With the new LIV Golf season just days away, a clutch of players have been linked with the rebel circuits following the confirmation that Mito Pereira and Sebastian Munoz had signed up in time for the first event in Mexico.
One player reportedly joining is American Brendan Steele. However, if that signing is confirmed it will represent a significant turnaround for a player who, only two months ago, claimed he wasn’t interested in playing for the Greg Norman-fronted organisation.
Speaking to the media at a conference call in December, Steele said: “For me, I’m fine if guys want to go. I think they just have to make the best decision for them. But don’t expect to come back and play on our tour. I have not been approached. I think the way that it has mostly worked is that guys have gone and sought them out and told them they are interested. For me, it is not something that I’m interested in. So it hasn’t really been any sort of a problem for me. But I don’t hold it against guys for doing it.”
Even though Steele claimed he had no interest in signing for LIV, during the same call, he admitted that life on the PGA Tour can be precarious. That’s true for Steele, too. Even though he has over $20m in earnings, the current World No.122 missed seven cuts last year. That’s seven tournaments where he didn’t receive payment, and he admitted the security of guaranteed payments would have its attractions for some.
He said: “We play a sport where it is very fickle and you have no contracts as far as signing with the Dodgers for five years and if you get hurt, you get paid. We don’t have any of that stuff. So to have a little bit of security in going over there, I think you can kind of understand the narrative for each guy who went. Some want security financially. Some are older, some are guys who are more injured. Some guys haven’t been playing as well but have a big name. There are all sorts of reasons why you would want to do it.”
Steele’s apparent turnaround bears similarities with the likes of Dustin Johnson, Bryson DeChambeau and Brooks Koepka, who each pledged their allegiance to the PGA Tour at various points before eventually signing for LIV Golf anyway. Whatever the reasons for Steele’s supposed change of heart, the three-time PGA Tour winner appears, like plenty of players before him, to have decided that at this point in his career, it’s the right time for a move to the 14-tournament League.
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