In the wake of LIV Golf’s backer pulling its money after this year, a number of players are reportedly looking to see where they can go next.
But one said he is at peace with whatever happens.
Thomas Pieters, a six-time DP World Tour winner, appeared on the Dan on Golf podcast Monday and offered insight from last month’s LIV Golf event in Mexico City when word began to circulate about LIV Golf’s up-in-the-air future.
“It wasn’t pleasant. The atmosphere was very grim,” Pieters said. “I had enough of it after about three, four hours. Everybody was talking about it, everybody’s checking Twitter every two seconds.
“Tuesday evening I called home, I was ‘I’m ready to retire on Monday if they really pull the plug that quick.’ That was O.K. with me.”
Pieters, 34, who played at Illinois and won an NCAA individual title in 2012, won six times on the DP World Tour between 2015 and 2022 and made 53 starts on the PGA Tour, making 40 cuts with a best finish of T2 at the 2017 Genesis Open. He joined LIV Golf for the 2023 season.
While Brooks Koepka returned to the PGA Tour this season after years on LIV Golf and others may look to do the same, the Belgian said that’s one path he’s not interested in.
“I’m definitely never going back to the PGA Tour. I never liked that life,” Pieters said. “That’s not me having a go at the PGA Tour, it’s not for me. I tried it. I just wasn’t happy out there.”
In fact, Pieters said he was ready to retire two years ago.
“Ever since, everything’s a bonus for me,” said Pieters, who now plays for Dustin Johnson’s 4Aces team and has made more than $20 million on LIV. “I’m good at golf and I love it, but it’s going to end at some point. I feel like I was on the right side of the wave. I’ve gotten a lot out of it.
“I've achieved a lot of stuff that I didn't think was possible when I was a kid growing up in Belgium. I’ll be forgotten, which is fine.”
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as This LIV Golfer Isn’t Worried About What Comes Next.
