Shane Lowry acknowledged it was "mad" to think he wouldn't play against European Ryder Cup team-mate Jon Rahm until next spring's Masters and expressed the hope that the game's leading players would soon be back playing together more regularly.
The reigning Masters champion's defection to the LIV Tour, confirmed earlier this month, represented perhaps the biggest body blow suffered by the PGA Tour since this new fissure broke open in the sport in early 2022.
Five days out from Christmas, Lowry, a major supporter of the established tours, spoke to the media in Dun Laoghaire at the launch of Amgen's sponsorship of the Irish Open, which is bound for the world famous links at Royal County Down in 2024. Lowry, who finished tied-3rd in an impressive display at the K Club in September, confirmed his participation this afternoon.
"There were a lot of rumours in the previous weeks," Lowry told RTÉ Sport.
"There was a lot of chat among the players, obviously my friends, Rory and the lads.
"There's no smoke without fire so we all thought he must be going. [I'm] not surprised, as I am not surprised by anything at the minute.
"It is what it is now. It's just mad to think we won't be playing against Jon Rahm until the Masters. He won't be rocking up to Riviera, Bay Hill, the Players, all the big tournaments on the PGA Tour. It's just mad to think that.
"I am just hopeful it all irons itself out soon, and we will be back playing together again soon. I don't know when that will be, but hopefully soon."
Rahm's departure for the rebel tour, for a deal reputedly in the range of €516 million, was especially significant given his initial show of loyalty to the PGA Tour.
Ahead of the 2022 US Open, the Spaniard stressed that a major financial offer from LIV would not change his life and that his primary interests were in "history and legacy."
That, of course, was before this summer's shock merger deal between PGA and LIV. Did that announcement prompt a shift in attitude among the players?
"I'd say the attitudes of the [lower] ranking players probably changed a little bit. I think a lot of people were worried about where the tour was going, and what their jobs are gonna be like.
"The thing is, everyone's worried about themselves. Everyone is in it for themselves.
"But I wouldn't say the attitude of the top players has changed much really. Look at Viktor Hovland, he'd been rumoured heavily like - and if Jon Rahm gets that, what does he get?
"So, you know, the fact that he's committed to PGA Tour, I think is great. Because there were rumours about him.
"I think he still realises that the best tournaments in the world are on the PGA Tour."
"Golf is in a funny place... but I'd be hopeful things will be solved soon and we'll all be playing back together" - Shane Lowry spoke to @PaulWalsh22_
— RTÉ Sport (@RTEsport) December 20, 2023
about the LIV golf situation while in Dublin to confirm he will play at the 2024 Amgen Irish Open #PGATour #DPWorldTour #LivGolf pic.twitter.com/Yipm19VnMC
Though Hovland - perhaps the most impressive performer in Europe's Ryder Cup winning side in Rome - confirmed he would be sticking with the PGA Tour, he launched a scathing attack on the tour bosses, branding them "arrogant" who regarded the players as "labour" rather than members.
Lowry certainly wasn't inclined to be so harsh.
"I make a great living doing what I do, playing the game I love for a living. I am not going to sit here and criticise the guys in charge of the game because I am very fortunate to have the life I have.
"Do I think they have been amazing? No, probably not, but I am not going to criticise them as they couldn't foresee this coming.
"A lot of players have a lot of opinions on the leadership of the Tour but I don't consider myself clever enough to be able to comment on running a billion-dollar organisation."
On the other issue provoking consternation among the game's elite - the rollback - Lowry departs from his compatriots, Rory McIlroy and Padraig Harrington.
On 6 December, the day before confirmation of Rahm's intentions, the R&A and USGA announced new rules that will limit golf ball distances for the elite game in January 2028, with the longest hitters likely to see a reduction of as much as 15 yards off the tee.
While some players, such as Justin Thomas and Keegan Bradley, were spitting poison at the proposed changes, both McIlroy and Harrington were fully in support, the former arguing it would make the game more entertaining and the latter pointing out that so many golf courses were having to be re-designed to accomodate increasingly long driving distances.
Lowry is more wary of the changes, which, he suggests, don't chime with the official desire to make the sport both more accessible and less time-consuming.
"I wasn't in favour of it, because I just think golf, throughout Covid, became popular again. There’s growth in the game and people started playing again.
"And golf is a hard game like. There’s about 200 players in the world that are really good at it.
"Then it goes right down to your 18-handicappers. It’s a hard game to play. I just think if you keep making it harder, people might stop playing.
"I actually did some testing with the rollback ball.
"Every year, you do some ball testing with your manufacturers, which is Srixon for me. And I was testing the new ball for next year and then they had some prototypes of the rollback ball. It just goes 20 yards shorter.
"I think as long as they don't keep extending golf courses, it'll be fine.
"The one thing I've always said about it is they're trying to make the game harder, make the ball go shorter, make the courses longer, but they're always giving out about us playing slowly. So you know, you can't have have it both ways.
"Like if we play Augusta now with the rollback ball, it's gonna take six hours to play a round of golf.
"I don't mind it because ball striking will be at a premium. But there has to be something to do with the driver head as well. I saw someone say recently that it's a combination of both - the driver head and the ball. I think if they did something with the driver, it'd maybe be a little bit better.
"At the end of the day, it's not coming in until 2028, so we will probably be hitting it ten yards further then anyway.
"The ten yards with the rollback will just be the same as now. The manufacturers are so good that they will figure out something."
