sport news LIV Golf stars should be able to play the Majors, insists Padraig Harrington trends now
Padraig Harrington says LIV players should be allowed to participate in the same majors as their PGA counterparts ahead of the BMW PGA Championship, where contestants from both golf leagues will clash on September 8.
The two-time Open champion, 51, said he would be against LIV golfers collecting world-ranking points at tournaments other than the DP World Tour's flagship event at Wentworth.
He also compared the current polarization of golf between LIV and PGA circuits with cricket's Indian Premier League, which was founded in 2007. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and the International Cricket Council (ICC) did not give recognition to the domestic league.
Furthermore, the BBCI attempted to squash the rival outfit by increasing the prize money in domestic tournaments and imposing bans on players joining the then-new league.
'In the end the IPL became the mainstream,' Harrington told The Times, suggesting a similar outcome to the LIV circuit.
Padraig Harrington, 51, said he wants the best LIV players to be able to play at the Majors
The Irishman added that the issue of qualifying points needs to be resolved ahead of the start of the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth on September 8
The 2008 PGA Championships winner went on to confess that he has 'a lot of friends who have gone to LIV,' and that he doesn't want to 'throw them under the bus.'
'Nobody is paying me to support LIV and the PGA is my bread and butter,' he further clarified. 'This is the first time I've done an interview where I didn't want to. I've been procrastinating about it, putting it off. Why? Because an opinion now can be taken as dissent. It's an awkward time. It's so volatile.'
Unlike Harrington, other influential figures in golf, including CEO of The R&A Martin Slumbers and USGA's CEO Mike Whan, have sided with the PGA
