LIV Golf star Graeme McDowell has pointed the finger at the likes of Rory McIlroy and Scottie Scheffler for the ongoing rift splitting the sport’s biggest names. The Northern Irishman has attracted criticism for suggesting he joined the Saudi-backed circuit simply trying to “eke out a living.”
Golf has traditionally been a sport that rewards its elite performers very generously. But LIV Golf raised the stakes considerably when it burst onto the scene in 2022, offering even more lucrative deals to those willing to walk away from the PGA Tour and DP World Tour. McDowell, 46, was among those who made the switch, resulting in years of bitter infighting amongst the sport’s leading figures. Yet McDowell attempted to shift responsibility away from himself, instead directing blame towards golf’s headline acts.
“People will say I don’t deserve it and I’m responsible for a lot of what’s happened,” he said during a recent interview with Bunkered, where he also outlined his desire to captain Team Europe at the Ryder Cup. “But I’m a very, very small cog in this big wheel.
“The divisiveness has come from the best players in the world. It hasn’t came from the 40-somethings like myself that are just trying to eke out a living and staying competitive on an opportunity that was presented to us, which would have been crazy to say no to from a business point of view.”
The notion that McDowell is merely “eking out a living” competing on the Saudi-backed circuit will strike many as absurd. The 2010 US Open champion is understood to boast a total net worth of around £30million, with approximately one-third of that accumulated through his LIV Golf earnings over the past three years.
“I’m not sure G-Mac’s version of ‘eke out a living’ would square with most other people’s,” wrote one fan in response to McDowell’s statement. Another social media user questioned: “Was he being serious when he said ‘trying to eke out a living?'”
A third critic quipped: “Yeah feel bad for that poor lad and his $40m net worth, that’s really ekeing out a living. If he does start a GoFundMe count me in!”
McIlroy, 36, has previously been among the most outspoken opponents of those who defected to LIV. Nevertheless, his position appears to have mellowed substantially in recent times.
Scheffler, 29, hasn’t been quite as forthright in his disapproval, although he has suggested those who departed for LIV bear responsibility for any divisions. When questioned about negotiations for a potential merger between the PGA Tour and LiV earlier this year, Scheffler indicated people would need to “ask those guys [in LIV]” why the sport has been divided.
Tensions have existed between McDowell and McIlroy, who have claimed four Ryder Cup victories as teammates, and the former’s move to LIV risked damaging that bond. Nevertheless, ‘G-Mac’ has previously maintained that relations between himself and his countryman remain cordial.
“Myself, Rory and Shane [Lowry] are very close and remain very close and have done through this process,” he said in 2023. “I haven’t seen the guys so that’s the problem because of the way the schedules are.
“I’ve been in one part of the world but remain in contact, always looking out for them and always pulling for both of them and I think the same from their side as well.”
