David Puig was one of many first school gamers who was introduced with this sort of alternative as he was contemplating his skilled golf future.
Go the standard route and attempt to earn his means onto the PGA Tour, or take a contract with LIV Golf, the place he may make cash instantly.
Puig shocked the golf world when he left Arizona State early in his senior yr, turned professional and joined LIV Golf in September 2022. The then-20-year-old was the first newbie golfer to go straight from school golf to the brand new Saudi-backed PGA Tour-rival.
On this week’s episode of GOLF’s Subpar, Puig went over the circumstances of the choice with co-hosts Colt Knost and Drew Stoltz. Puig mentioned at first he had reservations about making a league simply because he was unsure the place issues had been going to go together with the upstart league.
‘A fairly simple resolution’: How LIV Golf courted one in all golf’s prime amateurs
“However I talked with my dad and mom and with my workforce, and we simply thought that making that call was the perfect for us,” he mentioned. “However there was just a few reactions from folks like, who is that this man or we’re by no means gonna know him or this man sucks, LIV sucks, all that by means of social media. However hopefully, you already know, it clearly acquired higher, however hopefully it retains getting higher sooner or later.”
After the previous few years, Puig mentioned he has felt tensions soften a bit, particularly with the play of among the leagues stars like Brooks Koepka and Bryson DeChambeau, who gained majors in 2023 and 2024.
“So I don’t know if it’s gonna get higher or not, however no less than the followers, I believe they’re simply beginning to understand that we’re simply not unhealthy folks or something like that,” he mentioned. “We’re simply enjoying some other place.”
As a result of Puig went straight to LIV Golf, the PGA Tour instantly suspended him and he has but to ever tee it up in a PGA Tour occasion, aside from 4 main appearances the final two seasons. However that doesn’t imply he has any regrets.
“I like it, man. They do an superior job,” he mentioned. “I imply, we’ve been just about in every single place on the planet. They deal with us very, very effectively. The programs are nice. Persons are nice. The gamers are, you already know, in the event you’re trying like historical past of the gamers, I imply, there’s quite a lot of gamers which are unbelievable golfers. So for me, simply enjoying with them, alongside them and simply sort of studying from them, it’s been unbelievable.”
For extra from Puig, together with who the highest tempers on LIV Golf are, watch the complete episode beneath.
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