“He’s not able to play on the champion’s tour”: Henrik Stenson calls for change as PGA Tour’s LIV ban triggers new fiasco

Since the formation of the Saudi-based LIV Golf League in 2022, the world of professional golf has been split. With the PGA Tour seeking funding from the LIV Golf League's primary financiers, Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund, tensions are at an all time high.

On June 6, a year ago, the PGA Tour and its European Tour, the DP World Tour, signed an agreement with the Public Investment Fund in an attempt to unite the players of the two tours.

Owing to the conflict, the 2024 Senior PGA Championship winner, Richard Bland, was denied from playing the Champions Tour as he was a part of LIV golf. Now, Henrick Stenson, another LIV player, has shared his views while speaking to the Mirror.

" I think that officially when the framework agreement came in place it was supposed be a truce . Then when Richard Bland won the Senior PGA a week ago he found on social media that 'well you aren't going to get any starts on the Champions Tour because you play LIV' . I mean Richard has never even been a member of the PGA Tour but just because he plays LIV he is not able to play on the Champions Tour it is how I understand it. Behind the scenes it is not as if everyone is holding hands and singing songs together, so there is still things to be worked out ... It has not been ideal but hopefully brighter minds than us can come to a solution," he said.

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Henrick Stenson's LIV Golf career

Having made his debut in the LIV Golf League in 2022, Henrick Stenson, the Swedish player, joined Lee Westwood and Ian Poulter's Majesticks GC in 2023. In his debut season, he played four out of seven events and ended up 18th on the rankings with 40 points.

In 2023, Stenson played 13 out of the 14 LIV Golf events with the Majesticks. At the LIV Golf Invitational in Washington, DC, he achieved his best finish of the season on the 5th hole, earning him 16 points overall. Stenson finished 25th overall on the leaderboard with 55 points.

So far this season, Stenson has played in all seven LIV Golf events. After finishing 44th in the Singapore edition of the competition, he has now finished three events in a row with no points.

Stenson is currently ranked 35th on the leaderboard with 11.08 points. This season, he has only collected points from the LIV Golf Invitational in Hong Kong and Las Vegas. He finished eighth in Hong Kong with 8.42 points, and he received 2.66 points in Las Vegas.

About the author

Lathika is one of the newer additions to Sportskeeda’s budding golf journalism team and has brought plenty of in-game experience to the role. Having been a golfer for over 12 years now, some of her crowning achievements include winning titles on the Indian Golf Union Ladies tour and Junior Girls Amateur tour.

She currently competes in Division 1 golf in New York, and hopes to play in the U.S. Open and Chevron Championship one day. She is set to cover the 2025 Ryder Cup as well. She is currently pursuing a degree in Business Administration and Management, and holds a Sports Marketing certification from Northwestern University, which helped her learn to draft press releases and ultimately transition into journalism.

Lathika has thus developed a knowledge base that allows her to view golf from both player, spectator and media lenses, enabling her to bring statistics, insights and an understanding of fan emotion together in her copies. She only uses verified information from reliable sources like the PGA TOUR.

Her favorite golfers are Nelly Korda and Tiger Woods, both for their playing style as well as their mental strength. Much of her time away from work is spent playing golf, but she also enjoys spending time with her family and friends, and learning new hobbies or upskilling.

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Edited by Pratham K Sharma