Golfing great Jack Nicklaus has opened up on being approached by the LIV Golf Series after he was branded a 'hypocrite' by the breakaway circuit's CEO Greg Norman. Earlier this year, Norman slammed Nicklaus after the American rubbished any claims that he was to work with LIV Golf.
In May, Nicklaus confirmed that he had been approached by the Saudi-backed series to become LIV's CEO with an offer in excess of $100million (£89million), but turned down the offer twice due to his loyalties with the PGA Tour. Eventual chief executive Norman though hit out at the 82-year-old, insisting he did in fact attend a LIV presentation and gave the circuit his blessing.
Four months on from Norman's criticism, Nicklaus has once again opened up on the breakaway circuit and believes it has forced the PGA Tour to play its hand by revamping its schedule and prize money.
He said: "I'm not sure what to make of it yet. I think the tour was going to get there, but the LIV thing pushed them. That's pretty obvious." Despite being loyal to the PGA Tour, the 18-time major champion has his concerns with the American-based circuit's plans.
Tour boss Jay Monahan revealed in August that a whole host of tournaments were set to receive 'elevated event status' in 2023, but Nicklaus fears these may cause a tiering system.
He went on: "What it's done is made the PGA Tour almost two tiers. All of a sudden the other tournaments become feeders."
Nicklaus himself will benefit from the his host tournament the Memorial one of the events receiving the elevated status. The 82-year-old also works closely with the Honda Classic, and is hoping the Florida event can also receive some support from the Tour after often being surrounded by some of the season's biggest events.
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"It's been in a tough spot for the last four to five years sitting there between L.A. [Genesis Invitational] and Bay Hill [Arnold Palmer Invitational]," he added. "I think they'd like to get out of that spot.
"Since we're beneficiaries, I've had some reasonable talk with Jay about it. I've got a few ideas we're exploring. We're trying to figure out a way to move the date and make it more significant."
