Jul 11, 2022; St. Andrews, SCT; Three-time Open champion Jack Nicklaus during a press conference at the 150th Open Championship golf tournament at St. Andrews Old Course. Jack Nicklaus will join Americans Bobby Jones in 1958 and Benjamin Franklin in 1759 to be awarded honorary citizenship in St. Andrews. Jul 11, 2022; St. Andrews, SCT; Three-time Open champion Jack Nicklaus during a press conference at the 150th Open Championship golf tournament at St. Andrews Old Course. Jack Nicklaus will join Americans Bobby Jones in 1958 and Benjamin Franklin in 1759 to be awarded honorary citizenship in St. Andrews. Mandatory Credit: Rob Schumacher-USA TODAY Sports

The 2023 Memorial Tournament will commence later this week, on June 1. The field for the event at Muirfield Village Golf Club will feature some of the best golfers in the world. Absent among them, though, are several of the biggest names from the LIV Golf Tour. Legendary golfer Jack Nicklaus voiced his opinion on the matter this week, and it’s safe to say he made his stance clear.

The 18-time Major champion waxed poetic about the Memorial field. He praised the golfers, saying it was “probably as good a field as we’ve ever had. They’re all here” according to Yahoo! Sports. Nicklaus then added, “For all intents and purposes, all the top players in the world are here.” When that statement prompted a reminder that several LIV Golf Tour members, including PGA Champion Brooks Koepka, and if the legendary golfer was disappointed, Nicklaus had this to say.

“I don’t even consider those guys part of the game anymore. I don’t mean that in a nasty way. This is a PGA Tour event and we have the best field we can possibly have for a PGA Tour event for those who are eligible to be here. The other guys made a choice of what they did and where they’ve gone and we don’t even talk about it.”

Jack Nicklaus sounds like a guy just trying to promote his own tournament, really, but his words were certainly heard loud and clear.

[Yahoo! Sports]

About Chris Novak

Chris Novak has been talking and writing about sports ever since he can remember. Previously, Novak wrote for and managed sites in the SB Nation network for nearly a decade from 2013-2022