If it’s honesty you want from your golfers, you won’t be found wanting with Pat Perez.
When the three-time PGA Tour winner first signed with LIV Golf, he claimed it was “like winning the lottery”.
And after finishing sixth in Adelaide, his best finish on the breakaway circuit so far, Perez was asked how he thinks PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan would feel watching the footage from Australia.
“We don’t give a damn how he feels,” he replied, in typically blunt fashion. “We know how he feels about us, so it’s mutual.”
These quotes were originally attributed to Dustin Johnson by the Australian Associated Press, but Johnson’s agent David Winkle has since asserted the player’s actual response to the question was “no comment”.
“Dustin remains grateful for his time on the PGA Tour and has the utmost respect for commissioner Monahan,” Winkle wrote in a statement.
As for Perez, this isn’t the first verbal dig he has taken at the PGA Tour in 2023. He opened his account on this front at LIV Golf Mayakoba in February.
“I love it because we’re here and the Tour is not. End quote,” he said, referring to El Camaleon’s previous hosting duties on the PGA Tour.
The 47-year-old compounded his angst for his old stomping ground when he initially joined the antitrust lawsuit that was filed against the tour – but he’s since removed his name from proceedings.
When it comes to the subject of hostility between LIV Golf and the PGA Tour, players have been quick to shut down the tension.
Sergio Garcia became agitated at a reporter during the Masters when asked on the subject, while Cameron Smith, Rory McIlroy, and Brooks Koepka also silenced the speculation too.
Even Perez has previously revealed he’s received well-wishing text messages from Jon Rahm and Justin Thomas since making the switch to the breakaway league.
But, a comment like this, as well as the freshest Twitter spat between Eddie Pepperell and Richard Bland, suggests more heat lies under the surface than is portrayed.
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