After the news of the partnership between the PGA Tour and the Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF) became public last week, this week's US Open was always likely to be an interesting affair.
Not only will we see a field consisting of players from both sides of the LIV Golf divide for the first time since the announcement, but we would also be hearing the opinions of number of golfers on the matter ahead of the tournament in California.
It was reported that tensions were high among PGA Tour players as a result of the new partnership, with the news blindsiding them at the time. They held a player's meeting soon after, where it was said that things got a bit tense ahead of the RBC Canadian Open.
As it turns out, there was even talk of strike action.
Shane Lowry played role in stopping PGA Tour strike action
Shane Lowry is someone who has spoken frankly about the influence of LIV Golf in the past, although he had not opened up to the media directly after news of the new partnership first broke.
He has now talked publicly about it for the first time. As part of the tour's Player Advisory Council, he was always likely to play a role in discussions behind the scenes in the aftermath of last week's events.
Speaking to RTÉ radio, the Offaly man revealed that players raised the possibility of strike action at the Canadian Open, only for Lowry to step in. He also said he feels for the top players who have been asked to speak about the new partnership with PIF in public despite not knowing the details of the arrangement.
I just don't know any more, I guess we don't really know what's going on.
We have no information, we have no idea what deal the PGA Tour have signed up for so we just don't know.
I’ve said this all along, but it’s the only thing you can do as a golfer, is worry about yourself and try t0 play good golf and the rest will take care of itself.
I stayed quiet enough last week, I didn’t do much media or I didn't do any media because I actually have no answers to any questions because I just don’t know...
Yeah I did, it was brief. Obviously tensions were a little bit high, they're not really high, but a couple of lads started talking about 'what if we didn't play this week'.
I was like, 'Right lads, let’s take a chill for a minute here. RBC have been a great sponsor to the Tour and are great to us, and they put on two great tournaments, so like that’s not going to do anything for anybody doing that. Let’s just go out and do our jobs which is what we're all here to do, and everything else will take care of itself'...
I do feel for the top, top guys that have been involved in the whole thing.
I've obviously been there among the pack and I've been involved in a lot of meetings and stuff over the last number of months, but the guys who have to go out and sit in front of the world's media and explain stuff that they don't really know much about, I do feel for them.
The talk about the PGA Tour and their partnership with PIF will likely take a back seat once the golf starts at the US Open, although it is clear that there are quite a few details that will need to be ironed out in the months ahead.
When players were even contemplating strike action, you know that there is a huge sense of discontent among the tour professionals at the moment.
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