"Shame on you" Lorenzo-Vera urges players to speak out over "joke" LIV Golf

Mike Lorenzo-Vera has urged other DP World Tour "family members" to speak out over LIV Golf after Henrik Stenson decided to join the controversial series.

Ben Smith's picture
Thu, 21 Jul 2022
"Shame on you" Lorenzo-Vera urges players to speak out over "joke" LIV Golf

Mike Lorenzo-Vera has urged other DP World Tour players to speak out over the "joke" LIV Golf Invitational series after Henrik Stenson was stripped of the Ryder Cup captaincy because he signed for the Saudi-funded series. 

Stenson, 46, confirmed his long-assumed interest by announcing yesterday he will play for LIV and will make his debut at the third event of their inaugural eight-event season in Bedminster, New Jersey. 

The Swede will play alongside latest LIV Golf recruits Jason Kokrak and Charles Howell III, who has amassed more than $40million in earnings after playing more than 600 times on the PGA Tour. 

"It would be nice to hear from other players," posted the 37-year-old Frenchman. "Because @PepperellEddie and I, is not enough to show how much the @DP World Tour family stands against it."

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Pepperell has been one of the most vocal players in this enduring saga. Speaking this morning to Sky Sports, the Englishman said of Stenson's decision: "I'm not surprised at all. 

"They're [the Ryder Cup players who have joined LIV] are all stalwarts of this tour, they're stalwarts of the Ryder Cup and they've all gone. 

"You know, I'm not surprised. It's a shame and I think ... I hoped six months ago that none of this would happen. But it's happened. 

"And clearly, to a person, I think they all regard their own back pocket to a higher degree than anything else and that's fine. Say it. It's fine. There's not a problem with that. 

"But it's disappointing and I thought that the sport had more ... and the Ryder Cup had more monetary reward for playing a new tour that doesn't offer up much as far as I can tell, certainly competitively. 

"So, I'm not surprised but it is a shame."

He added: "The Ryder Cup will move beyond it. The Ryder Cup is bigger than any ... with all due respect to Henrik or Poulter or whoever it is, the Ryder Cup is a bigger entity and will always be a bigger entity than any individual. 

"I think it's important that we remember that."

The full field for the third LIV Golf event.

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