Andrew 'Beef' Johnston believes an Indian Premier League-style draft would make the LIV Tour more exciting and appealing following its merger with the PGA Tour.

In a contentious move earlier in June, the PGA Tour, DP World Tour and LIV Tour were merged, with all three now backed by Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF).

Johnston now wants to see improvements made to the sport, and one suggestion he has would be the introduction of a draft system for the LIV Teams.

Speaking to Stats Perform on behalf of the Beef's Golf Club podcast, Johnston pointed to the success that the IPL cricket competition has enjoyed using a similar formula.

"I'd like to see a kind of IPL draft. They have the franchises and then they do the draft, don't they? So, I'd love to see that," he said.

"Golf going into almost that kind of situation where the PGA and DP [Tours] play up until the end of July, and there's a big draft for the LIV [competitions].

"So, no one knows what team they're going to be on. You're going to have captains for that team, but no one really knows who they're going to be playing for and then go into a big team shoot-out for a few months, and I think that'd be a really good way to work it.

"I don't think it happens but in my perfect world, I'd love to see that happen."

LIV Golf caused much controversy after its emergence in 2022, with plenty of big names heading over to the rival tour.

"It'd be interesting if there's another one that comes up in a year's time - you never know, you can never say never, look what's happened," said Johnston when asked if the merger would prevent any other rival tours from emerging.

"You've seen it with cricket with the IPL and now there's loads of T20 leagues knocking around all over the world. So, you can never say never.

"Hopefully, now these three can settle down and build something good. And as a player, I want to be able to step off on that first tee knowing that if I play well, you can have a lot of crazy opportunities.

"If you do so, I don't think it's bad for the players. I think it's good for golf, that we're out of this crazy standoff.

"The standoff was not healthy for golf. So, we can move on."

Johnston added that some players may struggle to trust the tours after the move.

He said: "I think a lot of players are going to struggle with trust. And I think the whole thing that's quite interesting is generally the PGA Tour and DP Tour are built on the fact that the players own that, so we have control.

"Now, literally, we have zero control. And you've seen that the players don't have an actual say in it, not even Rory [McIlroy] or Tiger [Woods].

"You look at the football players who play for [PIF-backed] Newcastle [United], we're in the same situation now. So, I think the players should be freed up of any questions. We're supposed to have a say, and we don't."

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The merger of the PGA Tour with Saudi Arabia-backed LIV Golf will help preserve the Ryder Cup.

That is the view of Andrew 'Beef' Johnston, who was speaking to Stats Perform on behalf of the Beef's Golf Club podcast.

It was announced last week that the PGA Tour and DP World Tour (formerly the European Tour) had merged with LIV Tour's backers – Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF).

While the merger has left high-profile players like Rory McIlroy and Jon Rahm in difficult positions, Johnston does believe the move will help save golf's flagship team competition.

Players who had left for LIV Golf were set to be barred from competing in the Ryder Cup, which takes place in Rome in September and early October.

"Yeah 100 per cent [it's saved the Ryder Cup]," he said. 

"You want to see the best players go head to head, 100 per cent. The best players of their time you want to see playing, that's what makes great Ryder Cups, when you've got the best players and if you're missing certain players, I don't think it's ideal.

"On the flip side, there's always going to be players coming up, the new generation and there are great players no matter what happens.

"So, I always thought the Ryder Cup would be in safe hands, but it's better that everyone can play."

As for welcoming LIV rebels back onto the PGA and DP World Tours, Johnston has few issues.

"Yeah, I have never been fussed at all," he added.

"I know there's been some players unhappy about them going, a few have been a bit awkward about it. I'm not too sure exactly who it was or why it was or whatever reason. But I still keep in touch with a couple of them.

"You've got to do what you've got to do. You're not doing anything terrible. The whole moral situation I found quite interesting from the start and the PGA Tour and DP Tour were saying it's morally wrong to go. But we already played in Saudi a few years ago. So, I found that a bit funny.

"We're self-employed. If you get that opportunity, go, and take it. What I didn't quite understand were some of the guys trying to come back and play on the DP Tour.

"If they've signed the full contract to go and play on LIV, my perspective would have been: 'Alright, I'm gonna move over to LIV Golf, sign on for a lot of money. I'm going to go and play the 16 events, enjoy my time off with family or whatever I want to do'.

"I'd personally go and BBQ a lot and hang out with my mates. But that's their choice again and everyone's got their choice. I don't think we should be saying: 'Oh, you can't come back. You can't come and do this'. I'm not really fussed [about them doing that]."

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Andrew 'Beef' Johnston feels Rory McIlroy "wasted a lot of energy" in his staunch support of the PGA Tour.

McIlroy was one of the biggest opponents of the Saudi Arabia-backed LIV Golf Invitational Series, which lured huge names from the PGA Tour, including Phil Mickelson, Sergio Garcia, Dustin Johnson, Cameron Smith and Bryson DeChambeau.

Yet in a shocking turn of events this week, it was announced that the PGA Tour and DP World Tour (formerly the European Tour) had merged with LIV Tour's backers – Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF).

That has left McIlroy, who said he still "hates LIV" in an awkward position, and Johnston feels the world number three has expended unnecessary energy defending the PGA Tour.

"Potentially, I think in some respect it could help him because I think he's just going to turn around and say, 'Alright, I'm going to concentrate and I'm going to do me'," said Johnston in an interview with Stats Perform.

"And that's what he should [do]. I've kind of been hoping Rory would do that. He shouldn't have to get involved and back the PGA Tour as hard as he has.

"I think he's wasted a lot of energy on that and I'd love to just see him focus on golf and pick up more titles and more majors because he's one of the best golfers we've seen.

"I just want to see him concentrate on his golf. So hopefully he gets through this meeting and he just goes, 'Do you know what I'm looking forward, just let it be.' And he can crack on. I'd like to see him do that, to be honest."

Reflecting on the news, Johnston said: "It's just insane. It's nuts. For what, two years, it's been so far away from that, so far away from doing that.

"I think I was talking about it a week ago or so. I said 'There's never ever going to be a deal because there's lawsuits going on and everything's kicking off, and no one will budge at all'. And all of a sudden, bang! That news comes out of the blue. And when I mean out of the blue, I don't think anyone knew.

"I don't even think Tiger [Woods] or Rory knew. I mean if they don't know that none of us are going to know."

Asked if it was a positive step for the sport, Johnston said: "It depends how they format it.

"If they format it where a player can tee up on any of the three tours knowing that if I have a good couple of seasons I can get into the Ryder Cup, I could get into LIV or however they're going to format the tournaments, and there's a way that you could be rewarded for playing good golf and getting into these high money bonus events, which I'm sure is going to happen, then great.

"There's going to be a lot of unhappy people and a lot of unhappy players right now. My first thoughts are people who have backed the tour, like Rory and Jon Rahm, people like that, and they've turned down a hell of a lot of money.

"They really propped the Tour and backed the Tour only to be sort of stabbed in the back. Absolutely blindsided by this. I can't imagine how they're feeling, they've got to be absolutely fuming about it."

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Rory McIlroy was reportedly involved in an angry exchange at a meeting of PGA Tour players as commissioner Jay Monahan attempted to justify the shock declaration of peace in golf’s civil war.

McIlroy and Tiger Woods had established themselves as the biggest supporters of the PGA Tour in its battle with LIV Golf, but were both kept in the dark about the stunning deal announced on Tuesday.

Fellow players reacted with surprise and a sense of betrayal at the news that the PGA Tour and DP World Tour were merging their commercial operations with Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF), which bankrolls LIV Golf.

The announcement came after 12 months of unprecedented disruption in the men’s professional game following the launch of LIV, which held its first event from June 9-11 in 2022 in Hertfordshire.

Monahan faced calls to resign at a 75-minute players’ meeting which he described as “intense and certainly heated”, with his previous comments that anyone who took LIV money would never play on the PGA Tour again cited and greeted with applause, according to former player Johnson Wagner.

Golf Channel reported that Wagner had access to an audio feed of the meeting and that McIlroy told world number 227 Grayson Murray to “just play better” as Murray criticised Monahan.

Murray responded by telling McIlroy to “f*** off”, although another player, Wesley Bryan, later confirmed the exchange on social media before adding: “They were cordial and pleasant post meeting.

“We chatted as a group of players and we were laughing about the comment. No beef or hard feelings either way.”

Monahan accepted that he will be labelled a “hypocrite” but insisted the players who remained loyal to the PGA Tour had made the right decision.

“They have helped re-architect the future of the PGA Tour, they have moved us to a more competitive model,” Monahan said.

“We have significantly invested in our business in 2023, we’re going to do so in ’24. (But) we’ve had to invest back in our business through our reserves. Between our reserves, the legal fees, our underpin and our commitment to the DP World Tour and their legal fees, it’s been significant.

“But this puts us in a position where we’ve got capital that we can deploy to the benefit of our members and through our tournaments, and it gives us capital to deploy in growth businesses that ultimately will generate a return that we’ll reinvest in our players.”

Asked if the likes of Woods and McIlroy would be compensated for turning down lucrative offers from LIV, or whether those who took massive pay-outs to join the breakaway would have to pay that money back, Monahan said: “I think those are all the serious conversations that we’re going to have.

“Ultimately everything needs to be considered. Ultimately what you’re talking about is an equalisation over time and I think that’s a fair and reasonable concept.”

Emiliano Grillo won his second PGA tour title after he edged out Adam Schenk in a double playoff hole while English golfer Harry Hall finished tied third in Texas on Sunday.

The Argentinian was two strokes clear and looked primed to take out the Charles Schwab Challenge at the Colonial Golf Course in Fort Worth.

But the 30-year-old hit a double-bogey on the last hole, providing an opening for Schenk to come back into contention, seeking to win his first PGA Tour title.

Grillo hit his drive into a small stream on the final hole which took the ball back 150 yards before stopping against a rock.

He decided to take a penalty stroke and landed a two-putt from 20 yards to tie with Schenk.

Schenk made par on the final hole while English PGA Tour rookie Harry Hall needed a par on the final hole to compete in the playoff.

Hall hit a bogey on the last hole after landing his drive into the water and finished tied in third with world number one American Scott Scheffler on 7-under.

Grillo struck a five-foot birdie putt to claim the title on the second playoff hole to get his first tour win in more than seven years, finishing the tournament on eight-under with 68 on his final day.

Grillo’s last win was in Napa in 2015 and has had four top 10 finishes this season.

American Adam Schenk finished second place for the second time this season and is still pushing for his first tour win.

Hall, 25, was leading after the first and second day but failed to hang on to the lead with two birdies and five bogeys on Sunday.

Englishmen Aaron Rei and Justin Rose finished tied 12th on three-under.

Wyndham Clark overcame the swift loss of his overnight lead to claim his first PGA Tour title in the Wells Fargo Championship.

Clark’s two-shot advantage was wiped out in the first three holes and the 29-year-old American found himself a shot behind playing partner Xander Schauffele after seven holes of the final round at Quail Hollow.

However, Clark responded superbly to birdie five of the next eight and with Schauffele stumbling around the turn, the win became something of a formality.

A closing 68 gave Clark a winning total of 19 under par and four-shot victory over Schauffele, with England’s Tyrrell Hatton and American Harris English three strokes further back in third.

Tommy Fleetwood and former world number one Adam Scott finished in a tie for fifth on 11 under.

“Gosh, sorry, I’m a little choked up,” Clark told CBS after joining the likes of Anthony Kim, Rory McIlroy, Rickie Fowler and Max Homa in making the Wells Fargo Championship their maiden PGA Tour title.

“It’s been a long five years to get to this point on Tour and I thought I would have had one earlier, but it’s well worth the wait and I’m so grateful.

“There’s so much that goes into this and there’s so many times I wanted to cry and break clubs – and I did break the club sometimes – in this journey and to get to this point is so sweet.

“It’s just amazing to finally do this.

“I didn’t start out great, I was kind of shaky and I think in years past I might have folded. This time I just stayed patient and hung in there and got hot on the back side.”

Lee Westwood has accused the DP World Tour of being “fully in bed” with the PGA Tour after announcing his resignation from the European circuit.

Westwood and fellow Ryder Cup stars Ian Poulter and Sergio Garcia have resigned their membership and are therefore no longer eligible for the biennial contest against the United States.

The trio were among the players fined £100,000 and suspended for two tournaments after playing the first LIV Golf event last year without permission.

Westwood and Poulter were also among the 12 members of the Saudi-funded breakaway who lost an appeal against the sanctions last month and were deemed to have committed “serious breaches” of the DP World Tour’s code of behaviour by a three-man arbitration panel.

Westwood confirmed he has paid the fine and is keen to “move on”, but reiterated his criticism of the way the PGA Tour and DP World Tour have reacted to the emergence of LIV Golf.

“I’ve been a dual member of the European Tour and PGA Tour, but always said I was a European Tour member first and foremost and that I had fears about the US circuit basically being bullies and doing everything it could to secure global dominance,” Westwood told The Telegraph.

“Check my old quotes, it’s all there.

“But now, in my opinion, the European Tour has jumped fully in bed with the PGA Tour and even though Keith (Pelley, the chief executive) says he hates to hear it, it is now a feeder tour for the PGA Tour.

“The top 10 players on the tour, not already exempt this year, have a pathway to the PGA Tour – that’s giving our talent away. That was never the tour’s policy before this ‘strategic alliance’.

“Sorry, I don’t want to play under that sort of regime.

“I mulled it over and just didn’t like the thought of the tour continuously hitting us with more fines and bans that would have been hanging over me.

“I’ve paid my fine out of respect for the arbitration panel and have then taken the decisions out of the tour’s hands. I honestly want to move on.”

Tony Finau claimed his sixth PGA Tour title and fifth in the last 20 months with a highly impressive victory in the Mexico Open.

A year after finishing runner-up to Jon Rahm at Vidanta Vallarta, Finau reversed those positions thanks to a flawless closing 66.

At 24 under par, Finau finished three shots clear of world number one Rahm, with Brandon Wu – who was joint second with Finau 12 months ago – two strokes further back in third.

“It feels amazing,” Finau told CBS. “Rahmbo’s the best, he’s on top of the world right now.

“I knew I was going to have my hands full with him all the way till the end and I didn’t know this golf tournament was mine until I just hit this green (the 18th) here.

“It’s crazy how this game is, you never think you have a tournament won until it’s over so it feels great and we’re going to enjoy this one with my family.”

Rahm, who had carded a course record of 61 in round three, was chasing a fifth win of the year and the Masters champion kept his outside chance alive with a fourth birdie of the day on the 15th, only to bogey the 17th after his tee shot plugged in the bank of a greenside bunker.

Finau began the day with a two-shot lead and immediately extended it with a birdie on the first, but was caught at the top of the leaderboard when Wu followed two early birdies with an eagle on the sixth and another birdie on the next.

However, Finau responded with a birdie of his own on the short seventh and Wu’s chances effectively disappeared when he drove into the water on the 10th to run up a double bogey.

Finau birdied the 11th and 14th to give himself some welcome breathing space and parred the last four holes to round off a brilliant week.

Phil Mickelson expects the four majors to find a way to include the cream of LIV Golf talent even if ranking system chiefs refuse to award points to the breakaway series.

LIV bosses are pushing for the official world golf rankings (OWGR) to award points for its events, but that has yet to come about.

There is no guarantee the situation will change, but Mickelson cannot see how it is in anyone's interest for the majors, golf's pinnacle events, to exclude some of the sport's biggest stars.

His LIV Golf colleague Bryson DeChambeau labelled the rankings "almost obsolete" when he spoke this week in Singapore. He has slipped from inside the top 30 to 178th since committing to LIV, where lucrative sign-up fees and prize money have drawn a host of golf's elite players.

Mickelson and Brooks Koepka, who both defected from the PGA Tour to LIV, finished tied for second at the recent Masters.

Sharp dips in ranking status could mean LIV stars are frozen out from the majors, but there seems likely to be an arrangement reached.

Reflecting on the sport's showpiece occasions and future prospects for LIV players, Mickelson said: "It's going to all iron itself out because if you're one of the majors, if you're the Masters, you're not looking at we should keep these guys out.

"You're saying to yourself, we want to have the best field, we want to have the best players, and these guys added a lot to the tournament this year at the Masters. How do we get them included?

"We have to come up with a qualifying mechanism that is inclusive, and if the world golf ranking isn't going to be inclusive, then they have to find another way.

"Maybe they take the top five or top 10 or winners of LIV, but they're going to have to find a way to get the best LIV players in their field if they want to have the best field in golf and be really what major championship is about. So they're already looking at that.

"If the world golf rankings doesn't find a way to be inclusive, then the majors will just find another way to include LIV because it's no longer a credible way.

"So it will all iron itself out for the simple reason that it's in the best interest of everybody, especially the tournaments, the majors, to have the best players."

The US PGA Championship is coming up in May, followed by the U.S. Open in June and the Open Championship in July.

Meanwhile, the Singapore leg of the controversial, Saudi-backed LIV series begins on Friday.

DeChambeau, a former winner of the U.S. Open, has little time for the ranking system as it stands.

"You should realise that the OWGR is not accurate, one," he said. "Two, I think that they need to come to a resolution, or it will become obsolete. It's pretty much almost obsolete as of right now.

"But again, if the majors and everything continue to have that as their ranking system, then they are biting it quite heavily."

Davis Riley and Nick Hardy earned their first PGA Tour wins on Sunday by securing the Zurich Classic of New Orleans with a tournament-record score of 30 under par.

The American duo shot scores of 64 and 63 in their four-ball rounds on Thursday and Saturday, and they also excelled in the foursomes format, posting 66 on Friday before closing with a seven-under 65.

With five birdies from their last eight holes, Hardy and Riley broke two strokes clear of the chasing pack, eclipsing the scoring record of 29 under set by the team of Patrick Cantlay and Xander Schauffele just last year.

For their efforts, Hardy and Riley earned $1.24million each, along with a massive jump into the top 40 of the FedExCup rankings.

Two strokes behind in outright second place was the Canadian team of Adam Hadwin with Nick Taylor, who posted a final-round 63 to tie the tournament's foursomes scoring record, which Cantlay and Schauffele set on Friday.

Wyndham Clark and Beau Hossler enjoyed an outright third finish at 27 under, while defending champions Cantlay and Schauffele were joined in fourth at 26 under by Matthew NeSmith with Taylor Moore.

The team of Keith Mitchell with Im Sung-jae came into Sunday's play at 25 under and finished the same way, blowing a golden opportunity to threaten the leaders, while the impressive young South Korean duo of Tim Kim and Kim Si-woo banked a top-10 finish at 23 under.

Wyndham Clark and Beau Hossler retained their lead at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans with a third-round 62 in Saturday's four-ball.

The duo carded a 10-under 62 to be 26-under overall heading into the final day, leading by one stroke from Keith Mitchell and Sung-jae Im at TPC Louisiana.

The three teams are tied for third at 23-under overall, in Vincent Norrman and Matthias Schwab, Matthew NeSmith and Taylor Moore, and Nick Hardy and Davis Riley.

Clark and Hossler produced a bogey-free round with 10 birdies, including three in a row to start the back nine.

Clark birdied the 18th to ensure their solo lead from Mitchell and Im, who also went without a bogey for the round with the South Korean providing six front-nine birdies.

Matt and Alex Fitzpatrick also managed a third-round 62 to be 21-under overall, tied for seventh alongside two other teams.

Reigning champions Xander Schauffele and Patrick Cantlay could only manage a six-under 66 on Saturday to slip down the leaderboard at 20-under overall.

Charley Hoffman, playing alongside Nick Watney, provided a highlight with a hole-in-one on the par-three ninth hole. The duo are back at 17-under overall.

The stroke play tournament concludes with the alternate shot format on Sunday.

After a disappointing opening round, the defending champion team of Patrick Cantlay and Xander Schauffele shot Friday's best round to climb into the top five at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans.

The highest-ranked duo in the field, world number four Cantlay and world number five Schauffele made the foursomes format look easy, posting a nine-under 63 in the alternate shot style. It set a new tournament record for a foursomes round.

It comes after they finished Thursday's first round outside of the cut-line as they could only muster a five-under 67 in the easier four-ball format, but they were three strokes better than every other team on their second trip around TPC Louisiana.

They are two strokes off the outright leading pair of Wyndham Clark with Beau Hossler, following their 61 with a solid 67 to be the only team at 16 under heading into the weekend.

One stroke behind in a tie for second are the teams of Im Sung-jae with Keith Mitchell and Doc Redman with Sam Ryder, while the Cantlay/Schauffele team are in a five-way tie for fourth.

The highly-rated team of Sam Burns and Billy Horschel are at 11 under in a tie for 20th, where they are joined by strong South Korean duo Tom Kim with Kim Si-woo, and also the Fitzpatrick brothers – Matt and Alex.

One of the favourites coming into the tournament, the team of Max Homa and Collin Morikawa missed the cut at eight under.

Matt Fitzpatrick and his brother Alex shot a four-ball round of 62 on Thursday at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans to sit one stroke off the lead through 18 holes in the unique format.

The only duos event on the PGA Tour calendar, the pairs of Wyndham Clark with Beau Hossler and Sean O'Hair with Brandon Matthews took the first-round lead with 11-under 61s as each member played every hole, with only the best score from each hole counting towards their team's score.

Hossler contributed seven of his team's 11 birdies, while Matthews had five birdies and an eagle for his pairing.

The Fitzpatrick brothers poured in five birdies each to earn a spot in the five-way tie for second place, joined by the teams of Keith Mitchell with Im Sung-jae, David Lipski with Aaron Rai, Henrik Norlander with Luke List, and Noh Seung-yul with Michael Kim.

Last year's runners-up Sam Burns and Billy Horschel are three strokes off the pace in a logjam at eight under, while one of the strongest teams in the field featuring world number 13 Collin Morikawa and world number seven Max Homa are tied for 43rd at six under.

Reigning champions Xander Schauffele and Patrick Cantlay were disappointing, two strokes outside of the cut-line at five under, but they will hope to claw their way back into things when the format switches to alternate shot foursomes on Friday.

Greg Norman has hinted at a women's series being introduced by LIV Golf.

Norman, chief executive officer of LIV Golf, confirmed he has had discussions with players from various tours to gauge interest, and said there has been plenty of it.

The Saudi Arabia-backed tour began a men's series last year, with the inaugural event taking place in London, with high-profile players such as Brooks Koepka, Phil Mickelson, Cameron Smith and Bryson DeChambeau leaving the PGA Tour to take part.

"[A women's tour] is a discussion we have internally on a regular basis," Norman said ahead of LIV Golf's first Australia-based event in Adelaide.

"I have personally had discussions with individual LPGA Tour players, LET Tour players, Ladies European Tour. They love what our product is showcasing. They ask all the time, 'How can we get involved?' We'd love to see a LIV ladies series."

The creation of LIV Golf caused a rivalry to develop in the sport between it and the PGA and DP World Tours, with the latter recently winning a legal battle against members who played in LIV Golf tournaments over a dispute around imposing fines for playing in competing events.

Much of the controversy stems from being backed by the Saudi Public Investment Fund, but Norman said it is not his job to question the human rights record of the Saudi government.

"Why not? Because I am the chairman and CEO of LIV Golf Investments, and that's where I focus, I focus on golf, I stay focused on golf," he said.

"My job is to build out LIV and the product and the platform we have on the global front.

"Golf is a force for good. I've built golf courses in third-world countries, in communist countries. So golf is a force for good, it goes everywhere with the right platform."

Tiger Woods faces another rehabilitation process after the 15-time major winner underwent surgery on his ankle.

Woods went under the knife for a procedure to address post-traumatic arthritis in his talus bone, which makes up the lower part of the ankle joint.

The 47-year-old, who suffered severe injuries to his leg in a car crash in Los Angeles in 2021, withdrew from The Masters seven holes into his third round this month after battling to make the cut.

Though no timeframe was placed on his recovery, Woods' participation at the second major of the year – the US PGA Championship – is now in doubt.

A statement on Woods' social media channels read: "Earlier today [Wednesday], Tiger underwent a subtalar fusion procedure to address his post-traumatic arthritis from his previous talus fracture.

"It was performed by Dr Martin O'Malley at HSS Sports Medicine Institute in New York.

"He has determined the surgery to be successful. Tiger is recovering and looks forward to beginning his rehabilitation."

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