Graeme McDowell has conceded that financial motivations were a major factor in his decision to join LIV Golf.
The Northern Irishman has been with the circuit since its first tournament in 2022.
At the time, many critics argued that, despite a familiar narrative that players were heading to the circuit primarily to “grow the game,” the lucrative contracts they were given, as well as huge prize money, were the real drivers behind their decisions.
McDowell spoke to Sports Illustrated amid the uncertainty over LIV Golf’s future following the Saudi Public Investment Fund’s decision to withdraw its funding at the end of the 2026 season.
Ahead of the seventh tournament of the schedule, LIV Golf Virginia, he explained how the move had come about, saying: “I was ready to jump ship and go get a real job and then these guys came along and said, ‘hey, we’re going to do this tour. Do you want to come play?’ I love playing. I love competing.”
During his press conference before the first event, LIV Golf London, there was controversy when McDowell said: "If Saudi Arabia want to use the game of golf as a way for them to get to where they want to be, I think we're proud to help them on that journey."
McDowell admitted he wished he hadn't made the comment, saying: “I regret a few things I said in the beginning, stuff like growing the game," echoing thoughts he gave to John Huggan's The Thing About Golf Podcast in 2023.
McDowell was 42 when he joined LIV Golf, and he revealed the financial incentive was just as compelling as the opportunity to extend his playing career.
“I should have just said it for what it was: this is good for my bank account, and I’m getting a runway to play the game of golf for as long as I possibly can.”
It wasn’t just the huge sums of money players received for joining LIV Golf that proved controversial - it was also the source of the funding.
Despite the current uncertainty, McDowell believes it could offer an opportunity to shift the narrative on that issue.
He said: “I don’t think we could have ever imagined how deep this would go. The hatred. It’s funny, but if we can shift the narrative away from Saudi Arabia and bring some US money and get rid of that narrative ... because that narrative is just nasty.”
It’s not just LIV Golf’s image that McDowell believes could benefit from the ending of the PIF’s backing. He also thinks it gives it the chance to become more realistic as a going concern.
He explained: “I think we all knew that we were going to have to stand on our own two feet at some point to be able to make this into a legitimate business.
“When you’ve kind of got the type of cash that we had in the beginning for a startup company, it was a little crazy and maybe not very real.
“It’s kind of like we’re turning 18 now. I’m going to go into the real world. We got to fend for ourselves a little bit. We try to make this into a legit business.”
