EXCLUSIVE | Anirban Lahiri likens Woods’ contempt for LIV Golf with Tendulkar skipping T20 World Cup

India's top player Anirban Lahiri, who recently became the first Indian-origin player to join the ranks of the breakaway league LIV Golf,recently drew parallels between Tiger Woods and Sachin Tendulkar, commenting on Woods' reluctance to join the Saudi-backed tour and Tendulkar skipping the 2007 ICC T20 World Cup.

Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy recently joined forces to introduce a new league to counter the looming threat of the LIV Golf league. The TGL, which is the brainchild of TMRW Sports, a company that was founded with Woods and McIlroy's support. Itwas formed in partnership with the PGA Tour as it aims to attract a new set of eyes to the sport and to facilitate the influx of youngsters into the sport. The veteran Indian golfer discussed the prospects of the league while in conversation withWION Sports Editor Digvijay Singh Deo.

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Excerpts:

Q. What do you make of this, what's been seen as sort of a power grab on the tour with Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy sort of leading the pushback against LIV Golf? There's a lot of people who say that it's only going to make those people who already have, much more richer with all these elevated tournaments. And that are people like you, who were the ones who were actually scrapping out there on the course to be financially independent, it was actually not going to work for you. While the tour's response was that all the stars come together, it will always be the likes of Anirban and others who were below that Top-60, Top-70 level who were really going to get affected. Do you see that, going forward, leading to more disgruntlement?

Again, I don't want to speculate, but the fact is that if you look at professional golf, it's one of the few sports where, you know, say the 100th guy on the PGA Tour makes a million dollars and I'm talking only about prize money. But if you look at the Top-20 or 25 players in the world or on the PGA Tour, they make $5-6 million, in a great year they may make more than that. But their endorsement values are 6x, 7x, 8x, some of them are 10x. Right? But the guys between 90-125 who are making a million., their endorsements are worth half-x, or 1x at most. So yeah, there is a huge disparity already, and that disparity may increase with elevated events.

But it's also going to make people aspire to break in. So it works. Like I said, it's very easy for me to look at the glass as half empty, but there is also a lot of half full to it. Yes, the absolute top, the creme de la creme, the Top-5, the Top-10, are definitely going to make exponentially more money going forward, not just from the elevated events, also from the other venture that Tiger and Rory are trying to spearhead and kind of birth, and in my opinion, it's all good. I don't care. As long as more golfers are created, as long as golf wins, as long as people say, 'Man, there is great opportunity in this sport, I want my kids to play this game.' I don't care. Because the sport is growing, there's going to be influx there's going to be TV and it's what it is.

ALSO READ:Anirban Lahiri becomes first Indian to sign up with rebel Liv Golf Tour

So many people I've told, 'Man, why are you... shotgun start is three days, why are you doing this?' I'm like, When IPL, forget IPL, when T20 cricket started, 15-18 years ago, I know (Sachin Tendulkar) didn't go for the World Cup. He could have, he says, 'No, I'm not going to go.' So, we've got Sachin, we got (Tiger Woods), saying, 'I'm not going. This is not golf. I believe in this.' Which is fine, but who's to say that this doesn't become the IPL of tomorrow? Who's to say that this doesn't become the preferred, consumable format for golf? We don't know.