Gary Player is one of the greatest golfers of all time, with 159 worldwide wins to his name, including nine major championships.

Player came from absolutely nothing, but his impoverished upbringing helped him become one of the greatest champions in the history of the sport.

The hunger that the 90-year-old South African developed from the tough times he endured as a youngster made him work harder on his game than everyone else.

Perhaps that is why Gary Player has always been so steadfast in his disapproval of LIV Golf.

Player has always been extremely outspoken and regularly urges golf’s governing bodies to change certain rules.

However, much of his wrath has often been aimed at LIV Golf.

Player once claimed that LIV is for “people who don’t have confidence in their future“.

Gary Player said whether he’d have joined LIV Golf if offered $1 billion

Back in 2022, LIV Golf emerged onto the professional golf scene, after poaching many of the world’s best players from the PGA Tour.

Those who jumped ship from the PGA Tour left for the money and lighter playing schedules.

Now, given Player’s numerous criticisms of LIV Golf, it’s interesting to consider how he would react if he were in his prime and was offered a huge signing-on fee by the Saudi-backed outfit.

When speaking to the Palm Beach Post in 2022, Player didn’t hold back when giving his opinion on LIV Golf.

“I wouldn’t take a billion dollars for my nine majors on both tours,“ Player said.

“The only man to win the Grand Slam on both tours. I worked hard. I had desire. I traveled the world. It was an education. I met wonderful people.

“How can you ever be a champion playing a tour with 54 holes and no cut? What sort of tour is that? 54 holes, no cut, a team event nobody understands.“

It’s a fair comment from Player and an example of the way he thinks about competing.

That said, saying things like that is very different to actually doing it.

LIV golfers have damaged their legacies

It has been alleged that Tiger Woods was actually offered just under one billion dollars by LIV (GOLF.com), but he turned down their approach.

I don’t blame certain players who were approaching the end of their careers for joining LIV Golf one little bit.

What I cannot understand is why the likes of Jon Rahm, Cameron Smith, Joaquin Niemann and Brooks Koepka jumped ship.

Koepka has obviously now returned to the PGA Tour, but his reputation is still tarnished from joining LIV in the first place.

All of those golfers mentioned above have damaged their legacies by leaving the PGA Tour and that is such a shame.

They have also undoubtedly harmed their chances of winning majors by joining LIV Golf.

As Gary Player said, anyone who joined LIV surely doesn’t have full faith in their ability to win and earn money throughout their entire career.