Lee Trevino on LIV Golf: "The sails are going to break on that ship"
Lee Trevino is not surprised that players from the PGA Tour are accepting large sums to move to LIV Golf, but the six-time major champion doesn't believe it will last.
Six-time major champion and PGA Tour legend Lee Trevino doesn't see the LIV Golf Invitational Series going anywhere despite throwing billions of dollars at the players.
Speaking to the New Breed of Golf with Michael Breed show on SiriusXM, Trevino admitted he hadn't given it much thought, but he also didn't give the Saudi-backed series a future in the game.
The Merry Mex graced our screens during The 150th Open Championship last week. He played in the Celebration of Champions competition with strong PGA Tour advocates Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy.
Trevino identified the importance of maintaining sponsors which contribute to the PGA Tour product. It was revealed last week that the Department of Justice is investigating the tour to determine if it "engaged in anti-competitive behaviour" in its decision to ban LIV Golf players.
"Well, it’s not surprising, as much money as they’re paying them. These players are looking after their families. They’re getting a tremendous amount of money just to jump over," said the 82-year-old.
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"I haven’t paid too much attention to it. I knew that it was coming. You can’t control that. There’s no possible way you control it. You know what we do? We just sail our ship the way we are sailing our ship and eventually the sails, I think, are going to break on that ship.
"I mean, they paid a billion dollars for talent. I mean, come on. I was trying to figure it out in my head the other day. They probably paid a billion dollars for talent, right. I mean, that’s what they did. What did they pay Mickelson? I just heard numbers.
"I mean, he’s 52 years old. Does he have to play until he’s 90 or what? I don’t know. That’s a lot of money. And you can set your whole family up with that.
"To tell you the truth, I haven’t given it much thought because I don’t think it’ll last. I really don’t. I don’t think it’ll last. I think that - it takes a lot of organisation to run this tour.
"I mean, this thing just didn’t all of a sudden just jump, pop out. We’ve been doing this for 54 years, once we got away from the PGA. So yeah, it’s not easy. It’s not easy. But I don’t think it’s going to go any place."
Trevino sounded very confident that the PGA Tour will keep its place at the top of the pile, despite the LIV Golf Series acquiring the likes of Phil Mickelson, Dustin Johnson, Brooks Koepka and Bryson DeChambeau.
Each week, we learn more and more about the Saudi-backed series such as new player recruits and future intentions. It has been reported that the series could extend to 14 events in 2023, a development which wasn't expected until 2024.
Shockwaves were sent across Europe this week when commissioner Greg Norman sealed the signature of Team Europe Ryder Cup captain Henrik Stenson.
The breakaway league has no boundaries to what they will do to reach their goals and this could challenge Trevino's confidence in the PGA Tour in the near future.
