“Who the hell are they?” – PGA Tour winner blasts Mexico Open leaderboard

A former PGA Tour pro has taken aim at the quality of the leaderboard going into the final round of the Mexico Open, blasting: “Who the hell are they?”

Jake Knapp holds a four-shot lead going into the final round at Vidanta, with Finland’s Sami Valimaki his closest challenger.

Canadian Ben Silverman is a further three shots adrift, alongside Henrik Norlander of Sweden and Knapp’s fellow American Chan Kim.

Scotland’s Robert MacIntyre, Erik van Rooyen of South Africa, England’s Matt Wallace and another US golfer Justin Lower are also in contention on what is an impressively international leaderboard.

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But not everybody is impressed.

Mark Lye, the winner of the 1983 Bank of Boston Classic, took to X (formerly Twitter) to deliver a withering assessment of the leaderboard ahead of the final round.

“I don’t know how the PGA Tour can defend this leaderboard in Mexico,” wrote the 71-year-old. “Very good players, but who the hell are they??? This is a new low.”

Lye is no stranger to being outspoken. Last year, he described Justin Thomas as a “complete liability” and said that the two-time major champion did not deserve a place on the US Ryder Cup team “in any way, shape, or form”.

Thomas went on to post one-and-a-half points from a possible four at Marco Simone Golf & Country Club in Rome as Europe inflicted a 16.5.11.5 defeat on the United States.

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In 2022, Lye was fired from his post as an analyst on SiriusXM golf radio after saying he would rather “shoot myself” than watch women’s basketball.

His remarks about the Mexico Open leaderboard have not gone unchallenged.

“Bitter angry jealous and agenda driven is no way to end a decent career but you’re managing it,” replied one user.

“Everyone starts somewhere Mark,” wrote another. “One day long ago, someone said Who the hell is Mark Lye?”

Another added: “It’s kind of like seeing your name on a leaderboard in 1985. As a former PGA Tour player you should know what it takes to make it on a PGA leaderboard. The new low is you posting this. You should be embarrassed.”