LIV Golf's Graeme McDowell reveals abuse on social media after joining Saudi-backed league
LIV Golf has come under scrutiny over its ties to Saudi Arabia
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Graeme McDowell was one of the golfers who decided to jump to LIV Golf and admitted before the Saudi-backed league’s first tournament that he was proud of joining the new tour.
However, McDowell revealed Monday he was dealing with some regret over the remarks. He said he has received a swath of negative comments on social media with some telling him to "go die."
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Northern Ireland's Graeme McDowell of Team Niblicks GC, signs a hat for a fan, during day three of the LIV Golf Invitational Series at the Centurion Club, Hertfordshire. Picture date: Saturday June 11, 2022. (Kieran Cleeves/PA Images via Getty Images)
"I can't turn on my Instagram or Twitter account without someone telling me to go die. I just wish I had said nothing. I wish I had sat there and shook my head and said 'no comment' but it's not who I am," he told BBC.
"It's really hard because I'm being asked questions that there are no right answers to. I'm having my moral integrity attacked all the time when all I'm trying to do is play golf."
McDowell said he is just trying to make a good "business decision" to support his family.
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Graeme McDowell of Northern Ireland on the seventh during day one of the JP McManus Pro-Am at Adare Manor Golf Club in Adare, Limerick. (Ramsey Cardy/Sportsfile via Getty Images)
"I'm trying to make a business decision for me and my family. I've chased that money all over the world all my career. Do I research into the morals of every dollar I've ever made? No I don't," he said. "It is about the money, and I think most guys would happily say that to you. They're there for the financial opportunity, no doubt about it.
"There is more to what it is we're trying to create - a new product for the fans. The 54-hole shotgun team format is fun, it's different. But no-one cares about that right now, they only care about the negativity."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Big purses and big contracts were a big part of what drew most PGA Tour pros to LIV Golf, whether they admit or not.
U.S. Open champion Curtis Strange told Fox News Digital he just wants those players to come clean about their intentions.
"I understand the players going. I do because it's so large, it's life-changing," Strange said. "Now, some people will say, ‘Well, they already make a lot of money.’ Yes, they do. But some of these players are at the end of their careers, and so they're not going to make huge amounts of money for the next, you know, number of years.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Graeme McDowell, of Northern Ireland, on the seventh during day one of the JP McManus Pro-Am at Adare Manor Golf Club in Adare, Limerick. (Ramsey Cardy/Sportsfile via Getty Images)
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"It isn't about not liking the tour. This isn’t about what the tour hasn't done. It isn't about I want to see my family more in a year. It is not about having more time to myself. These guys don't play that much anyway. It's all about this huge appearance money. And that's it. That's the bottom line."
Fox News’ Paulina Dedaj contributed to this report.