Horschel Claims LIV Golf Players Had Bad Advice From Agents

Billy Horschel has claimed that some players who chose to sign up for LIV Golf have been given poor advice by their agents.

Speaking before this week’s BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth, which has 17 LIV Golf players in the field, the current champion first explained that he thinks players were reassured that they would not face suspension from either the PGA Tour or DP World Tour. He said: “It's very clear LIV told those guys you will not be suspended from either one of those tours, you will still have access and we have looked at it and we are going to in our lawsuits. It's sort of naïve for those guys to think that that's how it was truly going to happen.”

Video: What Is LIV Golf?

LIV Golf players have been suspended from the PGA Tour – a situation that will now extend for the 2022/23 season. Meanwhile, their status on the DP World Tour is also unclear pending a hearing to determine their status, which won’t begin until next February.

Horschel, who also branded some LIV Golf players hypocritical, then said he thinks poor advice from agents is one of the reasons some made the decision to join LIV Golf. He said: “Maybe those guys aren't smart enough to think on their own and maybe their agents gave them bad information, which I am very aware - know very - for a fact, that certain agents just gave certain players bad information, and some of those players took that. They listened to their agents on that. I think agents, some of these agents led these guys down a bad road. And when I say a bad road, they didn't give them the entire information and they didn't play devil's advocate the way they should have.”

As for the reason for the alleged bad advice, Horschel is convinced there’s only one thing at the heart of it – money. He said: “I do think these agents, they saw dollar signs and they wanted to cash in on their side of it as well. So I do think some of these agents did, I would say, give them bad information. And some of those - I know some of those players, a couple of those players sort of regret listening to agents.”

As well as the ongoing legal battle with the DP World Tour, seven LIV Golf players remain embroiled in an antitrust lawsuit against the PGA Tour as they attempt to have their suspensions lifted. However, there will be another substantial wait before the outcome of that is known, with the trial date set for January 2024.

Previously, Horschel has said he thinks LIV Golf players expecting to return to the PGA Tour have been “brainwashed”. However, he also recently struck a more conciliatory tone, admitting he’s sad to see players leave the Tour. He was equally reflective when pressed on whether he’d shake the hand of any LIV Golf player who beat him to the defence of his title. He said: “No. No, I'll be shaking their hands. I will shake anyone's hand. I will congratulate them and say 'well played'. I'm not a sore loser at all.”