Ken Green minces no words on LIV Golf, PGA Tour and its defectors

Ken Green has never held back, whether it was aiming at tucked pins or golf’s establishment.

His language was usually as colorful as his golf wardrobe (think his surname).

The five-time PGA Tour champion and former Ryder Cup member has played little competitive golf since losing his right leg in an RV accident in 2009, but the West Palm Beach resident has paid close attention to the sport.

He’s not a fan of what’s been happening lately, especially with the Saudi-backed LIV Golf changing the face of professional golf by luring away a dozen PGA Tour stars with nine-figure, guaranteed contracts.

“I have a theory this is all about revenge for the Saudis,” Green said Friday while talking about his return to competitive golf in this week’s inaugural U.S. Adaptive Open Championship at Pinehurst. “The (PGA) Tour screwed them over some way, whether it was real or perceived. I think they are trying to bring down the tour. I think that’s all the Saudis care about — to hurt the PGA Tour.

“I know that’s (Greg) Norman’s thoughts,” Green said, referring to the Palm Beach Gardens resident, Hall of Famer and LIV chairman. “Does anyone really believe the Saudis will be in this for the long run? If the Saudis win, professional golf will change forever, and that’s something no fan of the sport wants.”

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Green has never been a big fan of Tiger Woods, but he praised the Jupiter Island resident for turning down LIV’s offer — likely more than a quarter billion dollars — to join. Woods has remained one of the PGA Tour’s biggest supporters, and likely the most important.

“As much as I have beaten up Tiger over the years, he might have saved the tour,” Green said. “If Tiger walks, a lot of people will follow him. He gets a lot of credit for that.”

Green doesn’t hide his disdain, however, for players such as Phil Mickelson, Dustin Johnson, Brooks Koepka and Bryson DeChambeau, who each took more than $100 million to join LIV.

“How much money do these guys need?” Green said. “Fifty to 150 million isn’t enough? I have no problem with young kids taking the money. But these big names who have taken the money and turning their back on the tour? It’s disgusting.

“I would have never taken the money, and you know I don’t agree with the tour on the many things.”

Perhaps to prove his point, Green took aim at the three most recent PGA Tour commissioners: Deane Beman, Tim Finchem and Jay Monaghan. He said they are the root of the PGA Tour’s problems.

“Professional golf is the most honest game on planet Earth,” Green said, “and we have been controlled for 50 years by three of the most dishonest men around.”

The 63-year-old Green, who won all five of his tournaments in the late 1980s, had more than his share of run-ins with the tour brass over the years. He once took pride in saying he was the most-fined player in the game — perhaps until John Daly came along.

Green also ran into trouble with Masters officials when he once snuck in friends at Augusta National who hid in his trunk as he drove up Magnolia Lane. Kind of what we all used to do as kids at drive-ins.

It’s been a rough 13 years for Green, who lost his girlfriend, brother and dog in the RV accident on a Mississippi interstate when a tire blew out and the vehicle slammed into a tree. Prior to the accident, he played in 18 tournaments on the PGA Tour Champions, with about $150,000 in earnings and one top-10 finish. (He earned $3.74 million on the PGA Tour.)

Between his PGA Tour pension and a “small settlement” from the tire company, Green said he makes about $100,000 a year — enough to pay his bills. He said he received just one sponsor exemption onto the 50-and-older circuit after he lost part of his right leg.

“How I only received one exemption is mind boggling to me,” Green said. “You can’t tell me Finchem didn’t have something to do with that. I know I had a reputation, but I was one of the best players ever to play with in a pro-am. I would teach them and they would have a blast. I was a home run in the pro-ams.”

And he hasn’t stopped swinging for the fences, verbally.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Ken Green: Tiger Woods 'might have saved' PGA Tour from LIV Golf