"It's so petty!" Golf Channel BURNS LIV Golf pros during WGC Match Play coverage
Golf Channel wipes off former winners of WGC Match Play who now play on LIV Golf, and it's ruffled a few feathers on social media.
Golf fans are up in arms after Golf Channel wiped the names of Dustin Johnson and Bubba Watson off a 'Past Champions' graphic during their fourth-round broadcast of the WGC Match Play at Austin Country Club.
The graphic listed winners from 2011 all the way through to 2022 (the tournament in 2020 was cancelled due to the Covid pandemic).
But there were two years conveniently missing, years when Watson (2017) and Johnson (2018) won the WGC Match Play.
Had the graphic been extended further, we are fairly confident there would have been no place for 2007 (Henrik Stenson) or 2010 (Ian Poulter), either.
Petty or fair? What do you reckon?
Taking a look on social media, and it would seem many ardent golf fans aren't too happy with Golf Channel's decision to scrub the names of Johnson and Watson from their latest 'past winners' graphic.
Golf Lover UK brought it to attention:
How pathetic is this? Seriously - they leave out two of the years to avoid listing certain names.
The PGAT are rewriting their OWN history. It helps no one, the pettiness turns people off!@montypro @flushingitgolf @NotDrJ @HankHaney @Luke_Elvy @MaddenMonopoly @PhilMickelson pic.twitter.com/Kfcb2PYmSs
— Golf Lover UK (@GolfloverUK) March 25, 2023
The graphic certainly ruffled plenty of feathers, at least looking through the plethora of replies to Golf Lover UK's post.
Former US PGA champion Steve Elkington wasn't impressed as he tweeted: "Wonder why they’re doing this… Showing the players names who won doesn’t effect anything… does it?"
Telegraph Sport's golf correspondent James Corrigan tweeted: "I think it's ridiculous."
I think it is ridiculous https://t.co/1mPUJkHES6
— James Corrigan (no blue tick) (@jcorrigangolf) March 26, 2023
One golf fan tweeted: "I’m just a fan. Wanting to watch when I can watch. Pettiness like this makes me want to choose a side..."
Another wrote: "That is unbelievably petty. Just list them all for goodness sake, nobody is going to turn off for having seen a LIV Golf player's name on the screen. We don't care."
"This is savage," commented another.
One golf fan wrote: "I can understand why they wouldn’t use them in any promo content, but this is pretty ridiculous."
The popular Flushing It account on Twitter wrote: "Just saw that. It’s just pathetic now.. Angel Cabrera is literally in prison but they won’t remove his name from the Masters champion’s list."
Thankfully the golf itself delivered on day four with some incredible last 16 and quarter-final matches.
Scottie Scheffler, Rory McIlroy, Cameron Young and Sam Burns played lights out to book their semi-final spots on Sunday.
Scheffler now faces his good friend Burns, while McIlroy meets Young.
The final will be staged on Sunday afternoon, with a third and fourth place playoff taking place just before the final.
What do you make of Golf Channel wiping LIV Golf players off a 'Past Winners' graphic during the coverage? Is it petty or is it fair? Share your thoughts and comments over on the GolfMagic social media channels.
