Tensions appeared to boil over on Wednesday on the eve of the BMW PGA Championship as Ian Poulter and Billy Horschel were caught on camera in a heated exchange on the putting green amid all the LIV Golf drama.
Ahead of the showpiece DP World Tour tournament, talk has been largely dominated by further LIV Golf chat - with 17 of its members competing at Wentworth, including European Ryder Cup star Poulter.
And PGA Tour ace Horschel himself recently blasted LIV stars as "hypocritical" for playing in the tournament. The American said: "As much as I got along with Lee (Westwood) and Ian (Poulter) very well, they've supported the Tour for quite some time over their careers.
"I honestly feel it's a slap in the face to the rest of the members of this Tour. That they're coming to play, I believe the biggest purse on the DP World Tour with a full field. They are going to be taking money out of guys' pockets this week."
And while it's not exactly clear what caused the exchange on the putting green, the American and Poulter looked to be having a frank chat with each other following the comments as they put the final touches to their preparations at Wentworth.
National Club Golfer's George Cooper, who saw the encounter take place, said: "While they were too far away to make out what was being said – and my lip reading skills just aren’t what they used to be – it certainly didn’t look like a friendly catch-up."
He then tried to clarify what happened, saying: "I asked Poulter for a comment afterwards, but he (politely) declined."
There has been a war of words between LIV golfers and those who have stayed on the PGA and DP World Tours. Another big-name player to speak out about the inception of the Saudi-backed series is Rory McIlroy, who was at it again on Wednesday.
McIlroy admitted to having a rift with his European Ryder Cup team-mates, saying: "I wouldn’t say I’ve got much of a relationship with them at the minute.
"They are here. They are playing the golf tournament. My opinion is they shouldn’t be here, but again that’s just my opinion.
"But if you’re just talking about Ryder Cup, that’s not the future of the Ryder Cup team. They’ve played in probably a combined 25, 30 Ryder Cups, whatever it is.
"The Hojgaards (Rasmus and Nicolai), Bobby Mac (Robert MacIntyre), whoever else is coming up. They are the future of the Ryder Cup team. That’s what we should be thinking about and talking about."
