In wide-ranging interview in the latest Monthly Meets episode, which took place before his stunning US Senior Open triumph, Englishman Richard Bland went into detail on his reasons for joining LIV Golf and his retirement plans.
Bland is “not ashamed” to say that money was the sole factor in his move to LIV Golf, despite not being paid a ‘penny’ in signing bonuses – and he made the right decision as he won over $3.5m in the inaugural season and more than $4.4m in 2023 from the tournaments that offer $20m purses for the individual elements.
On the 2024 LIV Golf money list he has picked up a further $2.3m plus he won $630,000 for his senior PGA win and $800,000 at the US Senior Open. He has won just under €8m in 511 tournament on the DP World Tour.
“That was purely why I did it. I wasn’t trying to pull the wool over anybody’s eyes. I was honest and up front of why I joined LIV and it was purely for the money,” he told Golf Monthly’s Dan Parker.
Bland was speaking to Golf Monthly’s Dan Parker in the latest Monthly Meets episode
(Image credit: Future)
“I know people have been slated, you know, ‘it’s growing the game, it’s doing this doing that, whatever,’ I purely went for one thing and one thing only, and I’m not ashamed to say that.
“I had the opportunity to make my life, my family’s life and whatever we do as a family a lot more easier. So as I say it was a no brainer.”
While Bland admitted he joined for the financial gain, he insisted he did not receive any form of signing on bonus and said that big names like Bryson DeChambeau, Brooks Koepka and Jon Rahm all deserved their nine-figure deals.
“You know, as I’ve said many times like I know a lot of people who believe me when I say this but LIV didn’t offer me a dollar, it was just purely the opportunity to play,” he said.
“So no matter what people might think, whether I’m lying or not telling the truth on this side, I’ve got nothing to hide I never have. So it was just purely the opportunity to play and I had to play well enough to stay on LIV.
“Obviously it was a decision that I had to talk to my wife and to my family about and in the end it was quite an easy decision for me.
“I didn’t sign for one penny and that was fine and I don’t begrudge the guys that signed for tens of millions or whatever, they earned it that’s fine.
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