Why Richard Bland Skipped the U.S. Senior Open for LIV Dallas

Veteran Englishman Richard Bland delivered a 3-under 69 at LIV Golf Dallas, putting himself in contention heading into the final round. In this interview, Bland shares his thoughts on:

Why he chose LIV Dallas over defending the U.S. Senior Open

How the tough Maridoe course suits his old-school shotmaking

Chasing his first LIV Golf win

Staying consistent at 51 against stars like Rahm, Bryson, and Brooks

His mindset, strategy, and staying cool in the Texas heat

With three English players in the top seven, Bland explains what it takes to thrive under pressure — and why he believes LIV Golf has made him a better, more consistent player.

📺 Watch his full press conference and follow along as he makes one final push for the title.

#LIVGolf #RichardBland #GolfPressConference #LIVDallas #CleeksGC #VeteranGolf #ChasingTheWin #GolfMindset

all right let’s welcome to the uh Livov Dallas Media Center richard Bland of Clicks GC richard Shaw three under 69 you’re tied for fourth going into the final round obviously you made the decision to play here this week instead of a US Senior Open can you given your position on the leaderboard looks like a pretty smart move right now uh yeah you know it’s uh yeah it’s it’s tough you know obviously you always want to defend you know something that you you won the year before especially you know a tournament like uh the senior US Open but you know as always you know I I’m committed to live um so um yeah I I didn’t even ask the question uh I know I have a contract and I have to honor that so uh I know I’ve taken a little bit of stick back home for it but um yeah it’s one of those unfortunate things you I spoke with the the USGA um they were fine with it obviously of course they’re disappointed um but uh it’s it’s it’s just one of those unfortunate things you know I know Live are trying to put the best schedule together that they can with the weeks that they have um and of course they’ll always of course they’re never going to put a Live event against a major uh or or a yeah a real time major if you want to call it that but um yeah it’s unfortunate so obviously I would love to be there but also you know I’m also committed uh and I love playing live uh I love playing for the clicks um so yeah you know I I’m I’m happy obviously a lot of shot makers at the top of that leaderboard uh especially on a course at 7,500 yards what have you found out there this week at Merido
uh yeah it’s certainly played a little different to to the team championship last year i think we’re here a little later so probably you know I’m sure a couple more weeks of this kind of weather that that rough’s probably going to burn out um but right now it’s yeah it’s pretty thick um you know you can have some you can be two three yards off the fairway and you can only shift it 50 60 yards um so you got to you know you got to drive the ball well um you know I’m sure probably if you look at the at the leaderboard and their stats I I imagine yeah the top 10 are all probably you know the top dozen of the driving stats i I would I would assume you know you can’t play this place from the rough so um yeah it’s a challenge you know with that wind out there it’s drying it out um yeah it makes them you know there’s a lot of the thing is with this course it’s a lot of crosswinds you’re never really playing kind of into or straight down it’s always in off the right or down off the left it’s it’s never So you’re always trying to have to kind of flight shots into into holes so yeah it it’s yeah it’s almost kind of like a little oldfashioned playing which I guess kind of sinks me
and uh you finished in the lock zone every year that you’ve been out here at Liv Golf obviously that’s continues to be a goal entering this year but now you’re also chasing your first win at Liv there’s a lot on the line for you tomorrow it seems yeah but you know I like I always kind of just remind myself there’s you know I’ve experienced most things on a golf course so you know I don’t that’s kind of one thing that I try you know just to kind of set myself down a little bit of course I’m going to be nervous on the first te tomorrow of course I am because I care but you know I’ve played enough golf that anything that happens out there I’ve probably experienced before and I’ve handled it before so um of course you know you’ve got what am I four behind Patrick so you know looking like the way he’s playing he he’s not going to go backwards we we’ve got to go get him so um I’ll certainly try and play as aggressive as I can um depending on the shots that I’ve got straight in front of me um but yeah of course I want to play I want to play live 26 um and hopefully I can you know I can certainly secure that tomorrow but also you know kind of give Pat a run hopefully down the stretch
all right we’ll open it up for questions for Richard Bland matt over here richard I think a lot of fans are wondering how is it possible that you continue to play such a high level golf at this stage of your career on such a consistent basis um just playing against the guys that are out here you know when you play against Bryson and John Ram and Brooks uh those guys I have to play my best golf there’s no ifs or buts about it i can’t turn up here and play bring my C game and expect to compete with John i I can’t do it uh that’s just not going to happen so I have to bring my agame every single time so doesn’t mean to say that’s that’s what I am going to do but if I’ve got any chance of competing I’ve got to play up to towards some of the best golf I can play uh so it just it just brings it out of you there’s no there’s no other way i have that’s what I have to do so but also it kind of drags when I’m not playing quite so well it elevates that a little bit better so um so yeah I’m I’m coming to live has made me a much better player than I was how long we’ve been going now four years four years yeah I I’m a much better player or a more consistent player because I have to be i have to bring that level of game to have any any chance
thank you one last question for me Richard three Englishmen in the top seven leaderboard obviously you guys are so used to playing in 90 degree plus heat what’s what’s the secret out there
well it’s it’s pretty much 90 degrees in the UK right now um of course you’ve you know you’ve got to stay hydrated um and you know when things are not quite going your way you’ve just got to stay you know as as patient as you can you know the last thing you can be doing out there is is kind of getting hot under the collar because that’s just going to uh yeah you’re going to kind of blow a gasket doing that so um so yeah so even you know when you know a couple of holes today when it looks like you know it’s it’s kind of going the wrong way for me right just try and stay as patient as you can if you can just if worst case make a bogey get out of there right you know the last thing you need to be doing is making doubles or worse because you know they’re they’re they’re tough to get over especially in this heat so um a lot of rest tonight just chill out um get some treatment get Pierre to give me a rub down this evening and again tomorrow uh yeah just get ready to go so uh yeah 12:00 tomorrow I’ll be ready
all right we appreciate the time all the best tomorrow
thank you thanks