{"id":26684,"date":"2022-07-04T14:20:00","date_gmt":"2022-07-04T18:20:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/irishexaminerusa.com\/wp\/?p=26684"},"modified":"2022-07-06T12:23:40","modified_gmt":"2022-07-06T16:23:40","slug":"harrington-says-liv-golf-tour-can-coexist-with-pga-and-dp-world-tours","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/irishexaminerusa.com\/wp\/?p=26684","title":{"rendered":"Harrington Says LIV Golf Tour Can Coexist With PGA And DP World Tours"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Padraig Harrington (PA)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Padraig Harrington has insisted there is room for the Saudi-backed rebel LIV Golf tour to coexist with the traditional circuits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Irishman was commenting as players on both sides of the controversy currently dividing the sport came together in Co Limerick for a star-studded pro-am event.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thousands thronged the fairways of the 2027 Ryder Cup venue Adare Manor as the likes of Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy, Justin Thomas, Jordan Spieth and Jon Rahm competed with marquee LIV signings such as Dustin Johnson, Brooks Koepka, Bryson DeChambeau, Lee Westwood and Ian Poulter at the charity fundraising JP McManus Pro-Am.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Former Ryder Cup captain Harrington played down suggestions of a serious rift between the LIV rebels and the players who have chosen to remain affiliated with the PGA and DP World tours.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBeing here is a little bit like Christmas dinner or Thanksgiving for your family,\u201d said the Dubliner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou know, you could have a sibling sitting there and you could be \u2013 we\u2019ll Americanize it \u2013 you could be a Republican, they could be a Democrat, but you\u2019re all friends at that particular time and maybe politics isn\u2019t mentioned over the dinner table.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOn an individual basis, this is not a difficult situation here this week. We\u2019re all friends.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Harrington, fresh from his triumph at the US Senior Open, said he would not like to see European veterans who have signed up for the LIV series to be denied a chance to be Ryder Cup captain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He made clear he did not anticipate filling the role again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI think there\u2019s plenty of people who\u2019ve got a future of being Ryder Cup captain and I think everybody should be given that chance,\u201d said the 50-year-old multiple major winner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI had my chance. As much as I love the experience of being Ryder Cup captain and I really did, you know it was a tough call and I don\u2019t see myself going back into that arena again.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Amid threats of legal action by LIV rebels seeking to overturn sanctions imposed on them, Harrington expressed hope that golf\u2019s landscape would eventually settle down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI believe there\u2019s room in golf for lots of tours and lots of competition,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He added: \u201cThe more the merrier if you ask me, everybody will find their place and in three or four years, five years\u2019 time, you know, things will have settled down and we\u2019ll all know where we stand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAt the moment there is disruption, there\u2019s no doubt about it. But disruption is not bad at times.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Woods\u2019 participation at the 36-hole event in Ireland will further raise hopes that he will be fit enough to compete in the Open at St Andrews later this month.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The 15-time major winner continues to struggle with pain in his right leg following the severe injuries he sustained in a car accident in Los Angeles in February last year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He withdrew from the USPGA Championship after three rounds in May and did not participate in last month\u2019s US Open, but he has signaled his intent to tee it up in Scotland for the final major of the year.<\/p>\n

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