“It was the easiest decision I had to make” – Cleeks GC’s Richard Bland details his decision to join LIV Golf

In 2022, Richard Bland became one of the first big names to take part in the LIV Golf Invitational Series. Bland suffered a suspension from the European Tour and faced some backlash at the time. In May 2023, the European Tour revealed that Bland had resigned from the tour.

Bland, 51, appeared on the podcast Fairway to Heaven on 17 May, detailing his decision to sign with LIV Golf. The player revealed how it was Lee Westwood who told him that LIV would approach Bland at some point.

"It was quite interesting... Obviously ... we'd heard of rumblings of going(s) on that obviously Saudi Arabia and PIF were interested in golf and coming into golf. And I was playing my last round robin match at the WGC match play against Lee Westwood." (19:40)

Richard Bland and Lee Westwood have played plenty of golf together, especially during their youth. While Bland did not believe he would be approached by LIV Golf, Westwood was certain he would. Bland was focused more on his tournament at the time. He added:

"I was concentrating on trying to get through the group and it was after that we kind of made an initial inquiry to LIV. And I guess the rest is history. But when they were interested, for me at my stage my career it was an absolute no-brain. Obviously, I talked to my wife about it quite a bit, I talked to my family and they were 100% behind me as they've always been. It was the easiest decision I had to make."

Since signing with LIV Golf, Richard Bland has become one of their most important players. He has been a regular feature on several LIV events across the globe.

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Exploring Richard Bland's performance on the LIV Golf Tour in 2024

At 51, Richard Bland is one of the most experienced players in LIV Golf. That naturally gives him a huge advantage over the several younger players, while also making him a role model. Currently representing Cleeks GC, Bland is having a decent individual season.

As of May 2024, Bland has played in seven LIV Golf tournaments. While he hasn't been able to win any event, he has achieved a top-10 finish and three top-20 finishes. The golfer's best result came at LIV Hong Kong where he managed to finish T8 on the leaderboard.

His worst result was at LIV Golf Jeddah, where he finished T31 with an overall score of 68-69-70.

Richard Bland achieved some decent positions on the leaderboard last year as well, but he wasn't able to convert any of them into a solid win. The golfer will be looking to finally triumph this year.