Thomas Pieters isn’t buying the talk that the best competition in golf isn’t on LIV Golf. He recently said that his current tour is far superior to his former, the DP World Tour. Pieters is a relative newcomer to the tour, having gotten a $10 million signing bonus early last year. “In his second season on the rebel tour, he has observed an increase in competition, largely due to some players leaving the DP World Tour and the PGA Tour.”
Pieters said via Golf Magic:
“Coming from the DP World Tour, the standard of golf is 10 times better than what I used to play. You can’t hide out here. As you can see from my results, I haven’t had the best year – if you’re average or have a bad week you’re going to finish last or in the last five which sucks, but that’s just the way it is. LIV is getting very strong.”
Pieters shared about his recent difficulties.
He had a rough start in Mayakoba, finishing T43 with a score of four over par.
In Las Vegas, he improved slightly with a score of two under par but still only finished T30. Similarly, in Jeddah, he finished T37 with another score of two under par, indicating a less-than-stellar beginning to the year. Pieters shared details about his recent challenges.
He had a rough start in Mayakoba, finishing T43 with a score of four over par. In Las Vegas, he managed to finish T30 with a score of two under par.
However, in Jeddah, he also finished T37 with a score of two under par, indicating that it has not been a strong start to the year for him.
He said:
“Some personal stuff, not doing enough practice and having two young kids is not easy – they’re awesome but it’s very tiring! I obviously don’t live in a country (Belgium) with the best weather so the winter has been tough and then I had to go and play in Mexico which is the tightest place on earth. It’s not great for the confidence but it is what it is. I don’t want to make excuses; it’s just not been great.”
He admitted that the players on Tour don’t allow him the chance to have an off day and still do well, which is potentially partly responsible for his rough start in 2024.
Thomas Pieters’ ideas echoed by other LIV Golf members.
There are several talented golfers on Greg Norman’s Saudi circuit, including Brooks Koepka, Cameron Smith, Jon Rahm and Dustin Johnson. So many golfers have recently gone to bat for the tour’s competition level, including an even newer signing than Thomas Pieters
Caleb Surratt is in his first LIV season, but he firmly believes there is intense competition. He said:
“Anybody that says it’s ‘shying away from competition’, that’s not true, going from college to playing with Major champions like Phil Mickelson, it’s not in any sense shying away from any competition. I have truly learned that and embraced that, it’s made me super confident in my decision.”
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