‘What have you achieved?’ Sir Nick Faldo takes aim at LIV golfers (again)

Sir Nick Faldo has taken his latest swipe at LIV Golf, suggesting players will never get any satisfaction from competing in the Saudi-backed league.

Faldo has been a consistent LIV critic, claiming back in June that the 54-hole team format won’t survive because “nobody is interested”, while has also diminished the tour as “meaningless.”

And speaking on SiriusXM PGA Tour Radio’s “Gravy & The Sleeze”, the six-time major champion outlined the struggle LIV faces in creating legacies for players, with some signing nine-figure contracts to join the fledgling series.

“It is a different style of golf,” Faldo reiterated on Wednesday. “Here’s the bottom line, you’ve got to strive. Everything in life is a struggle, isn’t it? So you strive, and from striving you then achieve something.

“So if you’ve achieved something, you then get satisfaction from doing that. And from your satisfaction, you then create a memory. Well, if there’s nothing to strive for then there’s no memory.”

• Nick Faldo: ‘Nobody is interested’ in LIV Golf

• Nick Faldo takes swipe at LIV chief Greg Norman

Brooks Koepka revealed last week that he ditched the PGA Tour for LIV because he could not turn down the $100m+ contract on offer, as he battled troubling knee injuries and shattered confidence levels. Talor Gooch, meanwhile, is LIV’s individual champion and has pocketed over $30m this year alone, but has plummeted down to 214th in the world rankings and is currently ineligible for any majors in 2024.

• Major bosses shut down talk of LIV exemptions 

• Why LIV golfers are ineligible (again) for Presidents Cup 

Faldo maintains that success and fulfilment on the course brings more contentment than extra dollars in the bank account.

“When I look back at my career, you don’t think of the dollar sign,” the 66-year-old retired CBS analyst added.

“I went through a swing change for two years and then came out of it and finally win my first major, and then became a pretty darn decent golfer for five years. That makes you proud of what you did.

“And that’s with me forever. That’s where I see a difference. Sure, I would have loved to earn tens of millions more. I’m not denying that. But there’s something about competing and putting yourself through the ringer, and then you feel proud of your achievements.

“That’s why I think the Tour’s competitive golf will stand up because their tour is not the same competition. It really isn’t.”

Ben Parsons joined bunkered as a Content Producer in 2023 and is the man to come to for all of the latest news, across both the professional and amateur games. Formerly of The Mirror and Press Association, he is a member at Halifax Golf Club and is a long-suffering fan of both Manchester United and the Wales rugby team.