It's probably fair to say Chris DiMarco's recent comments about hoping the PGA Tour Champions would be bought by LIV so that they could play for "real money" did not go down all that well among the general population of planet golf.
Many fans and some journalists either publicly or privately critcized the innocent bystander to Tiger Woods' famous Augusta chip-in for his words, arguing that the statement - if meant with sincerity - was ridiculous.
Speaking to the Subpar podcast with Colt Knost and Drew Stoltz about the influx of Saudi money in the sport - as well as the rivalry between the PGA Tour and LIV - the three-time PGA Tour winner and Masters runner-up had pointed out the gaping difference in prize money on the respective circuits.
DiMarco, who has picked up $22.7 million in career earnings, said that the purses on the PGA Tour Champions are "a joke" compared to their junior alternative and used the recent Players Championship - which had a $25m purse and saw Scottie Scheffler bag $4.5m - as a prime example.
On the podcast, Di Marco said: “Well, we’re kind of hoping that LIV buys the Champions Tour. Let’s play for a little real money out here.
"I mean, this is kind of a joke when we’re averaging two million. There were like seven guys last week from TPC that made more money than our purses.”
It turns out, according to another supporting member of a Tiger Woods Major masterclass performance, that he was in fact joking.
After seeing a good deal of criticism online and in various media spaces in the days since, Rocco Mediate - the runner-up in the 2008 US Open - leapt to DiMarco's defence on his own SiriusXM show - 'The Rocco Hour' - this Monday.
He said: “So Chrisy said that, and that is a complete — joking, like, yeah, I want the LIV tour to buy us so we can play for more money. He knows, we all know — are you kidding me? If we’re playing for any money at our age, we’re happy. So back off Chris. Back off him.
"He was joking around. It was hilarious. It’s never going to happen. And we’re happy, trust me on that. Chris DiMarco’s quite happy where he’s playing golf. I don’t want to hear any of this beating him up. Stop it. Just stop it. Please.”
"If we're playing for any money at our age, we're happy."Rocco Mediate's competed against Chris DiMarco for a long time. What did Rocco think about DiMarco's comments regarding LIV & PGA TOUR Champions?He gives his thoughts on The Rocco Hour.@ChrisDiMarco | @RoccoMediate pic.twitter.com/FH1BgDcEn8April 2, 2024
Mediate also shared that he had spoken to his fellow PGA Tour Champions contender in the days since his podcast aired, with DiMarco reiterating the initial comment was made in jest.
The six-time PGA Tour winner continued his defence of his friend by saying: “They’re not buying the Champions. They’re not even looking at our tour. Our tour is just fine the way it is. OK.
"We’re playing for 2 million bucks a week, good. We’re 100 years old. No problem. So everybody that’s busting his b***s, just stop it. Just stop it. Please. It’s called a joke. Deal with it. Next.”
