'I Was Honest And Up Front Of Why I Joined LIV And It Was Purely For The Money' - Richard Bland On LIV Golf Decision, His Retirement Plans And Response To Saudi Money Critics

In wide-ranging interview in the latest Monthly Meets episode, which took place before his stunning US Senior Open triumph, Englishman Richard Bland went into detail on his reasons for joining LIV Golf and his retirement plans.

Bland is "not ashamed" to say that money was the sole factor in his move to LIV Golf, despite not being paid a 'penny' in signing bonuses - and he made the right decision as he won over $3.5m in the inaugural season and more than $4.4m in 2023 from the tournaments that offer $20m purses for the individual elements.

On the 2024 LIV Golf money list he has picked up a further $2.3m plus he won $630,000 for his senior PGA win and $800,000 at the US Senior Open. He has won just under €8m in 511 tournament on the DP World Tour.

"That was purely why I did it. I wasn't trying to pull the wool over anybody's eyes. I was honest and up front of why I joined LIV and it was purely for the money," he told Golf Monthly's Dan Parker.

"I know people have been slated, you know, 'it's growing the game, it's doing this doing that, whatever,' I purely went for one thing and one thing only, and I'm not ashamed to say that.

"I had the opportunity to make my life, my family's life and whatever we do as a family a lot more easier. So as I say it was a no brainer."

While Bland admitted he joined for the financial gain, he insisted he did not receive any form of signing on bonus and said that big names like Bryson DeChambeau, Brooks Koepka and Jon Rahm all deserved their nine-figure deals.

"You know, as I've said many times like I know a lot of people who believe me when I say this but LIV didn't offer me a dollar, it was just purely the opportunity to play," he said.

"So no matter what people might think, whether I'm lying or not telling the truth on this side, I've got nothing to hide I never have. So it was just purely the opportunity to play and I had to play well enough to stay on LIV.

"Obviously it was a decision that I had to talk to my wife and to my family about and in the end it was quite an easy decision for me.

"I didn't sign for one penny and that was fine and I don't begrudge the guys that signed for tens of millions or whatever, they earned it that's fine.

"They've been at the sharp end of golf so to speak at the high end of the world rankings for a lot longer than I was. I'd only been there a year sort of buzzing around the top 50. So how can I suddenly go right I want $10 million? It's kind of like getting above your station a little bit.

"Those guys, the DJs and the Brookses and the Brysons, they've been top 10 in the world for probably a decade. Me buzzing around 50th for 6-9 months, it's a little different. I was just thankful that they believed in me and gave me the opportunity and hopefully I've repaid that to them."

He also admitted that around one-third of fans' views towards him were critical of his decision and "that's absolutely fine" but that anyone would do the same if they were offered large sums of money.

"Generally that was the feeling most people [had], you know at my stage of my career. Yeah 'you know what, I would have done the same'," he said on the reception he received and how most people respected how he was finally reaping the financial rewards after the hard yards he'd put into the game.

"I'd have probably put it at a two-thirds, one-third split that you've got the third that don't like it and they take the moral high ground on it, that where the money was coming from and the sort of human rights issues that we know that are still ongoing in Saudi Arabia and what have you.

"Like I've said to people, it's very, very easy to take moral high ground when when it's not there in front of you.

"I've said a few times a record, if I turned up to somebody's house that was giving me a hard time over it, look if I turn up with a briefcase of say five million dollars in a briefcase and say 'look, this is yours. Now, this will set up your family for the rest of your life, it'll put your kids through private education if you want that. It secures their future, your future, whatever you want to do for the rest of your life. I said but this is where the money has come from.'

"The briefcase would be on the other side of the door within five seconds. It would, because it's there in front of them. When it's not there in front of them it's very, very easy to go 'Oh you shouldn't have done this. You shouldn't have done that' and I get it, that's your opinion, and that's absolutely fine. We all have it."

Bland hopes to play in LIV Golf for at least another 18 months to two years having now had his contract renewed with Martin Kaymer's Cleeks GC side. Once his time is up on the 54-hole circuit, he says he is ready to walk away into the sunset.

"I will play LIV for as long as I can and probably when that finishes, that's probably me done," the 51-year-old said.

"This is why I'm not probably losing a huge amount of sleep over the sort of denial of an exemption to Champions tour because as I feel right now I don't really have any desire to go play.

"So yeah obviously it's probably well documented my brother's health has not been great so that's really kind of shifted kind of what I want to do in the future. I don't particularly want to be playing competitively when I'm sort of 55, 56, whatever. I certainly don't unless I'm still playing LIV by some miracle.

"Of course I would still play golf. I'll probably still go to play [Senior] US PGA because I'm exempt for life, who knows. But as it stands right now, when my LIV career ends, I end so to speak.

"You've been on the wheel for sort of 30 years and at some point you got to get off. And I want to do things with my wife, go travel.

"As I've said loads of times I've been to a lot of places in the world, but I've really seen an awful lot of it. A lot of hotel rooms, a lot of golf courses.

"So it'd be nice to sort of go away for maybe three weeks and you haven't got that thing that's spinning around in your head going like, you know, 'I'm not practising, I'm not doing this, I'm not doing that.'

"Just get away from it all. I'm actually looking forward to that. It's coming to an end."

Bland would have had the option to play on the PGA Tour Champions had he not joined LIV, with his Senior PGA Championship win, and then US Senior Open triumph, qualifying him for tour membership - under usual circumstances.

However, as LIV Golf is a rival to the PGA Tour, and the US-based circuit runs the PGA Tour Champions, Bland was ineligible to gain a card. All LIV players have been suspended from the PGA Tour since the first ball was struck in the 2022 LIV Golf London debut.

He's not too bothered, though, calling it the PGA Tour Champions' loss and "not mine."

The LIV Golfer admitted he's "not losing any sleep" over the decision to not gain a tour card like other senior Major winners but wishes the PGA Tour would have been honest with him over its decision.

"I knew it was coming but I just wished the PGA Tour would have been honest about it. They've kind of hidden behind this 'It was a non-PGA Tour sanctioned event', which hang on a second, you give a exemption to the Champions Tour to every Major champion.

"Whether it's R&A, US Open, US PGA. They get that exemption. Paul Broadhurst got it when he won the [Senior] Open, Steven Dodd got it when he won the British Open Seniors and that's R&A and they say the R&A stand outside of the PGA Tour exemptions, well actually they don't - you give that exemption.

"So just come out and say what it is, it's because I play LIV. And that's fine, I knew that and I'm not losing any sleep over it at all but just be honest. They call LIV a rival tour to the PGA Tour, okay fine, but is it really a rival tour to the champions?

"Probably not, so I don't really see what they get out of it. I'm not saying I would take up that exemption and go play a full schedule, I might have played a couple at the end of the year, who knows. As far as I'm concerned it's their loss not mine."