LIV Golf star burns DP World Tour with bold claim ahead of Hong Kong

Thomas Pieters has won six times on the DP World Tour, but he believes the standard of play on LIV Golf is "10 times better".

Andy Roberts

05 Mar 2024

LIV Golf star burns DP World Tour with bold claim ahead of Hong Kong

Thomas Pieters believes the standard of play is "10 times better" on LIV Golf than what he was used to playing on the DP World Tour.

Pieters, 32, joined Bubba Watson's RangeGoats GC in early 2023 for a reported fee of $10m.

Despite having fond memories of life on the former European Tour circuit, where he won six times from 2015 to 2022, the big-hitting Belgian admits there is no hiding place on LIV Golf simply because the standard of golf is vastly superior to that of the DP World Tour.

Related: Joost Luiten fires light-hearted dig at LIV Golf after hearing Thomas Pieters' bold claim

As it stands on the DP World Tour, the top 10 players not otherwise exempt earn PGA Tour cards for the following season through the DP World Tour standings.

That has seen the likes of Matthieu Pavon, Ryan Fox, Min Woo Lee, Thorbjorn Olesen and Bob MacIntyre all head over to the PGA Tour in 2024.

Pavon has already landed his maiden win on the PGA Tour and he currently leads the FedEx Cup.

LIV has this year picked up a number of PGA Tour and DP World Tour stars including Jon Rahm, Tyrrell Hatton and Adrian Meronk.

Pieters told Gulf News:

"Coming from the DP World Tour, the standard of golf is 10 times better than what I used to play.

"You can’t hide out here. As you can see from my results, I haven’t had the best year – if you’re average or have a bad week you’re going to finish last or in the last five which sucks, but that’s just the way it is.

"LIV is getting very strong."

Pieters is certainly right in that he has not enjoyed his best golf of late with just one top-10 finish during the 2023 season.

He has also not cracked a top-30 finish in three events so far in 2024.

Pieters admits some personal issues have interfered with his game, as well as the weather not being so great back home in his native Belgium.

On his recent struggles, Pieters said:

"Some personal stuff, not doing enough practice and having two young kids is not easy – they’re awesome but it’s very tiring!.

"I obviously don’t live in a country (Belgium) with the best weather so the winter has been tough and then I had to go and play in Mexico which is the tightest place on earth.

"It’s not great for the confidence but it is what it is. I don’t want to make excuses; it’s just not been great."

What do you make of Pieters' comments about the gulf in class between LIV Golf and DP World Tour? Share your thoughts and comments over on the GolfMagic social media channels.

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