The controversy surrounding LIV Golf isn’t going away anytime soon and Tuesday the rebel outfit was thrust into the spotlight again. 

This time it was Billy Horschel ripping players who bolted for the Saudi-backed circuit only to show up for this week’s BMW PGA Championship, the flagship tournament on the DP World Tour (formerly European Tour). 

“Even though Lee Westwood and Ian Poulter have been stalwarts for the European Tour, I don’t think those guys really should be here,” Horschel told reporters on Tuesday at the Wentworth Club outside London. “I honestly don’t think that the American guys who haven’t supported the PGA Tour should be here. 

“Abraham Ancer, Talor Gooch, Jason Kokrak, you’ve never played this tournament, you’ve never supported the DP World Tour. Why are you here? You are here for one reason only and that’s to try to get World Ranking points because you don’t have them [in LIV Golf].” 

Kokrak actually isn’t the field, though he was initially. 

Horschel, who isn’t shy about sharing his opinion, didn’t stop there. He also took aim at one of Europe’s biggest stars, Sergio Garcia. 

According to Horschel, who is a member of the PGA Tour but has also played a number of DP World Tour events and last year won the BMW PGA, Garcia launched into a rant about LIV back in June at the BMW International in Germany. 

“Sergio had a kickoff in the locker room, and he said certain things that actually didn’t make it out into the public,” Horschel said. “Obviously some did, but he said some other things. I’m not going to say what he said because I wasn’t there. So this is second-hand information. But some of the players who were there told me. I was pretty shocked at what Sergio had to say.” 

Among the details from the expletive-filled tirade that did leak out, per The Telegraph in the United Kingdom, was the 42-year-old 10-time Ryder Cupper and 2017 Masters champ shouting “this tour is s–t, you’re f–ked, should’ve taken the Saudi money.” 

Like on the PGA Tour, players who ditched the DP World Tour for LIV were banned from competing in that circuit’s events. But a “stay” issued back in July is allowing them to compete on the DP World Tour until the case can be heard early next year. 

But Horschel, 35, is wondering why Garcia, along with the other 16 players from LIV, are teeing it up in the DP World Tour event after expressing their desires for LIV. 

“It’s hypocritical because of what some of these guys have said this week, when they said they wanted to play less golf,” Horschel, a seven-time PGA Tour winner and No. 15 in the world, said. “It’s pretty hypocritical to come over here and play outside LIV when your big thing was to spend more time with family and want to play less golf. 

“I wouldn’t call Lee Westwood and Ian Poulter hypocrites because they never said they wanted to play less. The guys that have publicly stated they want to play less, those are the hypocrites. Just be clear on that. It’s not every one of them. And there are a few of those hypocrites here this week because they wanted to play less, but they are playing another event that’s not a LIV event.” 

He also pointed the finger at some of those behind the decisions by the players — their agents. 

“Some of these agents led guys down a bad road,” Horschel said. “They saw dollar signs and they wanted to cash in on their side of it.” 

Horschel wasn’t alone in his criticism on Tuesday, either. 

World No. 2 Jon Rahm likewise questioned why players from LIV were teeing it up in the BMW PGA. 

“What I don’t understand is some players that have never shown any interest in the European Tour, have never shown any interest in playing this event, are being given an opportunity just because they can get World Ranking points,” the Spaniard and 2021 U.S. Open champion said. “A good friend of mine, Alfredo Garcia-Heredia, is the first one out on the entry list right now. It bugs me that somebody who has played over 20 DP World events this year cannot be given the opportunity to play a flagship event. Others are being given an opportunity when they couldn’t care any less about the event. They don’t know. They don’t care. They don’t know the history of this event. They are only here because they are trying to get World Ranking points and trying to finish in the top-50. That’s clear as day.” 

It’s also clear golf’s great divide isn’t going anywhere anytime soon.