The war between the PGA Tour and LIV Golf has been well documented over the past 12 months, with the Tour banning those who jumped ship to LIV from appearing in their tournaments.
It's obviously caused quite a stir, and now, at the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play, yet more controversy has reared its head when, during the live broadcast on Saturday, a list of past winners of the tournament didn't include Dustin Johnson, Bubba Watson and Ian Poulter, players who were previously on the PGA Tour circuit, but now ply their trade in the LIV Golf League.
How pathetic is this? Seriously - they leave out two of the years to avoid listing certain names.The PGAT are rewriting their OWN history. It helps no one, the pettiness turns people off!@montypro @flushingitgolf @NotDrJ @HankHaney @Luke_Elvy @MaddenMonopoly @PhilMickelson pic.twitter.com/Kfcb2PYmSsMarch 25, 2023
In the graphic, we see all the winners from 2011 to 2022 but, if you look closely, you can see that 2010, 2017 and 2018 are missing, years when Poulter, Johnson and Watson secured their WGC victories.
Obviously the tweet caused a huge stir on social media, with many from the golf world voicing their distain at the players being left out. One of the individuals was former Major winner, Steve Elkington, who simply stated: "Wonder why they’re doing this… Showing the players' names who won doesn’t affect anything… does it?"
Former coach to Tiger Woods, Hank Haney, was somewhat more blunt with his response, with the 67-year-old calling it "pathetic but not the least bit surprising." It was also a similar story for Greg Norman Jr, the son of LIV Golf CEO, Greg Norman, who tweeted: "Wow. Do they really not realize that these types of moves are actually counter productive to their intended goals by producing the opposite effect of generating more engagement and discussion for LIV and these omitted champions?"
Pathetic but not the least bit surprising https://t.co/sudUyyfYKdMarch 26, 2023
I think it is ridiculous https://t.co/1mPUJkHES6March 26, 2023
Other people who responded to the news included Telegraph Sport's golf correspondent, James Corrigan, who tweeted: "I think it's ridiculous," whilst many others called the graphic "petty."
Despite this, there is indeed a golf tournament going on and, we must say, the standard of golf on show has been superb. In the standout Quarter Final match on Saturday afternoon, Rory McIlroy overcame Xander Schauffele on the very last hole, with McIlroy posting a 62 and 64 on Saturday to move into the Semi Finals.
Along with the four-time Major winner, World No.1 Scottie Scheffler made it through day four as he looks to defend his title, whilst Cameron Young and Sam Burns continue their rise up the Rankings, with the American duo both getting over the line to make the Semi Finals for the first time in their careers.
