Golf Hall of Famer Tom Kite credits the COVID pandemic for changing the sport forever – “Pro game right now is not in a great place”

Tom Kite is unhappy with the current state of professional golf. He stated that the men’s pro game is ‘not in a good place’ owing to the ongoing civil war between the PGA Tour and LIV Golf. However, the golf Hall of Famer claimed that the sport, including amateur golf, is in a ‘phenomenal place.’

Kite, who spent 175 weeks in the top 10 of the Official World Golf Ranking between 1989 and 1994, raised concern over the divide between pros on the American and the Saudi-backed circuits. Despite the criticism for the pro game, the 74-year-old noted that the sport has grown recently owing to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The 1992 US Open champion opined that “people have been trying to get the game to grow for decades” and people started playing and enjoying the game more after the pandemic-induced lockdown.

Speaking on the Fairways of Life with Matt Adams Golf Show, Tom Kite said (at 29:54):

“I think the professional game right now is not in a great place. I think golf is in a phenomenal place, the amateur golf and the fact that so many people are playing. People have been trying to get the game to grow for decades, and all we needed was a pandemic to do it. All of a sudden, more and more people are playing golf and enjoying the game.”

Kite noted that there are “so many different ways of playing golf” apart from the traditional formats. He gave a nod to Top Golf while lauding the crowd’s newfound interest in the sport.

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Tom Kite says pro golf is ‘all about money’

According to the ace golfer, the recent influx of large sums of money has affected the professional men’s game. The veteran addressed the indulgence of LIV Golf and claimed that events’ fields were getting “diluted” as more top players were taken away from different tournaments. He said that the sport is currently “all about money” and it is a “bad thing.”

Tom Kite added:

“The professional game right now, especially on the men side, specifically on the men side, is not in a good place. When you start taking some of the top players and you take them away from the tournaments, it dilutes the field. And what's going on right now is really sad in my mind. And the bad thing about it is that, it's all about money.”

Tom Kite noted that he is a professional athlete and he understands players choosing money. However, he added that golfers also need to “create a little bit of history” to do well.

The veteran went on to laud the PGA Tour for ‘providing for a lot of players’ while setting up foundations and charities. He claimed that his family has been “taken care of probably five or six generations down the line” due to the sum he earned on the American circuit in his prime.