James Hahn caught the headlines last week when he went on a full-blown rant about the proposed changes to the PGA Tour.
In an extraordinary interview with Golfweek, Hahn called out the elite pros for what he perceived was full-blown hypocrisy.
Hahn believes shrinking the fields to 70-78 players in the 2024 elevated events will only serve one purpose: make the rich extraordinarily richer.
In other words, the fact there guaranteed money on offer for the likes of Rory McIlroy et al is exactly the same criticism levelled at LIV Golf pros.
Related: LIV Golf exploited a weakness, says Rory
The 41-year-old pro said he "hated" the new model, adding:
"I'm gonna say exactly what 99.99 percent of fans said about players leaving for the LIV tour. If our players just said, 'We're doing this for the money,' I would have a lot more respect for them."
Full marks for honesty!
His comments, understandably so, attracted a large and interesting response. He was praised and also goaded.
On Monday, Hahn described the amount of "smoke" he has been getting in response to his comments as "disgusting".
He is also in the field for the forthcoming Players Championship and believes things won't go well because of persistent neck injury.
Hahn said he just wants to make it through the week but is already anticipating some hate 'when' he doesn't play well.
Related: James Hahn calls out fan...for eating too loudly
In his latest post, Hahn wrote:
"The world we live in is crazy. Sometimes it doesn't make sense. The amount of smoke I'm getting, especially from golf writers, bloggers [and] podcasters just for giving my opinion is disgusting.
"Let's face it. I'm 41, and my best years are behind me. But I'm trying to leave this game better for those that follow behind.
"My opinions poke holes in the process and the new structure to see if there are ways to improve for the future.
"I'm often wrong and that's okay. I want to help the PGA Tour be better for everyone, including the elites.
"So as I sit here getting ready for the Players Championship, not having practiced much because of a neck injury, I can only imagine the amount of hate I will receive for playing poorly.
"I could care less. The only thing that matters to me this week is that I finish.
"And when a kid, who might be at a golf tournament, I'll sign a ball or glove, tell them I'm not
Collin Morikawa and hope that one day they too will stick up for their friends and take the road less travelled.
"Peace and love everyone."
What did Hahn say?
On the changes Hahn said:
"I'm gonna say exactly what 99.99 percent of fans said about players leaving for the LIV tour. If our players just said, 'We're doing this for the money,' I would have a lot more respect for them. But how they're covering up what they're doing and trying to make it a thing about sponsors and fans and saving opposite-field events. I think that's all BS."
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On what will happen, he said:
"They have created these elevated events where it significantly impacts other full-field events sandwiched in between full-field events. The solution to their problem is to limit the number of players that get into elevated events to force the other players to play in the other full-field non-elevated events.
"To me, it's a road that we have to be very careful on because going to back our mission and our purpose is to be able to create the best playing opportunities for our membership and be able to contribute and donate back to the communities and the charities that we play in.
"It seems like the major theme over these past few years has been how do we get the most money to the most popular players on our Tour?
"I use the word popular instead of best players because, granted that
Tiger is one of the best players to ever have played this game, but he just won the PIP money two years running without really playing golf, without being ranked in the top 1,000 and without keeping his card."
He continued:
"I never would have imagined growing up that someone could make more money just for being popular than for how good they are on the course.
"And I say that as one who believes pay that man for bringing our tour to where it is today and I'm not saying he doesn't deserve it but what are we doing as a business, as a company, what are we doing?
"We're not spending money to provide the best playing experience for our members; all we're concerned with is just pushing money to the top players on our Tour.
"That's where we are getting a great divide between the elevated events and non-elevated events and the players who play those two different tours."
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Next page: Nine players who changed their mind about LIV Golf
