The Herald (South Africa)

No LIV rumours about me, says Fitzpatric­k

● England golfer looking to defend RBC Heritage title

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If another wave of players defecting to LIV Golf is on the horizon, it isn’t going to include Matt Fitzpatric­k.

On the same day Rory McIlroy denied reports of an $850m (R16bn) offer from the Saudi Arabian-backed league and with rumours swirling about a potential defection by Viktor Hovland, Fitzpatric­k reiterated that he has no intention of signing with LIV.

“There have been no rumours about me,” Fitzpatric­k said on Tuesday ahead of his title defence at the RBC Heritage.

“For me, I want to stay out of it. “I don’t really have any interest. “I want to play tournament­s like obviously the RBC Heritage, I want to play The Players Championsh­ip, I want to go and play BMW Wentworth.

“That’s what’s important to me, that’s what I want to go do and that’s what I’ll continue to do.”

Fitzpatric­k said he felt like the direction of the PGA Tour was clarified for him a bit after talking to Andy Cohen of the SSG Group, which is investing billions into the for-profit PGA Tour Enterprise­s.

“I felt like he made things a lot more clear to me and I felt a bit more positive and comfortabl­e about the future with that partnershi­p,” Fitzpatric­k said.

“That’s kind of the only thing that I’ve really gone off that I’ve felt good about.

“I just don’t want to get involved in it. I’m not smart enough to get involved in it for one.

“Two, I just think what am I going to do?

“What’s my opinion going to matter anyway?

“So there’s no point.” Fitzpatric­k is 12th in the Official World Golf Ranking entering the RBC Heritage, one spot below countryman Tommy Fleetwood.

However, he is also 29th in the FedExCup standings as Fleetwood looks ahead at a four-month grind that includes signature events mixed with three majors before the start of the playoffs.

The 2022 US Open champion does believe something will eventually have to give when looking at a yearly calendar that requires consistent competitio­n on the PGA Tour from January until August before heading back to Europe to play in a select handful of events.

“I’m full focus over here. You want to be in events like this. “You want to be here.

“You want to be part of the signature events.

“You want to be playing the best events; the best fields.

“There’s no doubt about it, the best money,” Fitzpatric­k said.

“That’s what you want to do. There’s no hiding that.

“There’s nothing that sort of entices me to go to European play between January to August other than the Scottish Open.

“I think, obviously, in an ideal world I would love it if the PGA Tour went and did something a bit more in the summer, maybe June or something, go and play in Italy or Germany or France or wherever. “That would be great.

“I think in the long run, if it stays like this, then obviously there’s going to become a tipping point where ‘do I really want to go and play another four or five in Europe at the end of the year’, because this is where I’ve got to concentrat­e.

“I don’t know how that’s going to look. ”

 ?? Picture: MIKE BLAKE/REUTERS ?? FULL FOCUS: England’s Matthew Fitzpatric­k lines up his putt during the Masters on Friday. He said on Tuesday ahead of his title defence at the RBC Heritage that he has no intention of signing with LIV Golf
Picture: MIKE BLAKE/REUTERS FULL FOCUS: England’s Matthew Fitzpatric­k lines up his putt during the Masters on Friday. He said on Tuesday ahead of his title defence at the RBC Heritage that he has no intention of signing with LIV Golf

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