LIV Golf pros react at The Masters to losing arbitration: "We had it coming!"

Sergio Garcia, Thomas Pieters and Patrick Reed were asked after their first round of the 2023 Masters about LIV Golf losing their arbitration case.

Ben Smith

06 Apr 2023

LIV Golf pros react at The Masters to losing arbitration: "We had it coming!" — LIV Golf pros react at The Masters to losing arbitration: "We had it…

LIV Golf pros found out at the 2023 Masters they had committed 'serious breaches' by leaving the DP World Tour to play in the inaugural breakaway tour event.

A panel ruled on Thursday that 12 professional golfers who were refused releases from the old world circuit would have to pay the £100,000 fines originally imposed last June within 30 days.

Sports Resolutions UK said in their determination that DP World Tour boss Keith Pelley 'acted entirely reasonably in refusing releases."

The decision will no doubt have profound implications for the landscape of men's professional golf, particularly the Ryder Cup.

This decision appears to bring to an end the glittering Ryder Cup careers of Ian Poulter, Lee Westwood, Sergio Garcia and Graeme McDowell.

Paul McGinley said the day was 'tinged with sadness'.

Garcia and fellow LIV players Thomas Pieters and Patrick Reed were asked about the decision immediately after they had played their opening rounds at Augusta National.

LIV Golf pros react at The Masters to losing arbitration:

The Spaniard said he had not read the news, adding:

"How can I talk about something I don't know? Obviously I don't look at the news. So I don't know what happened. I'm not going to talk about something without all the information that I need. I don't want to get into --"

Garcia said 'we'll see' when asked if he would like to play in any DP World Tour event this year.

Reed also said he wasn't aware of the news, adding: "I was going to look at that and deal with all that after this week. My main focus this week is on this tournament."

But he fired this response when asked if it made him laugh that some people believe LIV players can't compete:

"Yeah, it does. Last time I checked, I'm the one with the green jacket."

Pieters appeared more at peace. The Belgian, who is said to have penned a $10m deal with LIV, said he would love to play his home Open.

He said:

"It is what it is. We had it coming. It's just part of the deal, I guess."

England's Poulter and Westwood were among the 12 players appealing against punishments the tour wanted to impose for playing in the first LIV event at the Centurion Club in Hertfordshire in June.

They were suspended from the Scottish Open and two events in the US and fined for failing to abide by the tour's refusal of to grant waivers.

The players argued that they were independent contractors and had not been prevented from playing on rival circuits such as the PGA Tour in the past.

The DP World Tour objected, saying the players competing in simultaneous events on the LIV tour was damaging to its business.

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