Richard Bland has retained his slot on LIV Golf for at least one more year. After that, his options look rather scarce…
Richard Bland says he has no intention of paying his DP World Tour fines as he instead looks to bow out of the game on his own terms.
The Englishman has not done anything the easy way. He famously needed 478 attempts to finally win a DP World Tour title when he lifted the trophy at the British Masters in 2021. A few months later, he was playing in the WGC-Match Play – a tournament for which he had qualified thanks to a runner-up finish at the Dubai Desert Classic that had lifted him into the top 50 in the world – when everything started to change.
Bland was playing against Lee Westwood at the now defunct event when his compatriot asked him if he had been approached by a start-up tour called LIV Golf.
“Why on earth would they want to talk to me?” Bland told TG. “But he said, ‘Blandy, you’re top 60 in the world, they’re going to want to talk to you.’ Sure enough, the guy who was looking after a few things for me started the conversation and they offered me a spot at the first event at Centurion.”
Bland has since become a regular on Martin Kaymer’s Cleeks team and has banked more than $17 million in four years on the league.
It’s a long way from the player who was still living at home at 29 because he refused to buy a property until he knew he could afford it.
But even with all these newfound riches, Bland said he won’t be returning to DP World Tour-sanctioned events – including the seniors circuit, on which he is a two-time major champion – mainly because he has no intention of doing what needs to be done to make that happen.
“I’m banned pretty much everywhere else bar LIV,” he said. “I can’t play the Legends Tour because of the money that I owe in fines – which I’m not going to pay.”
But that’s not the only issue.
“Speaking to guys that I know and grew up playing with, that tour is quite tough,” he explained. “You play a lot of pro-ams and, while I don’t want this to come across the wrong way, I don’t particularly want to go back to playing tournaments that are worth €300,000. I’m not going to get excited by that.”
Instead, Bland seems quite happy to pack it all in.
“It’s a bit like nicotine, isn’t it?” he said. “My wife tells me I’ll never retire. But I know the end is getting closer.
“I’ve done quite well on LIV, but it hasn’t changed who I am. All it’s done is afford me the chance to call it quits on my terms. I haven’t got to worry too much about my future now. I don’t need to go and do something else.
“I want to retire from the game. I don’t want the game to retire me.
“But do I see myself playing competitively five years from now? No, I don’t.”
Richard Bland was talking to TG’s Michael Catling. You can read the full interview here.
