World No.1557 explains fiery PGA Tour letter: "I could whip anybody's ass"
Robert Garrigus has explained why calling Rory McIlroy wasn't an option as several PGA Tour pros have demanded answers over the PIF negotiations.
Only the most ardent PGA Tour fans who have kept themselves abreast of their battle with LIV Golf might be familiar with the name Robert Garrigus.
If you didn't know, Garrigus was the first Tour member to request a tournament release from the North American circuit to play in LIV's maiden event just outside of London in June 2022.
The player wasn't happy with the news being made public and, to all intents and purposes, his name appeared to have been leaked to the media by a Tour official.
At the time, his request to play in the first breakaway tour event led to headlines relating to his official world golf ranking. He was the World No. 1043. He's since fallen to 1557.
Garrigus later explained he 'fell on his sword' when he didn't even intend to.
At the very least, he thought it gave LIV Golf chief executive Greg Norman an incentive to put him in the field given he was willing to be first to dive into the pool.
Norman didn't, and Garrigus continued his PGA Tour career.
Why we are talking about Garrigus again is because he was one of several PGA Tour members who recently wrote to the policy board demanding answers on the circuit's negotiations with private equity partners.
One of those players, Wesley Bryan, has since taken his name off the list after his older brother George intervened.
Garrigus explained his stance on Sirius XM PGA Tour radio.
He said calling Rory McIlroy wasn't an option.
The 46-year-old explained: "You think Rory wanted to take my call and hear me bitch for 25 minutes?!
"There is no voice from the lower half of the membership and that's more than the top players.
"There are more lower guys than there are top guys in the world.
"It's warranted that we want a voice, but going about it with a letter from a lawyer is a bit bush league because it's not going to matter regardless of what we say.
"The fact we have to go about it that way is the problem."
Garrigus' comments come as the Tour recently confirmed they had narrowed down the list of potential investors.
The Tour also said negotiations would continue with LIV's financiers, the PIF of Saudi Arabia.
There have been rumours policy board members, which includes the likes of Patrick Cantlay, Tiger Woods and Jordan Spieth, are driving negotiations in way that would only benefit the top, top players.
Legendary golfer Jack Nicklaus has previously expressed reservations about the Tour he helped build being split into two tiers.
Garrigus claimed players of his stature have been ignored for far too long.
He explained: "There's 200 some people on the PGA Tour… but on any given week I could whoop anybody's ass, period.
"Every single one of those guys who has a voice and made $5m in their career, could win next week.
"It may not happen because we don't get as many chances, but it could still happen.
"The fact that all of us are sitting on the sidelines and have been for a very long time just because of the way the tour is run, is disconcerting."
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