Amid Jay Monahan’s Concerning ‘Merger’ Silence, Fred Couples Adds Fuel to Fire With Nasty LIV Golf Diss

Fred Couples has made no secret of his hatred for LIV Golf. Just months ago, the former world no. 1 boldly proclaimed, “LIV Tour ain’t changing a thing.” Speaking from Augusta National on Tuesday, Couples said he wasn’t going to bash LIV anymore. But he still doesn’t think the upstart league can go toe-to-toe with the Tour. That’s despite the PIF-funded side boasting two of last year’s four major champions.

Two years ago, Fred Couples also said he wouldn’t perhaps talk to Phil Mickelson again. His recent comments at the Masters, where he was in the same room with Lefty during the Champion’s Dinner, didn’t carry that much vehemence. Notably, the Tour and LIV Golf are in talks for a future merger. Although Jay Monahan hasn’t divulged much detail, the two sides appear willing to iron out the differences. But for Couples, it would take more than a Jon Rahm signing to convince him that LIV Golf is interesting enough.

Fred Couples still doesn’t understand LIV Golf

This year, the breakaway league has included one more team, Legion XIII, steered by Rahm. There are also two wildcard entries, through which Anthony Kim plays. Not that Fred Couples doesn’t ‘get’ its unorthodox shotgun start, 54-hole format. Just that, the former Masters champion can’t really fathom how that is interesting.

“I don’t think I’ll ever understand it. Maybe I’ll go to one and see what it’s really, really like. I know how great they are as players. I get it all, and I get the 54 holes, and you drive a cart to your tee and shotgun. That’s easy to pick on.”

Couples admits the powerhouse of talent LIV Golf possesses. He is still a fan of Brooks Koepka and Dustin Johnson. However, the 15-time PGA Tour winner was more bothered by some LIV golfers dissing their former Tour. Moreover, he wasn’t a fan of how LIV Golf painted the Masters as a PGA Tour-LIV Golf battleground in a recent promotional video.

“Sometimes I’ve picked on comments that people have made, and I’ve picked on comments that they talk about the Tour, which I’ve said I have now 44 years invested in, and I don’t want anyone picking on a tour that I think is very good. Now, everything can get better, but let me tell you, if the LIV Tour is better for golf, I’m missing something there.”

Couples further added, “So please don’t tell me the LIV Tour is as good as the PGA Tour. I don’t want to hear it.” His comments came as the PGA Tour and LIV Golf looked to align their business interests. Talks have been ongoing between both parties since last June. Although the discussions have been moving forward, though, there is no clear end in sight.

Hopes of merger get drowned in rhetoric

PIF Chief Yasir Al-Rumayyan met with the Player Directors of the PGA Tour at Tiger Woods’s Albany resort last month. The talks were ‘constructive’. Jay Monahan, the PGA Tour commissioner, refused to say anything beyond that. However, player directors have disclosed some details. The first meeting evinced that there are still lingering differences between Al-Rumayyan’s and the Tour players’ visions for the future.

Players from both sides understand what the long-term delay means. Rory McIlroy sounds alarmed that the Tour’s viewership is decreasing. On the other side, Bryson DeChambeau reiterated that the quicker the two sides can find a solution, the better. Jon Rahm, the reigning Masters champion, was asked about the matter as well. The Spaniard, like most of us, is unaware. Rahm admitted he knew the gravity of his decision, but it failed to cause the spur he thought it would.

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