LIV Golfer Claims Some PGA Tour Players Are ‘Bitter and Jealous’ They Didn’t Get Invited to LIV

LIV golfer Matt Jones claimed a handful of PGA Tour players were bitter and jealous they didn’t get an offer from the Saudi-backed tour.

Sure, there are plenty of players critical of LIV. In fact, it was a big storyline during The Masters earlier this month considering LIV star Brooks Koepka nearly won it all.

Jones said he talked with Rory McIlroy and others about the riff between both sides.

“I was on the tables in the therapy room with Rory [McIlroy] and [Billy] Horschel when my name come out during that tournament,” Jones explained to the Sydney Morning Herald. He detailed a moment from last year’s Memorial Tournament. “They were fine. They understand for a lot of guys, ‘Why wouldn’t you’? I don’t have the money and contracts those guys do. It made sense for me.”

That’s where Jones mentioned jealously and bitterness as far as PGA Tour players towards LIV.

“Not one person I know was being critical, they might have been a little upset or jealous,” Jones said. “I think there’s a lot of that. Maybe they didn’t get contacted or a chance to do it – and then they were bitter and jealous.”

Perhaps based on money, players could be bitter or jealous if they weren’t approached. But that hasn’t necessarily been the case, at least publicly.

Jim Nantz Takes Jab at LIV Golf TV Struggles

While Jones claimed LIV was selective in their process and others are jealous, CBS’ Jim Nantz poked fun at the tour.

Nantz called his 38th Masters at Augusta National Golf Club and took the opportunity well after Koepka’s tee shot on No. 15 landed on the crosswalk.

“And there he is, right on The CW…the crosswalk,” Nantz said.

LIV Golf, the Saudi-backed upstart circuit, is in its second season and airs on The CW. LIV Golf struggled to secure a television rights deal before landing on The CW, a channel hardly associated with sports. While viewership has been solid through three events compared to other programming on the network, it pales in comparison to PGA Tour events it has gone head-to-head with.

LIV Golf kicked off its second season at El Camaleón Mayakoba Golf Course in Mexico last month, recording a Saturday overnight rating of 0.2 on The CW. “World’s Funniest Animals,” which aired on The CW later in the day, garnered more viewers, per Golf Digest.

Despite trotting out a field consisting of past major winners in Cameron Smith, Dustin Johnson, Phil Mickelson and Koepka among others, LIV Golf failed to challenge the PGA Tour’s Honda Classic. The Honda Classic drew a 2.4 rating for Sunday’s Final Round featuring a generally weaker field.