LIV Golf pro throws Jay Monahan, Keith Pelley under the bus! "They need to go"

England's Richard Bland, who plays in LIV Golf events, has called on PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan and DP World Tour chief exec Keith Pelley to resign.

Ben Smith

17 Aug 2023

LIV Golf pro throws Jay Monahan, Keith Pelley under the bus! "They need to go" — LIV Golf pro throws Jay Monahan, Keith Pelley under the bus! "They need to…

Richard Bland, who plays in LIV Golf events, has called on PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan and his European counterpart Keith Pelley to resign.

In sensational comments to bunkered's Ben Parsons, the Englishman has claimed both Monahan and Pelley's positions are now 'untenable'.

Bland has made absolutely no secret of his disdain for Pelley, having previously lambasted the chief exec.

The 50-year-old was in the field for the breakaway tour's maiden event at Centurion Club just outside of London last June.

It was a decision that saw Bland and the LIV 'rebels' fined and suspended by the European-based tour.

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Those fines and suspensions were later upheld by a UK sports arbitration panel, prompting Bland's resignation from the tour of which he has played more than 500 events.

Last August, Bland exposed what was described by golf fans as a 'shock confession' from Pelley.

"I had two or three meetings with Keith Pelley, our CEO," Bland previously said.

"And he said to me [when] we were at the Belfry at the British Masters, 'If I was in your position I'd do exactly the same as you're going to do.'"

Pelley later slammed LIV Golf players publicly, saying those that teed it up at Centurion without tournament releases had 'disrespected our tour' and the 'meritocratic ecosystem of professional golf that has been the bedrock of our game for the past half a century'.

| Under fire PGA Tour boss Jay Monahan has sent a bombshell memo to players about the future LIV Golf defectors. pic.twitter.com/7pxDKAwgQn
— GolfMagic (@GolfMagic) July 27, 2023

Now Bland has called on Monahan and Pelley to resign in light of the 'framework agreement' that was announced on 6 June.

He told bunkered Jay and Keith both need to go, adding:

"From what they've said over the last 12 months and then doing the deal, I don't see how they can lead the tours in that direction when they were so critical of what PIF and what LIV were doing.

"I think for Jay to still be in his position is quite strange with what he's said a few times. Some of the big players have turned down huge offers.

"He's weakened his position and players will be calling for an awful lot more transparency because no one knew about this at all."

LIV Golf pro throws Jay Monahan, Keith Pelley under the bus!

Pelley has not spoken publicly since the agreement was announced.

According to a spat between Lee Westwood and Eddie Pepperell earlier in the week, the DP World Tour membership is yet to be updated on the status of the negotiations between all the parties.

That came after the DP World Tour announced their 2024 schedule.

Bland told bunkered he became disillusioned with Pelley's motives long before he bolted to LIV.

He continued:

"Regardless of LIV I wasn't a fan of where Keith was taking the tour by trying to partner up with the PGA Tour. I didn't understand that. In a month's time we're trying to play the Ryder Cup against them and now we're in bed with them.

"I emailed Keith about this – I said I remember when you first came into the job and you gave your first player address. You pretty much stood up there and said the PGA Tour was a rival tour, a hostile tour and we're trying to compete with them.

"Now we're best friends with them and I wasn't a huge fan of that. We were just happy to give our best players and that just makes the tour weaker."

Bland's is referring to the fact that the top-10 players in the Race to Dubai Rankings will receive PGA Tour cards in 2024.

It has led to accusations that the Old World circuit is nothing more than a feeder tour.

German Yannik Paul, a European Ryder Cup hopeful, raised eyebrows when he decided to skip the ISPS Handa World Invitational.

His agent told Telegraph Sport he was targeting a PGA Tour card.