The PGA Tour-LIV Golf split has been the subject of many a debate.
However what is not in doubt is the majors are the only time the very best golfers in the world all lock horns.
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Ahead of the third major of the year – on perhaps the toughest course on the US Open circuit – nine-time major champion Gary Player has reopened the debate about the value of wins.
Outside of the majors Player believes golf tournament winners – on both sides of the divide – should have an asterisk attached to their names due to the world’s leading professionals being divided by rival Tours.
In an exclusive talkSPORT interview with Jim White, 1965 US Open champion Player insisted that although the standard of the game in in a good place, having elite players on the PGA Tour and LIV Golf is damaging the sport.
World No 1 Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy remain the headline acts for the PGA Tour, while the LIV Golf stable includes the likes of Bryson DeChambeau and Jon Rahm, both in-form major champions.
“Golf is very healthy at the moment, but if only LIV Golf and the normal tour could get together, because confrontation is not good,” said Player, a nine-time major champion.
“Now here’s the thing. When you win a golf tournament today, you can’t say that you won a tournament with the world’s best players, because half are on the LIV Golf tour and half are on the regular tour.
“So there should be an asterisk when you win a tournament. If you win a major, that’s different. But it’s a pity it’s got to this.”
It is not the first time that a golf pro has called for asterisks to be attached to tournament victories, with LIV Golf star Talor Gooch even questioning the validity of a Masters win.
In an interview with Australian Golf Digest last year, Gooch said: “If Rory McIlroy goes and completes his Grand Slam without some of the best players in the world, there’s just going to be an asterisk.
“It’s just the reality. I think everybody wins whenever the majors figure out a way to get the best players in the world there.”
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McIlroy brushed aside Gooch’s comments and believed his quotes had possibly been taken out of context. “I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt,” he said.
And an asterisk would not have been in McIlroy’s thoughts when he finally completed a career Grand Slam of majors at Augusta in April following an epic final-day battle with Justin Rose.
He joined an elite group of six men, including Player, to have won all four major crowns, and Player acknowledged McIlroy’s achievement while also paying tribute to Rose.
Asked if he was delighted to see McIlroy add his name to the Grand Slam club, Player said: “Yes, absolutely. He’s completed the set, he’s a wonderful golfer and a fine young man.
“And then we have Justin Rose, who was victorious in defeat. He missed a short putt to win the Masters, and I felt very sorry for him because I’ve been second three times. Only your wife and your dog know who’s second, unfortunately!
“He’s a wonderful young man as well. So isn’t that wonderful? First and second in The Masters both from Britain.”
McIlroy’s form has taken a dip since he left Augusta National with a priceless Green Jacket, with Scheffler the bookies favorite to win this week’s US Open at Oakmont.
Scheffler claimed the third major of his career at Qual Hollow in winning the PGA Championship but is expected to face a stiff challenge.
A trio of LIV Golf stars in defending champion DeChambeau, 2021 winner Rahm, and an in-form Joaquin Niemann, a four-time champion this season.
Although many LIV Golf fans insist the current Official World Golf Rankings are not fit for purpose, Player has no doubts over who is currently the best golfer on the planet.
“Scottie Scheffler is without a doubt the best player in the world today,” the South African legend said.
“Lee Trevino, who’s a great judge, was telling me that he watched him hitting balls the other day. He said ‘he is so good’, and it’s wonderful to see that.”