Richard Bland on the 7th hole during day two of LIV Golf – Andalucia at Real Club Valderrama on July 1, 2023. | Photo by Octavio Passos/Getty Images
Richard Bland, who plays for LIV Golf, appeared on the ‘Bunkered’ podcast and shared his displeasure with the current DP World and PGA Tours.
Richard Bland, an English golfer who plays on LIV Golf, has called for the resignation of both DP World Tour Commissioner Keith Pelley and PGA Commissioner Jay Monahan.
Bland called for their ousting in a conversation with bunkered.co.uk, an English golf website.
“Jay [Monahan] and Keith [Pelley] both need to go,” Bland said. “From what they’ve said over the last 12 months and then doing the deal, I don’t see how they can lead the tours in that direction when they were so critical of what PIF and what LIV were doing.”
Many golf fans first heard of Bland at the 2021 U.S. Open, where he held the 36-hole lead.
The Englishman then faded over the weekend at Torrey Pines, finishing in a tie for 50th. He shot a 6-over 77 on Saturday and a 7-over 78 on Sunday, finishing 14 strokes by Jon Rahm.
He also became the oldest winner on the DP World Tour in 2021, winning the Betfred British Masters.
Photo by Eakin Howard/Getty Images
Richard Bland putts on the 13th green during day three of the LIV Golf Invitational – Greenbrier at The Old White Course on August 06, 2023.
A year later, he bolted to LIV Golf, hoping to achieve more success there.
His decision to go play on the LIV circuit may have been due to his age—Bland is 50 now. But he has also been frustrated with the DP World Tour and PGA Tour for quite some time.
“Regardless of LIV I wasn’t a fan of where Keith [Pelley] was taking the tour by trying to partner up with the PGA Tour,” Bland said. “I didn’t understand that. In a month’s time we’re trying to play the Ryder Cup against them and now we’re in bed with them.”
In 2020, the DP World Tour announced it had entered into a ‘strategic alliance’ with the PGA Tour.
At that point, the PGA Tour acquired a 15% stake in the DP World Tour, the Scottish Open became a co-sanctioned event on both circuits, while the Barracuda and Barbasol Championships became co-sanctioned as well.
Those two tournaments are played alongside the Scottish Open and The Open.
And yet, in 2024, the DP World Tour has created a schedule that caters to the PGA Tour.
Their biggest events, titled the ‘Back 9’ will occur after the conclusion of the FedEx Cup Playoffs. The Back 9 includes the BMW PGA Championship, British Masters, European Masters, Spanish Open and Irish Open.
Photo by Yoshimasa Nakano/Getty Images
DP World Tour CEO Keith Pelley speaks at the award ceremony following the ISPS Handa – Championship at PGM Ishioka GC on April 23, 2023.
Critics have slammed the DP World Tour for becoming a ‘feeder tour’ to the PGA Tour, including Bland.
“I emailed Keith about this – I said I remember when you first came into the job and you gave your first player address,” Bland noted. “You pretty much stood up there and said the PGA Tour was a rival tour, a hostile tour and we’re trying to compete with them.
“Now we’re best friends with them and I wasn’t a huge fan of that. We were just happy to give our best players and that just makes the tour weaker.”
Perhaps Bland has a point, because it sure looks like the DP World Tour has become a feeder to the PGA Tour.
Or to borrow a baseball reference, the DP World Tour is the Triple AAA affiliate of the major league team residing in Ponta Verda Beach, Florida.
Jack Milko is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. You can follow him on Twitter @jack_milko for more golf coverage. Be sure to check out @_PlayingThrough too.
