RICHARD BLAND: Playing On LIV, Winning Majors And His Career Renaissance | Monthly Meets

In the second episode of Monthly Meets, our in-depth interview series with some of the biggest names in golf, Dan Parker sits down with LIV Golfer and now two-time senior major champion Richard Bland to discuss his career, the process of joining LIV and what the future holds.

This video was filmed in late May, specifically the week after Richard won the US Senior PGA Championship – hence no reference to him then winning the US Senior Open. His Cleeks GC team also went on to win the LIV Houston event the week after this interview.

Be sure to tune in every month for more big interviews with some of the most high profile names in the sport! Massive thanks to Richard for being so generous with his time and joining us for the second episode of Monthly Meets and to the Wisley for hosting us!

CHAPTERS
Introduction 0:00-0:28
Winning the US Senior PGA 0:28-2:51
Not being exempt on the Seniors Tour 2:51-5:31
Winning the British Masters 5:31-10:22
Leading the US Open 10:22-12:48
First signing for LIV 12:48-16:27
The reaction when he joined LIV 16:27-19:08
Post-LIV plans 19:08-25:09
Money in LIV 25:09-26:37
What LIV is like day-to-day 26:37-29:37
Playing as part of a team 29:37-34:24
How should world golf look in 5 years? 34:24-38:35
Quickfire questions 38:35-39:44

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you know I was I was honest and upfront of why I joined Liv and it was purely for the money you know Liv didn’t offer me a dollar yeah it’s very very easy to take the moral High Ground when when it’s not there in front of you I just wish the PJ tour would have been honest about it it’s because I play Live been on the sort of on the wheel for nearly 30 years and some point you got to get [Music] off uh Richard thank you for joining us appreciate some time now I’ve done all my research a couple of weeks ago prior to you going on to then win the PJ senior Championship so I’ve got to start with that and you know another career highlight in this sort of Indian summer of a career you’re having where does it match up with the British Masters for you uh to be fair to you I haven’t really thought about it a huge amount um as such uh you know for one it’s you know it’s still kind of sinking in uh obviously being sort of been quite busy with this kind of stuff this week so so uh uh I think as you know I I’ll kind of let it sort of percolate over them however the coming weeks uh and kind of see it’s uh uh obviously the British Masters is always special uh I guess you always kind of remember your first so to speak um so uh yeah obviously of course it’s going to be it’s going to be right up there uh obviously winning a senior major is um you know kind of dream come true stuff so uh like you say right now uh I I I probably can’t answer that question but you know obviously it’s very very special and uh yeah hopefully there’s more to come we’ll see um but uh yeah you know to go out there and win at your first try uh glad it didn’t take 478 tries um so uh but yeah it was uh yeah it was a great week and on that being able to win for the first time you appear in the seniors uh event to me that shows that lives keeping your game really sharp like how sharp is your game playing on Liv and it you know at the same level it was when you were having that hot summer in 2021 it’s it’s actually better wow okay um like I’ve said many times uh on record that Liv has made me better um you know I would play against DJ Brooks and Bryson and some of the best players in the world once maybe twice a year in a major if I qualified uh now I get to play against them 14 times a year I said so so uh I know every single week that I play on Liv um I have to bring my best game if I’m going to compete so uh it’s kind of a it’s a no option for me so it just forces me to play better and uh yeah unfortunately it’s worked and um you know you would have been given exemption to the seniors tour had it not been for you on live is that is that frustrating or is it the kind of thing you sort of like is what it is knew it was coming I know I knew it was coming but I I just kind kind of like I just wish the PJ tour would have been honest about it you know 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 RNA US Open us PGA they get that exemption you Paul Bros got it when he won the open Steven Dodd got it when he won the British Open seniors and that’s RNA and they say the RNA they stand outside of the PJ 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 live and that’s fine I you know I knew that and I’m not losing any sleep over it uh at all but just just be honest um but I I kind of don’t see yeah they they call live a rival tour to the PJ tour okay fine but is it really a rival tour to the champions probably not so I don’t really see what you know they they get out of it you know I’m not saying that I would take up that exemption and go play a full schedule um I might have played a couple at the end of the year who knows um but yeah you know as far as I’m concerned it’s it’s their loss not mine absolutely and so did you feel a little bit like you were fighting lives Corner when you were there because no not at all or was it sort of like this is a separate event obviously your first senior event your first senior major did you kind of be able to did you part the live stuff and go right let’s let’s yeah you’re just there you’re purely there to to do your job uh playing and simple so you know I had no thoughts of live while I was out there um of what this would do for that uh as I’m sure the guys at the PGA the week before uh the brookses and the John RS yeah they’re not probably thinking the same that week they’re just purely there to do the best job they can uh and and give themselves the best chance to win so if you’re kind of thinking of of what it’s it going to do for Liv and this that and the other then you you’re not fully focused on the job you’re doing so uh obviously it’s been great the uh the response that I’ve had from Liv afterwards uh you know Greg Norman has texted me loads of players on live have text me or give uh said something on social media so uh um yeah and obviously I’ll see the guys next week so uh um looking forward to that uh we’ll come back on to you know how you got on to live in the future of your game in a little bit but I want to take you back to 2021 if I can and that British Masters win it was your 478th start I remember it being just a really great feel-good story we were still Coy times it was there wasn’t a lot of sport on that came on I think it f a lot of people with joy sure it did with you as well um did it ever feel like a tour like I don’t know where your mindset was did it ever feel like one was coming because it had been taking so long or was it just one of them then where you’re like I’m going to get there in the end my game’s going to click one week yeah I think I was I always kind of knew I was going to get there but I wasn’t really it kind of strange you know I wasn’t exactly showing a huge amount of form coming into it I was making Cuts but not really doing anything and I remember I think we were in tenar Reef I think for two weeks um prior uh obviously like it was during Co and we had two was it the same tournament was it the same week uh same evue I think it was we played two tournaments at the same venue um and I remember went out on Sunday and I just I think I was like 6 under through eight or something like that I just I I couldn’t miss and you know I just started hitting every single shot at the flag and uh and I think I I think I maybe shot six or seven under the last day or something like that to finish maybe just outside the top 10 or something like I can’t I can’t quite remember but I think the big thing for me was cuz we we were on a I think it I was away for a month or 5 weeks because obviously we couldn’t travel we had to travel within Bubbles and uh and what have you uh and I remember that um I went home literally for about 7 hours uh my well she was my fiance back then but now my wife she came she drove up to Birmingham I think we landed at like 1:00 in the morning on uh Tuesday mhm I think it was or was it mon uh no sorry Monday it was a Wednesday start uh and she she drove up to about 2:00 in the morning to Birmingham I went to the belfrey which was 45 minutes in the wrong direction to test and then drove home so we got home about 4:00 uh and I just had like about I think I left at about 1:00 in the afternoon to go back up to the Belfry um and played like nine holes CU we got then we got rained off and then we were starting on on the Wednesday uh just to I don’t know just to kind of like reset um you know unpack the suitcase repack the suitcase that kind of thing that’s one of the thing I always liked about Europe is you could always go home in between events when you in Mainland Europe you could go home right so that was it right that was that week done and then you kind of when you then unpack repack and go on the Tuesday right it’s a new week uh and I and I struggled with that during Co when we were away for four or five weeks at a time I I really struggled with that um and uh and I think that was a that was a huge thing just being able to go home for hardly any time yeah but enough to sort of yeah it just kind of like right draw draw a line understand that right that’s that done it’s now a brand new tournament you know when I couldn’t go home just felt like one week always like flowed into the next and I never really had any like closure of the week before um so I think that played a a huge part I really do and so you said there wasn’t much form going into it um per set you playing fine what like uh it sounds like that that week in tenie where somebody just clicked on the Sunday was that what it was and you were just able to bleed that into the week of the B I think so and I literally I I I I couldn’t miss that week of the belfre I I couldn’t hit a poor shot if I tried you um you know I think I was T green way way way above anybody else uh I think I I missed like single digit greens that’s a tough place for the whole and it was playing quite long it was quite cold uh some of the week um yeah I made I made one bogey all week and that was like I missed from about 3 and a half ft Okay I hold I hold you know all right up and down it a couple of times from some tough spots that yes you could have easily made bogey but I think I missed from about 3 and 1/2 ft uh for a bogey that was that was my only one I think in the third round or something like that um you I I just I I let you say I I couldn’t make a bogey if if I tried to make one um so yeah it was uh you know it’s one of those if I if I had like a an average part week I’d have probably won by about eight but uh obviously you know you always trying to make it difficult for yourself so uh um but yeah you know probably still some of the best te green I’ve ever played so 35 days later you held the 36 hole lead at the US Open you the oldest man to ever done that I think that’s still the record in place can you describe that experience because you’re obviously still sort of riding the coattails and the Whirlwind of what happened at the belfrey how are you able to sort of bring yourself back down go and play in this tough major and play awesome for two days again what happened there still still riding it yeah I think so you know it was fortunate that I think after the British Masters I had a week off I think um and obviously it was pretty hectic with media and everybody wanting a piece of you that week and I didn’t really do much and then I I remember I went to Denmark um and played and it I was really kind of oh where’s my game going to be at I was still quite tired and I remember like I came out the first like five holes and didn’t miss a shot and I thought and I just kind of instantly knew right I’m going to be in this I’m going to be in this right to the end and I think I finished third I think um and yeah it just kind of like it was just great that right okay I hadn’t really practiced that much in the week after the British Masters and like right I I my game’s still there um and then uh I think uh I think maybe it was like a week off uh after Denmark and then I went to uh Us open so I knew that my game was in really good shape and again I just uh probably the best driving week I’ve ever had I mean they always talk at the um US Open how tough it is off the tea I actually thought it was quite easy just because again I just didn’t feel like I could miss a fail um yeah I was hitting 11 12 failers a day even at the weekend when I it didn’t go my way um I still drove it unbelievably well um so yeah to to hold the lead or tied for the lead as it was after 36 holes was you know a great experience and uh you know I’m not the first person to have a poor weekend at a major um that’s you know someone that has been leading certainly at a US Open I certainly won’t be the last so it was just great experience you know just something again that you know right okay if I play if I play the game that I know I can play I can compete against the best in the world uh so I even though it was in the end it was a little bit of a disappointing week but I took a lot out of it and you were the story for I mean a month or two six weeks let’s say after the British masses and and then the Americans sort of saw you and understood your story a little bit more um you know then Liv come knocking do you think would have come knocking were it not for that like hot six weeks like you know I it was such a moment the timing all fell right where do you think that might have slotted in where you think you might live obviously live was the next year yeah you that was 2021 um obviously I was fortunate enough to keep playing really well through 2021 so my world ranking was good uh I think I ended the year around about 80th in the world um so uh and there was obviously we we’d heard rumors that obviously the that uh Saudi Arabia wanted to get into into golf and and that Greg Norman was looking to try and get a a kind of some of the best players in the world playing somewhere else um but I I I at that point at the end of 2021 it wasn’t really on my radar my radar was to uh play DP world and I would have been 49 so yes I could have then gone my my radar was more I can actually go to Champions tour at the end of uh 2022 you could go when you’re 49 but you couldn’t play until you’re 50 but I was 50 in the February so if I happen to get my card at the end of the year I could play a full year and I could still play in Europe because I was exempt so I could kind of pick and choose a little bit but I uh I started the year really well I lost in a playoff uh to Victor in Dubai so then suddenly my world ranking went up to just outside of the top 50 uh and that got me into a couple of PJ tour events uh got me into the match play um and and I remember we were playing the match play uh and in my sort of group it was Bryson Taylor G and Lee all live plays um and I remember Lee was my game on the Friday the last match of the sort of round robing group and I knew I had to beat him to to get through um and we were and I’ve known Lee for 30 years we played amate golf together um and I think we were going down the second or third and he said to me have you spoken to Liv yet and this is when we knew that Liv was really coming around and I was like no why would they want to talk to me so to speak and he goes like Bland he says you’re you’re top 60 in the world they’re going to want to talk to you and I went right really he said yeah and suddenly right okay so I kind of just like parked that for the time being and then when I got home uh I spoke to a couple of people and uh and obviously showed an interest um and yeah and obviously uh you know as I’ve said many times like and I know a lot of people don’t believe me when I say this but um you know Liv didn’t offer me a dollar you know it was just purely the the opportunity to play um so no matter what people might think whether I’m lying or not telling the truth on this I got nothing to hide I never have um so it it was just purely the opportunity to play and I had to play well enough to stay on live um so obviously it was a decision that you I had to talk to my to my wife my family about and and in the end it was it was quite an easy decision for me yeah and you’ve said on on numerous times of record that it was that really easy decision some of your friends and colleagues now on live got quite a lot Flack when that first move happened right and you know your Westwoods your polter your mcdows were take a lot of heat um it feels to me as an onlooker that you weren’t getting much of that but I simply because I think this includes myself and a lot of people it was quite a Feelgood story for you I think people had seen you put the yards in and go go good on Blandy sort of thing what sort of reception did you get and was it those guys sort of taking the Heat and now it’s sort of it’s obviously burned off after the last couple of years and what kind of reception did you get just sort of more from the outside when that move of yours was announced um yeah I think I think I you know generally that was the the feeling most people you know at my stage of my career yeah you know what I would have done the same you know but of course you’ve always got the you know the sort of yeah I’d have probably put it at a 2/3 oneir split that you’ve got the the third that don’t like it m and you know they take the moral High Ground on it that where the money was coming from and what um you know the the the sort of Human Rights issues that we know that still ongoing in uh in Saudi Arabia and what have you but um like I you I’ve said to people I said like yeah it’s very very easy to take the moral High Ground when when it’s not there in front of you yeah I I’ve said a few times in record I said if I turned up to somebody’s house that was giving me a hard time over it look if I turn up with with a briefcase of say $5 million 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 you know the briefcase will be on the other side of the door within 5 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 but um you know when that opportunity is there and I I still had to I still had to prove myself to to be able to do it you know we we knew that that first year was only going to be seven events so this might only be a seven event thing for me so it was a big risk but I thought it was a big risk worth taking and you know I believed enough in my ability that if I play well if I if I know play how the way I can play I can compete there um you know unfortunately it’s paid off well yeah because now we’re in uh you know that third year third year now correct yeah yeah um you’re currently 25th for the season which is right on that bubble um the top 24 automatically get their place next year that middle ground or in a sort of flux period um so play a really good golf now um and you know what’s that main driving factor for you at the minute it’s 14 events a year um is it to just keep playing live for as long as you can enjoy the ride yeah you know obviously we’re in this uh sort of um we’ve had like sort of a month off from live and there’s been this transfer window um where teams can trade if they want to with players um but also uh players that are in their last uh year of a contract can be resigned MH now the ceks have asked for me to be resigned for next year which I’m you know um you I’ve spoken to Martin and Johan our team manager about it and obviously express my gratitude towards that especially Martin that he is someone as there someone as the stature of Martin in the game probably a Hall of Famer um done any everything in the game that you could want to achieve that has the belief in me still when I will be 52 next year that I can contribute to the team um so that that’s a you know that’s a huge confidence boost uh for me that he has that faith in me um so hopefully that will be approved I’d like to think last week bolsters that absolutely um so hopefully I you know I’ll maybe find out in Houston next week or certainly over the next two three weeks that that will be sort of okayed by live um so if that’s the case I I get to play again next year but um yeah right now um as I’ve said you know I will play live for as long as I can and probably when that finishes that’s probably me done okay uh I you know this is why I’m not probably losing a huge amount of sleep over uh the sort of denial of an exemption to Champions Tour because as I feel right now I don’t really have any um desire to go play um so yeah you know obviously it’s you know probably well documented my brother’s Health uh has not been great so uh that’s really kind of um shifted my where I kind of what I want to do in the future you know I I I don’t particularly want to be playing um competitively when I’m sort of 55 56 whatever I I I certainly don’t unless I’m still playing live by some miracle um yeah you know of course I will still play golf you know I’ll probably still go to play usj because obviously I’m exempt for life um who knows but uh as it stands right now um when my Live Career ends I end so to speak hopefully not literally um but that’s kind of my next question was you know it’s kind of void now but if you had been relegated for whatever reason let’s say this year or even the year before would you have taken the option that like bur vbg has done and gone back on the DP World t or was it because and the money is so huge and I don’t be too CR talking about money all the time but as it sort of given you that I can I can stop playing competitive and you did The Yards you’ve done yards that that was purely why I did it you know like you said I I made no uh you know I wasn’t pulling trying to pull the wool over anybody’s eyes you know I was I was honest and up front of why I joined Liv and it was purely for the money you know I I I you know I know people have been slated um you know it’s it’s growing the game it’s doing this doing that whatever you know I I purely went for one thing and one thing only and and I’m not ashamed to say that um you know like I said I had the opport to make my life my family’s you know life and whatever we do as a family a lot more easier um so uh as I say it it was an no-brainer so hopefully yeah I can maybe get you know if I can get another 18 months maybe two years out of live absolutely great but uh yeah once that’s once that’s finished then me playing at the highest level is is is probably done um uh I don’t you know I was it was quite interesting talking to a few of the guys last week playing Champion uh playing the uspga um of what they do on Champions how much do they play and they’re playing 23 24 weeks of the year I I I don’t want to do that in America I I just I don’t want to do it um well that’s how I feel right now maybe in two years time I might feel completely different who knows and my wife keeps saying that y you’ll never retire but um but I quite like the fact of maybe just playing some you know going going on golf trips with my mates um if I play like I’m playing a proam at the end of the year with a with Matt latier and a couple other friends in Arizona and just go play for the enjoyment of it not for the grind of it just go play for the enjoyment uh I’ll always play golf it’ll always be a huge part of my life you know but just come play here more at the wisley uh I’ve got a lot of good friends here and just yeah just kind of chill out man chill out yeah you been on the you know you’ve been on the sort of on the wheel for nearly 30 years at some point you got to get off you know and uh and I want to do things with my wife go travel um yeah as I’ve said loads of times I’ve seen a lot of uh I’ve been to a lot of places in the world but I haven’t really seen an awful lot of it lot of hotel rooms I imagine a lot of hotel rooms a lot of golf courses so it be uh you know be nice to sort of go away for maybe 3 weeks and you’re not you haven’t got that thing that’s spinning around in your head going like you I’m not practicing I’m not doing this I’m not doing that and just you know what just get away from it you know I’m actually looking forward to that uh so I know you know it’s uh it’s coming to an end yeah and I think a lot of people got a lot time and respect for The Upfront honesty of I take it for the money I think that’s what a lot of people want to hear and a lot of people like you know what fa and as to your point earlier when cash is in front of people a lot of people have done the same yeah yeah yeah I got nothing to hide so that you know I I I’ve seen it with a few interviews that I’ve given after the the US PJ seniors that when I’ve said like um you know I didn’t sign for a penny um and people can’t get their head around that but like you said I got I can you know I can prove you know I can prove it I can show you my bank statements if you if they want that you know but I I like you say I didn’t I didn’t sign for one penny and that was fine I had no and I don’t begrudge the guys that signed for tens of millions or whatever they earned it that that’s fine I I I you know I they they were they’ve been at the the sort of the Shar end of goal so to speak at the high end of the world rankers for a lot longer than I was right you know I was I I’d only been there a year in the sort around the buzzing around the top 50 so how can I sort of suddenly go right I want 10 million you know you know it’s just kind of like getting above your station a little bit um you know those guys have been you know the DJs and the brookses and the Bryson they’ve been top 10 in the world for probably a decade you know me buzzing around 50th for you know 6 nine months it’s it’s a little different so uh yeah I was just thankful that they believed in me and gave me the opportunity and uh hopefully I’ve repaid that to them um so I can’t want to talk about Liv you know how it works itself a few questions just from watching it myself and what mates have said and how you find it basically so uh firstly for me uh the music playing in the background as I’ve not been to an event yet on the ground on the Telly it comes across a bit weird I just want to know what your opinions are yeah I think I think they’ve ton it down a little bit I think in 2022 it was probably um probably a little too loud uh but that’s that’s one of the things I love about Liv they they’re you know they’re still evolving mhm you know we knew it was never going to be right day one when we when we teed off in curing it’s not going to be right of course it’s not even even probably with PJ tour DP World they’ve been going for decades and there’s probably still stuff that they can change you know they’re still evolving as a tour and they always will you have to you have to evolve with the times um but the one thing I about Liv is that they’re constantly asking feedback from the players which okay and this is not a um a criticism of DP world or any other tour that I’ve played on that probably doesn’t happen too much that sort of player tour conversation so right what do the players want what do you want more of what do you want less of okay you know we we’ve just done like a mid we and we’ve done it every year like a midseason survey right what do you like about this what you know we’re going to think of a try and this what do you think um uh so it it’s constantly evolving and uh and it’s always player feedback it’s always player feedback and uh so you the the the music side has probably toned down a little bit okay maybe in Australia it’s a little bit louder because you know the atmospheres there you got the Fantastic party hole um which is such a cool place to be in to hit a golf shop that was a lotun so uh you know and I know that they’re they’re trying to introduce a little bit more of that you know maybe into more tournaments whether we get one in JCB you you kind of need like the right path through to do it on I know it happened in Vegas um so uh you know it’s like you say it’s it’s it’s still trying to find where it’s going to fit in the World of Golf and you know how are we going to make it better that’s what we’re always trying to do is try to make right it’s not necessarily for the people that are at the tournament to make it a better experience for them but make it a better experience for the guys that are watching at home the people that are watching at home and I think that’s why live or taking it to another level that you know my family actually can just put the TV on watch a live event and they just watch me that’s all they want to do they don’t have to watch DJ and Bryson if they don’t want to they could just go right I just want to watch that group there that’s what they do so you know and I think that’s a good thing whereas like if you watch say you know either the PJ tour last week or the DP world you could obviously you can same with Liv you can watch every single shot if you want toh but you also have to choice of right I can just watch that and and that’s that’s where we’re trying to make things better um and then the team element I want to hear a bit more about as well because I think that’s like it’s obviously unique a lot of people are buying into but I hear great things about it so what’s it like being part of a team at a golf event like this and for example if you’re not quite In Contention you know you’re somewhere in the middle of the pack but you know your team are up there how does that all work in your head when you’re playing on the last day keep it keeps you going trust me it keeps it certainly keeps me going yeah um of course because I want to uh prove myself to the team that I’m yeah I should be on that team um like I said we got a we got a great captain in uh in Martin um you know we’ve really I think we’ we’re stronger than we’ve ever been you know we’ve got Adrian now who’s a world class player um and that’s easy to see uh and has has played pretty well uh since he’s come on to live I think he’s maybe had three or four top T mhm you know we got cie samua who uh qualified through the uh promotions event last year I didn’t really know Cali too much uh for when I was on DP world but great lad um such a funny guy um and a fantastic player and uh hopefully like he I think he found it a little bit difficult um kind of making that transition into live but he played well in Singapore so I’m really hoping that you know he kind of kicks on now and I think he will you know we can see playing practice rounds with him he’s such a he’s such a good player um and I think now that might just give him a little bit more belief that he can compete at that level um and I’m expecting you know big things from him so you know it it was really you know we we we strug we struggled last year Martin was injured most of the year um and you know had a pretty nasty wrist injury um but this year he’s he’s a lot fitter uh he’s playing painf free uh and we you know we’re really starting to compete you know we were actually disappointed we didn’t win in Singapore uh and I like I said to him we were sat in the Players Lounge pretty down about it finish in second and I said look hey I said I know we’re you know we’re disappointed right now I said but look look how far we’ve come um you know I I think it’s a real positive thing that we’re sat here curs and ourselves that we haven’t won um well that’s interesting because to to I think the untrained I Le and not hearing hear it from the horses mouth is where people playing in Liv the team thing can be a bit like we don’t know what you guys talk about or how you get on it’s interesting to hear that you guys go back and go at the end of the day at the end of the day all you can do is is take care of yourself yeah you know and if you play well and the other guys play well then you’re going to be in contention right yeah it’s it’s the same thing it’s no matter if you’re playing for yourself or you’re playing for a team um you know it’s interesting you know we could talk to Martin about you know Ridder cups and what have you and okay you’re there as a team but you know you’re out there playing right that’s all you can control you can only control yourself I can’t control what Martin’s doing or Adrian’s doing or Call’s doing right if I go shoot five six underp power whatever right that’s going to contribute to the team so right okay if if if the other guys don’t do the same okay that’s fine that that that doesn’t that doesn’t bother me you the one thing I like about our team is we know that the four of us are giving it 100% on every single shot so if we finish 10th that’s fine mhm okay it’s disappointing but I know that every guy on the team has given it 100 they haven’t given it they haven’t thrown the towel in if they’ve got to three four over they’ve tried and that’s fine so right okay play better next time M you know that that uh so you know we we’ve got a great team spirit this year um and and I honestly really think between now and the end of the season we we will be spraying the champagne this year I think so I think so you know I said it at the start of the year when we got Adrian on board uh you he was a pretty late signing right before marac COA um you know I remember we were in I think it was Las Vegas so it was only like the second event and I said I think I think we’re going to surprise a lot of people this year might not be straight away might not be straight away I said but at some point and I know we in Hong Kong we were we I think we were leading by two with about six to play uh unfortunately we just fell short and then you know we finished second in uh in Singapore so uh we’re yeah I think I think it’s it’s it’s coming maybe maybe not in Houston but you know we will we will be fighting for it not maybe just once but you more often than not now we’ll be we’ll be somewhere near come Sunday uh last few then so um we just spoke there that in five years you may have been retired you may be on to live who knows fingers cross right but um let’s say in 5 years time you’re watching the golf as a fan where would you like to see pro golf in five or 10 years like what is a you know you get Richard Bland gets all the cars on the table you get all the money how how would you like to see it organize or what sort of direction do you want to start seeing it move in in the long term I think you know we all want the best players in the world playing together more often of course we do um as a golf fan of we all want that you know you want to see you know Rah and DJ and Brooks up against shefer and Rory and Xander coming down the stretch we all want that not say it happens an awful lot even when they do play together but that’s what we want to see the best playing against the very best the one thing I certainly it’s not that I’m fearful of is probably the wrong word but what I don’t hear a huge amount being talked about is where’s the 80 what what’s the 80th and 90th guy going to be playing you know because um you know even even in those elevated event weeks you know there’s so many other golfers trying to uh play yeah they need somewhere to play right and the thing is is like if if they haven’t got anywhere to play those weeks then it’s it’s making them it’s going to make it so much harder for them to get to those elevated events it really is because if you’re playing those elevated events every single time you you you’re gaining so many more points even if you finish 20th in one of those you’re probably going to get more than the guy wins another an event the same week because he’s not going to be playing anywhere near for the same amount of money MH because sponsors are not going to put the money in because they know they’re not going to get the coverage the TV rights or anywhere near the same TV coverage because TV companies are going to want to watch the rores the shefflers and the RS of course they are yeah so I I I just hope that doesn’t and I’m sure it won’t be but I I just hope that doesn’t get left behind too much that the cuz the guy in 80th and 90th Place is still a world class player that’s the standard that golf is at now um and and and if you put the 90th player into a elevated series event he can win MH pure and simple that’s how good they are so um that’s kind of what I hope is that obviously of course we we want it all to come together you know um and and that that was the thing Liv never wanted to sort of fracture the the sport in any sense of the word or or that it was just okay you know I don’t think there’s any harm in giving a players another option go look well if you want to come play here you can come play right you know we should be able to play really wherever we want to go play um and but you know I also get that the PJ tour and DP world are going right okay well if you want to take our best players you know we we’ve got to fight for that of course they’ve going to fight for it but um you know I I think that it’s been very kind of you know been button heads an awful lot this first sort of 18 months two years and I think everybody’s realized now that Liv’s not going anywhere MH and okay you know it it’s um right we’ve all got to we we we’ve just got to find a way I’m glad I’m not in those negotiations to try and do it because how you get around it I got no idea but you I kind of look at it as like a bit in the Cricket World you know when the IPL came along everybody didn’t like it playing contracts and doing this doing that but it it’s found its place in the sport and and it fits in very very well MH and I’m sure Liv will do the same whether it be with the PJ tour whether it be with DP World however it fits but it’s just going to take a little bit of time but uh you know as it stands right now yeah the the it’s basically the golf fan that’s losing out because they’re not seeing the best players um play enough and and obviously with the current system of the world rankings it’s only going to get worse um so let’s do some quick fire ones to end okay uh win the PJ Championship next year or Southampton win the Premier League uh that’s a no brainer I’m going to have to be selfish on that one good I like that one sorry Saints fans who are watching maybe the year after yeah maybe the year after uh Best Shot you’ve ever hit at an event or most memorable one I think it’s probably it’s probably got to be the the second shot in the playoff at the British Masters uh so yeah that could have gone horribly wrong um so I’m glad it didn’t and then the worst shot you ever played in the event oh Jesus uh God I hope you’re not rocking your brain for too many yeah there’s probably too many to mention uh it’s probably got to be like a shank or something like that I remember I shanked one last year I think in Arizona in Tucson which came completely out the blue cuz I was it really nice all day and then I just hit one and it just went sideways and it was like where on earth does that come from so that’s probably the one that Springs to mind right now but you trying and AR raise those pretty quick absolutely um Richard appreciate your time your insights today your honesty and thank you for joining us thank you m appreciate it