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Published 13:38 20 Sept 2022 BST
Updated 13:45 20 Sept 2022 BST
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"It's good for me, selfishly, but I think it is good for golf, as well. With the support of the PGA Tour, the DP World Tour can become stronger. "The issue that some people may have is that LIV Golf is throwing around so much money that people feel the DP Tour should have taken it as a quick fix... I was in that [leading players] meeting in Delaware and I was conscious of saying, 'Lads, we need to do what's right for golf, not just what's right for us, because we're not always going to be there, but golf is'."[caption id="attachment_271962" align="aligncenter" width="800"]
Shane Lowry ospeaks to the media after winning the BMW PGA Championship, at Wentworth Golf Club. (Photo by Eamonn M. McCormack/Getty Images)[/caption]
"My wife said to me," Lowry recalled, "'Shano, all that money is never going to make you happy. What will make you happy is competing at the highest level'."The 2019 Open champion certainly does not regret chasing the LIV money, but he does rue a comment he made, back in January of this year, when he said he was 'happy to go' and compete at the Saudi International. Asked about playing in a kingdom that has questionable human rights issues, Lowry had told reporters, "I'm not a politician. I'm a professional golfer." Nine months on and Lowry admits he 'misjudged the room' and says he will not play the event next year.
"I absolutely understand [the backlash]. When I said it, I was like, 'Why did I say that?' It was the wrong thing to say. The thing is I played the Saudi International for the last three years. So, for me, I would have been very hypocritical if I sat here and said, 'It's about where the money is coming from'. I just think it is bad for the game. That's how I feel about it. "Will I go back and play the Saudi International next year? No, but I do think the LIV tour is bad for the game because it is very divisive."[caption id="attachment_256384" align="aligncenter" width="800"]
Shane Lowry rose to 19th in the world rankings with his latest victory, at Wentworth. (Photo by Andrew Redington/Getty Images)[/caption]
"For me, at the time, and maybe I was wrong to think it, but I thought, 'Yeah, that's fine I'll do that'. And there's no doubt about it, I say I don't play the game for money but I was getting well looked after for going there. That's the reason I went, but it was a European Tour event as well, and you're thinking about Ryder Cup points, and stuff like that. "Maybe I misjudged the room when I did that. I definitely felt that this year when I was going there, that I was not one of the better loved golfers in the world, at the time, but I had to fulfil the contract and I went."The DP Tour rolled from the Italian Open, last week, to the French Open then to Scotland for the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship. There is a Spain and Portugal swing in October before a brief visit to South Africa before the DP World Tour Championship in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, from November 17-20. You can listen to that full interview with Shane Lowry here.
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