Ernie Els Disappointed South African LIV Players Didn’t Seek His Opinion

Ernie Els has expressed his disappointment that South African LIV Golf players didn’t seek his opinion before signing for the circuit.

Speaking at last week’s Chubb Classic on the PGA Tour Champions, Els admitted to the Palm Beach Post that there was no animosity between him and the likes of Branden Grace, Charl Schwartzel and Louis Oosthuizen, but said: “We’ve lost that camaraderie, definitely. I’m still friends with them but it’s different.”

Four-time Major winner Els is not only a mentor to many South African players, but also a friend, and he explained he was unhappy players didn't approach him before making the leap to the big-money organisation. He said: “I was disappointed they never asked me my opinion. I had them in the foundation [in South Africa], looked after them as youngsters. They flew with me, they stayed at my house. Kind of nurtured them to get onto the PGA Tour. It just was done in a way I didn’t like.”

Despite that, Els said he could understand the appeal of signing for LIV Golf. He said: “As an international player and living in South Africa, it’s tough to come over here, your family, upend your whole household to join the PGA Tour. So I get that. But for me, no.”

Els also admitted that he was unimpressed with the way that LIV had disrupted the top of the game. He explained: “They have gone about it the wrong way and they’ve really upended a lot of good the game stands for. The whole thing just doesn’t sit right.”

Els explained that he’d also met with officials from LIV Golf before it launched, but that his proposal for it to partner with the PGA Tour, DP World Tour and PGA Tour Champions fell on deaf ears. Els said he told them: “We can play around the world and play team golf and get some television network that will buy it and come back to your respective tours and get on with life."

While that suggestion never went any further, Els insisted the idea was worth considering, saying: “I think that would have been a cool way… they didn’t see it that way and they basically showed me the door early on.”

One of the most high-stakes battles LIV Golf is currently involved in is the fight to gain eligibility for Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR) points in its events. Attempts to secure eligibility have included forming a strategic alliance with the developmental MENA Tour and 50 of its players signing a letter addressed to OWGR chairman Peter Dawson stating its case for approval. So far, nothing it has tried has found a breakthrough, and Els thinks he knows why.

He said: “There is no way you can give ranking points. They’re playing team golf. They say it’s all about team golf. How in the hell can you give that any serious consideration? It’s not a stroke-play event, you’re playing a team event with 48 players. There is no way they can get ranking points.”

The 12 team line-ups for the opening tournament of the season, have now been confirmed, with the season beginning on 24 February in Mexico at the El Camaleon Golf Club. One of the teams is the all South African Stinger GC, but it seems unlikely Els will be tuning in to see how they get on. He admitted: “I have not seen one golf shot” of theirs since his compatriots signed for LIV Golf.