PGA Tour Champions : KitchenAid Results
When Englishman Richard Bland was 48 he made headlines, especially in the UK where he was beloved for playing 477 events without a win on the European Tour, when he won #478, the Betfred British Masters in 2021, the oldest player to win for the first time.
Shortly after LIV had arrived and came calling, with more money on offer for free than the journeyman had won in his lifetime, he joined others and jumped. He decision was not a popular one at the time you may remember, but a no brainer for him, especially with a brother who has been fighting for his life with cancer.
Last year he wrote to the PGA of America asking for the opportunity to play their Senior PGA Championship (sponsored by KitchenAid) and accepted their invitation.
This year he was back and with rounds of 64 66 74 63 -17 he won worth $670,000.
Normally he would automatically qualify for the much coveted 1 year exemption on the PGA Tour Champions.
Not so for the man known to all as 'Blandy.''
" In spite of the win, because of competing in an unauthorized event by the PGA Tour he will be ineligible for PGA Tour affiliated events.
The PGA of America, R&A, USGA all operate based on criteria of their own"
He will however qualify for the US Senior Open and the Senior Open.
Opinion : This is just another example for the garbled mess the world of pro golf is in. In two weeks he will still be in the US but playing on the LIV event at the Golf Club of Houston,
Richard admitted to feeling torn at his post game presser " Yeah I'm trying to take it all in right now, kind of being pulled this way and that"
The bottom line is the LIV membership excludes him from any event affiliated with the PGA Tour, and Blandy has all the LIV money in the bank, which is why he joined so is not eligible.
Being able to play the Champions Tour is the goal of most PGA Tour / DP World Tour players once they turn 50, only 5 qualify through Q School, the others gain admittance based on their career earnings. Blandy gave up that option for the Saudi guaranteed cash.
So LIV inadvertently has been a boon to the PGA Tour, forcing them to ratchet up their prize money with new $20,000,000 dollar reduced field signature events, a myriad of other improved financial opportunities, a $1.5 billion dollar investment from a group of wealthy Americans headed by the Fenway Sports Group..... which has now made LIV and their Saudi PIF obsolete to all but their members in 2024. Blandy is one of them...
Still, good for him, a 63 on Sunday to win a major championship is now in his resume that he'll cherish forever, and be able to tell his LIV teammates about, in 2 weeks as they play for millions, in obscurity with no major TV coverage, in America where their players are banned by the PGA Tour, but welcomed by the USGA, and PGA of America,,,
'What a tangled web we weave " is the old adage that is as true today as ever..
Bryan Angus
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