The Grind: Robert Garrigus Unplugged
In a wide-ranging discussion, the PGA TOUR veteran opens up about his dalliance with LIV Golf, where the folks in Ponte Vedra Beach can improve and what he thinks about the guys who jumped
Robert Garrigus was driving when his agent sent him a link to an article from GolfWeek Magazine. And like that, he was squarely in the middle of the LIV golf controversy.
The news that a PGA Tour player had filed for a waiver to play in a LIV event dominated the golf news cycle for a while this spring. Garrigus became the answer to a trivia question: first Tour player to file for a release to play in the inaugural LIV event. Garrigus had received a sponsor's exemption to play in the Zurich Classic team event the same week in April. Social media lit up, hammering both Garrigus and the LIV Tour.
I got to know Garrigus a bit while caddying on the Monday Q circuit this year. He is a Tour winner, having triumphed at Disney in 2010 with a closing 64. Garrigus, 44, has been chasing Mondays between the few starts he gets with his past champion status. He doesn't hold back; whether in the podcast that accompanies this intro or on the range at a Monday Q, he speaks his mind. You don't have to agree with everything you will hear, but I respect his willingness to be who he is. That’s why I wanted to get him on the podcast. After numerous attempts, I finally did.
And as he promised, Garrigus didn't hold back. From his conversations with Tour commissioner Jay Monahan (“I can voice my opinion to Jay because he works for me”) to where he wants to play (“I don't care what Tour I play on. I just want to get paid to play golf, because its the best fucking job on the planet”) to what the new tour’s plans are (“The LIV Tour is trying to cut the fucking legs out from the PGA Tour and trying to make sure we don't exist), Garrigus didn’t disappoint.
He touched on many other subjects, including what the PGA Tour needs to do better, what the open mic is like at a Tour meeting and what he thinks about the players who bolted.
Most fans want honesty and candor from athletes. Garrigus gives us exactly that in this week's episode of The Grind. Enjoy the listen. Thanks to Robert for coming on.