Watson did not hold back on Koepka decision
Here’s the exchange Thursday morning in the Augusta National Press Building:
Q. Tom, just your thoughts on Brooks Koepka?
TOM WATSON: The Tour made a decision to renege on what they promised when the players left for LIV. They felt that the compensation that he’s paid is good enough.
I thought the LIV players, when they left, they were supposed to be banned for life. If I was commissioner, that’s what I would do. I’d say if you’re finished with your contract with LIV Golf, if you want to play the PGA Tour again, you come back, and you must play the Korn Ferry Tour for a year to qualify for it.
They saw it differently. When the players left, they violated the number one rule that we really had out here, which is to protect the sponsors. Sponsors need players. They need the names to be able to promote their tournaments. If the players play wherever they want to play without a conflicting event rule, where you had to seek the permission of the PGA Tour to play in a tournament opposite of a PGA Tour tournament, the sponsors would be hurt by that. I think we all understood that.
When the players left for LIV, I think it was basically over. They chose to go for the money, which is fine, but to return to the Tour, I thought, was a nonstarter, but apparently it’s not.
