LIV star: "DP Tour CEO said that he would do the same as me, but now..."

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Richard Bland is part of LIV Golf and is under a lot of pressure just like most golfers who are part of the same competition. Bland (like others) was banned from the DP World Tour and several other tours. What Bland decided to say was that DP World Tour CEO Keith Pelley shared his opinion and said a few months ago that he would have done the same.

“When we played at Centurion, we certainly didn’t know what was going on,” Bland said on Matt Le Tissier’s podcast, as quoted by nationalclubgolfer.com “I had two or three meetings with Keith Pelley, our CEO, and he said to me [when] we were at the Belfry at the British Masters, ‘If I was in your position I’d do exactly the same as you’re going to do.’”

Keith Pelley: "Those who have chosen this route.."

Keith Pelley, however, had somewhat different statements after everyone from LIV Golf was banned.

Pelley considered their departure a reflection of disrespect. “Those who have chosen this route have not only disrespected them [the players] and our Tour, but also the meritocratic ecosystem of professional golf that has been the bedrock of our game for the past half a century”.

Bland was fined £100,000. The majority thinks that such fines are too big and not fair, but it seems that they have to pay for their actions. Most of them will stick to their position and LIV Golf will be their priority.

We will see how the situation will develop in the coming period. “The sanctions that were put on us, certainly the financial aspects, I think have been very unfair,” he continued. “£100,000 for basically breaching the regulations which is normally a £10,000 fine. But because it’s a LIV event, and they see it as hostile, it’s now 10 times the penalty”.