SOTｏGRANDE, Spain – In a conversation with Richard Bland at Real Club Valderrama on Wednesday before the LIV Andalucia Golf Championship, he revealed a delightful story in professional golf, but with a twist.
Fans call it the “Brand Curse,” and it has been a refreshing balm during three years of divisiveness in professional golf. Fans first noticed it in 2021 when Brand, 48, became the oldest golfer to win a DP World Tour event for the first time at the British Masters and that same year at Torrey Pines Golf Club, he led by two rounds at the U.S. Open.
MORE: Richard Brand nearly holes out bunker shot en route to U.S. Senior Open title
The 51-year-old, who plays at LIV Golf Club, has done well against major champions and players in their 20s and 30s while winning back-to-back U.S. Senior PGA Championships and U.S. Senior Opens.
It is touching and inspiring for golf fans that a professional golfer is still playing his best golf in his 50s and dedicating all of his success to his brother Heath who is suffering from cancer.
“Pros don’t usually win their first DP World Championship in their 478th tournament,” Brand told Golf Digest in Valderrama, the former Ryder Cup site. [text and social media DMs] That [my story] I've inspired a lot of people, no matter what path they're on. Some people, when things get tough, because they've seen me play, they say, 'I'm going to keep going. '”
After Brand won the U.S. Senior Open play-off at Newport Country Club earlier this month, he was considered to have a chance to win what is being called on social media as the “Brand Slam” – the Senior PGA Championship, the U.S. Senior Open and the Senior Open Championship.
Richard Bland competes in the second round of the LIV Golf tournament in Nashville.
Icon Sports Line
But this is where the story gets complicated.
The Brand Grand Slam will not be achieved. Brand is one of several DP World Tour pros who have not paid fines to the European Tour, accumulating fines for every LIV golf event they play that conflicts with the DP World Tour. “LIV didn't pay my fines and I didn't want them to because I'm never going to come back to the DP World Tour, so I don't see the point in it,” Brand said.
The DP World Tour, which runs the Senior Open in conjunction with the R&A, will follow the R&A's policy of not allowing DP World Tour members who are playing in LIV events and have unpaid fines to play until they are paid. That includes Brand.
Golfers receiving full penalties include Patrick Reed and Thomas Pieters, who both competed in last week's BMW International Open in Munich and finished in the top 13.
The DP World Tour fines LIV players consistently, with penalties depending on whether each LIV event is in the same region and time zone as the DP World Tour. When LIV events are pitted against DP World Tour flagship events, such as the Rolex Series, the penalties are higher.
But Brand pointed out that due to the open status of the senior league majors, he should be able to play regardless of the fine.
“The R&A needs to stand up to the DP World Tour and say, ‘Look, this is an open tournament, not a closed tournament’,” Brand said.
However, the issue is moot because of a conflict between the British Senior Open and LIV Golf UK's event at the JCB Course in the Midlands.
“My first priority is [I could] Go Play [with a tournament release from LIV Golf]”I don't know. I'll have to think about it,” he said.
Still, Brand couldn't help but fantasize about winning a third Senior Major, especially considering the July 25-28 event will be held at Carnoustie. “It's a shame because Carnoustie is one of my favorite courses, in the top five of my top five courses,” he said. “I've played the Dunhill Links Championship there a number of times, so I probably really like my chances.”
Instead, Brand will focus on golf outside of the majors. That will certainly be at LIV Golf, as Brand does not receive a one-year PGA Tour championship exemption for senior major championships because of his LIV Golf membership. The PGA Tour prohibits those who join LIV from participating in the tournament.
In LIV, Brand's Cleeks GC team, captained by two-time major champion Martin Kaymer, is ranked 25th in the LIV individual standings with four races remaining in the individual season. The top 24 players will automatically be invited to compete in the next season of LIV. Players ranked 25-44 and whose contracts are about to expire will become free agents.
“Clix asked me to re-sign in the transfer window but we haven’t got full approval yet so, as things stand, I need to be in the top 24,” he said. “I’m pretty confident I’ll be playing for Clix next year but I have to play golf like I did before.”
Fans will no doubt want to see this as well, as no one wants a good story to end there.
This article was originally published on golfdigest.com
