Kramer Hickok made waves a few weeks ago when he went on a podcast and said that 17 players had already signed with a proposed Saudi-backed super league.
“You’re going to see a lot of big names jump over there. I think there’s already been 17 guys that have jumped over, and I can’t say who they are, but there’s going to be some big names going over there,” Hickok said on the Stripe Show podcast on Feb. 15. “Look, I mean, from what I’ve heard the money’s very, very appealing. You’re only gonna have 12-14 events. Those events are gonna have purses. You’re not going to have to deal with missing a cut anymore; there’s only going to be 40 players. And 10 of those 14 events will be in the States. Signing bonuses, huge, huge purses – it’s going to be very appealing for some of these guys. Yeah you’ll see some big names for sure.”
On Thursday at The Players Championship, Hickok opened in 5-under 67, one off the early lead. But people were as curious about his prior comments as they were his recent play.
Full-field scores from The Players Championship
Hickok, however, had no interest in further discussing the matter.
“It was a weird situation,” he told the media at TPC Sawgrass. “It was probably something I shouldn’t have said because it didn’t concern me, and so I’ve tried to stay out of it recently. You know, news spreads like wildfire, especially surrounding that Tour.”
Pressed further about the fact that no player has publicly committed to the league, Hickok said: “I have no idea. I’m not going to comment on it.”
As for the golf, Hickock handled well the four-hour, 15-minute weather suspension – as well as the one-hour delay to start the day – making five birdies and no bogeys.
“Anytime you can go out here and not make too many mistakes, I think it’s a good round. I had ultimate control over the golf ball today,” he said, noting that the soft conditions and playing preferred lies were beneficial.
“Conditions were very favorable for us. It was perfect scoring conditions for what this tournament can yield.”