There hasn’t been anyone in golf media that’s been tougher on LIV Golf than Golf Channel’s Brandel Chamblee.

Since the inception of LIV, Chamblee has said it “makes him want to puke”, has called the players who’ve gone to LIV “the greediest, most self-serving, self-interested, willfully blind players in the world of golf today” and has also said “As far as I know, it’s never happened that an athlete has been kicked out of their Hall Of Fame but both Norman and Mickelson should be removed from the Hall Of Fame”.

In an interview with “The Sunday Times” over the weekend, Chamblee talked about his previous relationship with Greg Norman and how that’s changed.

“But there are some things that are indefensible. Before he was commissioner of LIV, Greg was sending me very laudatory texts about my work, saying things like: ‘It’s nice to have a strong voice in the game’. It’s funny how his opinion changed. Honestly, I don’t know how he sleeps at night.”

Chamblee has never been afraid to speak his mind on television, and that’s cost him some relationships over the years.

“Absolutely, I’ve lost friendships because of what I’ve said. It’s not like I was friends with Vijay [Singh], but I practiced with him and the minute I went on TV, he was like: ‘You’ve gone to the dark side’ and immediately quit talking to me. 

The nature of my job is to be forensic and investigative to get to the bottom of why people do what they do in the game of golf.”

The 60-year-old also spoke about his former friendship with Scott McCaron and how it deteriorated over his public opinion in regard to the “anchoring” rule.

“I was friends with Scott McCarron when I played the Tour but we got in crossways because of how I viewed the anchoring rule. I’m sure I had reservations about being critical early on, but my responsibility is to the audience. As much as I enjoy being around the players, I’d rather not be friends with them because I don’t want to go on the air and say critical things about someone I like.”

One of the most controversial statements Chamblee has made was at the 2013 BMW Championship when he suggested Tiger Woods intentionally cheated and was met with threats of legal action as a result.

“As I’ve said a million times, TV is not unlike golf,” Chamblee says. “Sometimes you get things wrong. I could have handled it more diplomatically.”

Whether you agree or disagree with Chamblee, there’s no question that he speaks his mind. With LIV Golf set to begin on February 24th, we can expect him to continue to make strong statements about the rival circuit.

The distance debate in golf has been rumbling on for years, and now one of the most dominant players in the sport has had his say.

According to Jon Rahm, players getting bigger and stronger has been the most important factor when it comes to the steady increase in driving distance on the PGA Tour.

While speaking on the Fore Play Podcast, “Rahmbo” gave his thoughts on the debate in golf: have we gone too far with distance?

Jon Rahm’s take on the distance conversation. Do you agree? pic.twitter.com/OWTZ4i3TwN

— Fore Play (@ForePlayPod) February 4, 2023

“Technology is just a little bit better. I get it, but overall, we’re all better athletes. It happens in every single sport. There’s actually a tech talk about how much better athletes are nowadays for the most part, but then technology is allowing for these things.

“They said, if Jesse Owens and Usain Bolt on their records would have run together, the difference would have been minimal, minimal right, and that was in 1936. So compared to user involvement in 2009 I mean, just think about (American) football players, it’s the same thing. Basketball hasn’t changed since the 80s, so it’s going to happen to every sport. Tennis, you watch McEnroe to how they’re playing Wimbledon. It’s a completely different sport.”

“Now, in our case, I think what they’re doing, which is trying to stretch golf courses, is only going to feed into people hitting it longer, period. It’s getting to a point where if you have long rough and 520 yard par 4s, you’re going to need to hit it 340 because otherwise you’re not going to get to the green in any other way.

“So they’re feeding it into us that we are needing to hit it longer. And I think it hinders the game when they try to roll back the ball and change things, with the technology of the clubs. We’re going to get to a point where I will be the smallest on Tour. You’re gonna get people who are six-foot-five, JJ Watt looking people, who are going to be hitting it 380 down the centre, like it’s eventually going to get to something like that.”

Eddie Pepperell and Padraig Harrington weighed in on Rahm’s comments via Twitter.

I wonder if by rolling the ball back, bigger hitters gain an even bigger advantage as they would be hitting 7 irons into a green where a short hitter will be hitting a 5 iron, and that’ll create a bigger gap in proximity to hole than from the current 9i to 7i, for eg..

(?)

— Eddie Pepperell (@PepperellEddie) February 5, 2023

Distance needs rolling back for many reasons,skill,course capital cost,maintenance cost,keeping great old courses relevant and safety. But it’ll be a big advantage for long hitters. As well as above its much easier to keep the ball in the park at 300 yards verses 330.

— Padraig Harrington (@padraig_h) February 5, 2023

Whether or not you agree with Rahm, the distance debate doesn’t seem to be ending anytime soon.

It’s no surprise that just a couple of weeks away from LIV’s first event of 2023, they are in the news at every opportunity.

On Saturday, golf bloggers @Tour_Junkies tweeted a bit of a shocker:

The rumor mill around Augusta is reaching a fever pitch. I've had 3 different people come up to me & tell me about a LIV land purchase on the other side of the Savannah River (<10 minutes from ANGC)

— Tour Junkies (@Tour_Junkies) February 4, 2023

The tweet received nearly 70,000 views but replies varied from the shocked to those denying it ever happened.

Augusta but louder?

— Leaderboard Golf (@leaderboardco) February 4, 2023

The suggestion was that the pairing of Ben Crenshaw and Bill Coore would be involved in the design for LIV, but that was yet another rumor denied by many on the social media site.

Instead, a few hours later, Tour Junkies revealed the land may have been bought by another organisation, this time, Shell and Augusta National themselves:

New development now…

Shell company buying it with Augusta National…? https://t.co/jxCaPlKKF1 pic.twitter.com/312ataXTt5

— Tour Junkies (@Tour_Junkies) February 5, 2023

Almost three years ago, businessinsider.com revealed Augusta has spent $200 million snapping up land surrounding the golf course over the past 20 years, so this new purchase may simply be one of many, revealed simply as nothing seems hidden in this internet age.

However, and here goes yet another golfing rumor, the land is said to have been purchased to host a Women’s Masters in the future – something unheard of in previous years, but yet another potential addition to the recently enhanced LPGA tour, now with a total prize fund of over $100 million.

For that, Augusta may well enlist former Masters champion Crenshaw and his partner.

More from the 19th Hole

• Rory McIlroy references & on Christmas Eve; in responding to Reed’s reported tee toss
• Paige Spiranac to take on PGA Tour legend in celebrity challenge match this Summer
• ‘That’s what everybody wants me to do’ – Is Anthony Kim about to make a sensational return to pro golf?