SADNESS as we the golf world pay condolences to the family of BOB CHARLESĀ
Golf legend Sir Bob Charles didn’t mince words when he lambasted the players of LIV Golf amid speculation that the Saudi-backed breakaway league might hold an event at Christchurch Golf Club in his cherished New Zealand.
Mike Hadley, the general manager at Christchurch Golf Club, told The New Zealand Herald that representatives from LIV Golf had indeed visited, but as of now, no further meetings have been scheduled.
Sir Bob Charles, a patron of the club and winner of the 1963 Open Championship, expressed his strong opposition to LIV Golf. “I hope they’re not playing at either of my golf courses,” he declared.
“I don’t endorse LIV Golf in any way, in fact, quite the opposite. I want nothing to do with it. I wouldn’t walk across the street to watch.
The traditional game that I’ve played for 50 years traveling around the world is in total upheaval and they’re causing havoc – they’re causing problems, and I just have no time for LIV whatsoever.
It’s not the traditional game… we had a certain set of rules, we had an organization and they’re a bunch of boys playing in short pants. So I’ve got nothing nice to say about them whatsoever.”
LIV Golf has been splashing the cash, attracting top-tier talent and some not-so-familiar faces, with a golf icon admitting his surprise at the roster: “They’ve been offered some obscene sums of money and some of the guys that play, I’ve never ever heard of. I don’t know that they deserve the money which they have been offered,” he remarked.
Meanwhile, LIV CEO Greg Norman lashed out at the harsh critics of the new golf league. “The vitriol and the hatred was just disgusting, to be honest with you, considering what these guys have done in the game of golf and how they’ve carried the game of golf and the institutions they represented, was disgusting,” he expressed to Bloomberg.
He further stated: “Nowhere in my entire journey in the last three years since I’ve been CEO and commissioner [of LIV Golf] has someone come up to me and said, ‘What you are doing is wrong.’ And I think that’s a powerful enough testament of saying that our product is our product and our product is received with open arms by many.”
With its 2024 season winding down, LIV Golf has only two events remaining. The Individual Championship will tee off next month in Chicago, followed by the Team Championship in Dallas. Fans can expect the 2025 schedule to be announced after this season wraps up.