Brandel Chamblee Claims There Would Be 'Uproar On The PGA Tour' If LIV Golfers Were Allowed To Play Signature Events

At The Players Championship, Paul McGinley laid out his proposal for unity in golf whilst talking on the Golf Channel, with a deal between the PGA Tour and Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia still not nearing a conclusion.

The proposal contained many different ideas that would bring the circuits' top players together, and one of the suggestions included a certain number of LIV players earning spots in PGA Tour Signature Events.

We have seen LIV players earning invites and exemptions into Majors but, as of writing, those on the PIF-backed circuit are still banned from teeing it up in PGA Tour events.

Sat alongside McGinley, who was explaining his proposal on Tuesday at TPC Sawgrass, was Brandel Chamblee, who has voiced his dislike for LIV Golf since it appeared on our screens in 2022.

Speaking to his colleague, the former PGA Tour winner stated there would be an "uproar" on the circuit if LIV players were allowed to qualify for Signature Events, with Chamblee claiming that "LIV players have to earn their way back there."

He went on to add: "It's very difficult to judge how they're playing on a Tour with so few players with so little competition. Their results in Majors, last year, certainly bears that out.

"We remember what Bryson DeChambeau did but, if we look at the top 10 players on LIV, their average finish in a Major championship was about 43rd. It's not like they were setting the world on fire and, looking at the top 10 of the PGA Tour, they were substantially better than that.

"There's no real way to assess how competitive they are, so to grant them rights back into a Signature Event and Players Championship would not only be wrong, but cause an uproar on the PGA Tour. These guys stayed, they didn't leave, they didn't instigate the legal suits."

Chamblee's criticism of LIV didn't stop there, as the American then lambasted the team aspect of the League, claiming "there's absolutely no objective evidence, anywhere, that there is an appetite for team events."

One point of McGinley's included the fact that PGA Tour players should be granted access into LIV Golf's finale, with members of the circuit making up a few teams in the final event.

However, Chamblee shut down that idea too, stating "you're setting PGA Tour players up to fail asking them to play in something that is so widely unpopular.

"To suggest that PGA Tour players would go play team events. First off, you are asking them to do something they would not like to do and we can go down that road of players wanting to be paid to play the Ryder Cup... There's no other evidence that team events are wanted."

It's unclear as to how a PGA Tour/LIV Golf League schedule would look but, one idea that has been suggested is a more global golf tour.

Previously, Rory McIlroy has encouraged and praised the idea and, within the proposal, McGinley also suggested it was "an indirect way to get the best players together more around the world."

Chamblee, though, feels that the PGA Tour is already global, as he finished off the broadcast stating "the PGA Tour plays in Japan, it has played in China, they play in Canada, Mexico, England, Ireland, Scotland.

"Every single country on this earth that has golf has the opportunity to create a Tour, tournaments, purses that are so organically interesting that players, organically, will want to go play.

"The Korn Ferry Tour plays in Latin American and Australia. By my count, the PGA Tour could not be more global. Everybody wants to come here because the PGA Tour has the best courses, the most people who play golf here, the most corporate interest and it's all underpinned by philanthropy. That's why this Tour is so attractive.

"The PGA Tour has done more than its fair-share to spread goodwill and competition globally. It shouldn't fall on the PGA Tour to solve those problems."

Watch the exchange on Golf Channel below:

McGinley sees wins in unity proposal; Chamblee sees issues | Live From The Players | Golf Channel - YouTube

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