The majors have differences though. The two Opens are, by definition, open. But the Masters is an invitational. What do you see happening?

They are going to be ‘must-see’ TV. They will be the only places where you can see all of the best players competing against each other.

So, no change as far as they are concerned?

They may end up making some new rules. But I think it is extremely unlikely that the Masters will not invite past champions who have gone to LIV. Then, if you win at Augusta, you are in the next three majors regardless of where you are coming from.

I laugh when I hear pros say they play for trophies, not money. Or that they play for honour and integrity. Or history. If that is the case, why the hell did they turn pro?

You can qualify for the Masters through the U.S Amateur or the (British) Amateur. You can win the Masters as an amateur, albeit that is unlikely. Now you are into the other majors. You can play as an amateur if that is what you want to do.

Rock concerts are just part of the attraction LIV Golf is banking on for its success. PHOTO: Getty Images.

Okay, specifically, what do you think the majors will come up with?

it is time to re-evaluate the rankings as they currently exist. And to do that, you need to understand how and why they began. The people on the board of the OWGR are tied to the PGA Tour, the European Tour and the four majors. They are in direct conflict with the LIV Tour. And they are deciding whether or not the LIV Tour can get points. That doesn’t strike me as a very fair scenario for the LIV Tour.

It was hysterical when, after arguing that 54-hole events and a shotgun start is not ‘real golf,’ we saw the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth reduced to 54-holes and, a couple of weeks later, the Dunhill Links was forced to employ a shotgun start. You couldn’t make it up.

What do you make of the LIV Golf format?

I go back to my view that we need a new way of televising golf employing four or five channels. In other words, offering what people want. The LIV Golf format is not for everyone. But because it isn’t, doesn’t mean it is for no one. It doesn’t mean it is corrupt. It doesn’t mean it isn’t competition.

I find it intriguing. I’ve always wanted to see fewer players participating in the elite events. I always wanted to have 72-players in a PGA Tour every week.

And this business about no cut? No one seems to study history any more. I see Byron Nelson’s cut-streak cited all the time. But they didn’t have cuts back then. Everyone played every round almost every week. What was defined as ‘making the cut’ was getting a cheque. They only paid so many spots.

So, Byron finished in the money x-weeks in a row. He didn’t make a cut. That’s new terminology. Cuts only exist because of the excessive number of players they have to get round over four days. But the guys who ‘miss the cut’ contribute to the product for two days. So, they deserve to be paid.

There is some logic to that. They are professionals so they should be paid.

Exactly. Especially when luck can be a big factor. Every year at the Open Championship players worry about what side of the draw they are going to be on. There’s nearly always a good and bad side Thursday and Friday. A shotgun start eliminates that. So, I don’t have a problem with it.

It can never be completely ‘fair’ though. Take Sawgrass. Starting on the 18th tee there is a lot harder than starting on the first.

I know. I’m not sure how LIV are doing it. But here’s an idea. They have 48-players in their fields. So, they could have the 46th, 47th and 48th ranked players starting on the hardest hole. That’s the penalty for being at the bottom of the pile. 1-2 and 3 get to start on the easiest hole.

It still isn’t fair though. It can never be fair.

No. But it is fairer when everyone is on the course at the same time playing in the same conditions. Weather variations are way more influential than course design.

Take the 18th at Sawgrass. A bogey there is never a terrible score. So, while it can never be really fair, I don’t want it to be fair.

There is a lot of bad feeling around the globe towards the PGA Tour. Their perceived insularity and selfishness has made life difficult for every other Tour around the world. The Australasian Tour, for example, has been all but destroyed. 

That is 100 percent correct. Australia and Australian golf has been obliterated. I find it interesting that the players who have been most vocal about a World Tour are both Australian.

When the PGA Tour says it is ‘partnering’ with, say, the European Tour, I roll my eyes. They’re not. They are raping and pillaging the village. They are going to take the top-ten players on the European money-list every year and give them exemptions onto the PGA Tour. Who does that help? Not the European Tour.

Every Tour that can’t match the PGA Tour financially is going to be ‘relegated’ every year. Being a partner with the PGA Tour is …. I’m going to go off the record but you can imagine what I think. I find it incomprehensible that people can’t get together and sort out this stuff. I put the blame for that on Jay Monahan and Keith Pelley and on Greg Norman. They all need to stop their temper tantrums and do what is best for the professional game.

What did you make of the European Tour’s decision to go into an alliance with the PGA Tour rather than the Saudis? They had that option.

I have no insight into the inner working of all that. But I have to think it came about after pressure from the PGA Tour and the European Tour complied.

RIGHT: Tour chiefs Jay Monahan (left) and Ketih Pelley need to do what is best for the game. PHOTO: Getty Images. 

I know a lot of European players would rather have gone with the Saudi money.

Correct. I’m sure there was a pressure campaign about the source of the money that would make the European Tour look bad. But the Saudis are in soccer. They are in Formula One. They are all over and they will continue to be. So, you have to be realistic. I find it hard to believe Pelley keeps his job when all of the information when we hear about all the options he had. And it’s going to be interesting to see if Monahan keeps his job if he doesn’t eventually come to the table.

If you were a European Tour player when that was all on the table, what would you have voted for?

My initial reaction would have been to say we had two options. We could dissolve the PGA Tour and the European Tour to form a World Tour, one where everyone was equal but there was a system of promotion and relegation between the elite tour and the secondary circuit.

So, either I am going to be part of that as an equal partner, or I am going to take the Saudi money and fight like hell against the PGA Tour.

What I am not going to be is the PGA Tour’s little brother. That is the worst of all the available options.

– Interview by John Huggan