Major champion warns LPGA against LIV partnership

Two-time major winner Dottie Pepper has warned the LPGA against partnering with LIV Golf, claiming it would be an “enormous mistake”.

Pepper, now a successful broadcaster, accused players making the switch to the Saudi-backed series of “taking the easy way out”.

LPGA commissioner Mollie Marcoux Samaan has already indicated she would be open to talks with the rebel tour, which has split the men’s game.

But Pepper disagrees.

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“It would be an enormous mistake to contemplate, let alone agree to, meeting a group that places so little human value on women,” she wrote on Instagram.

“Aramco… has backed a handful of Ladies European Tour events as that tour has struggled, but the line must be drawn by the LPGA.

“It must continue the steady work of their founders with its solid sponsor network that showcases the players with respect.”

LIV is again facing scrutiny over its relationship with the Saudi government after a women’s rights activist was jailed for 34 years for sharing tweets.

Pepper also took aim at LIV commissioner Greg Norman, accusing him of “30 years of greed and vengeance”, in reference to his plans for a world tour in 1994, and of making “empty promises” to players.

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“This isn’t the first time Greg Norman proposed a rival tour that would strip the top players in the world from their home tours, pay enormous guarantees and feature no-cut events, all the while turning his back on the PGA Tour, its people and its sponsors… the very foundation that made him an international superstar,” she added.

“This time Norman just found someone… to bankroll his vengeance under the guise of ‘growing the game’ while promising his LIV players money just for showing up and the luxury of playing less and spending more time at home.”