn, and PIF governor Yasir Al-Rumayyan — and there have been player meetings since then, with a Senate hearing to discuss The deal is scheduled for Tuesday.
In the hours following the announcement, most pros said they learned of the news through news sites or social media, a year after the players’ departures and the bickering and lawsuits between the Tour and LIV. On the SkySports podcast, Harmon said he felt very sorry for Rory McIlroy, who was a spokeswoman for the tour and said he heard about the deal from Dunne hours before it was revealed.
“There was a lot of things said, good and bad, on both sides,” Harmon said on the podcast. “The person I feel most sorry for is Rory. Because I think the tour asked Rory to be the speaker, and he did. The beauty of Rory McIlroy in interviews, especially from a TV standpoint like you and I are involved in, is that he’s very honest in his thoughts. He’ll give you an answer.” Honest, which I love.
“Unfortunately he was thrown under the bus in this deal. And I felt really sorry for him, and I actually told him that.”
Still, Harmon is hopeful that the deal will work out. On the podcast, he also said that the tour should have listened more as LIV was starting to take shape.
“We’ll see how that goes,” Harmon said on the podcast. “Hopefully it works because I think it could be perfect for world golf. In terms of players, we’re in the best position we’ve ever been in. There are hundreds of amazing young players today. And the game will only get better.”
“So let’s make this all work and get together and make everyone a whole bunch of money and have a great time.”
Editor’s note: To hear the full Sky Sports podcast with Harmon, go to: Please click here.