松山、リブゴルフと距離置く　米ツアー専念を強調

【印西ＡＦＰ＝時事】男子ゴルフの松山英樹が１１日、連覇の懸かる日本開催の米ツアー、ＺＯＺＯチャンピオンシップ開幕を前に、自身は米ツアーに専念していると話した。（写真は男子ゴルフの松山英樹）
　昨年のこの大会で、最終ホールをイーグルで締めて優勝した松山は、新リーグのリブゴルフ・インビテーショナルについて「僕は今ＰＧＡ（米ツアー）でやっていますし、移籍した選手はそれが正しいと思ってやっていることなので、僕から言うことは何もない」とコメント。「ＰＧＡツアーでまだまだ自分の目標があるので、そこをしっかり達成していけるように頑張りたい」と話した。
　リブゴルフは、中東と北アフリカで開催されるＭＥＮＡツアーと先日提携したが、その後のタイ・バンコク大会とサウジアラビア・ジッダ大会では世界ランキングのポイントが付与されないことが発表されるという痛手を受けた。
　松山は、リブゴルフ勢へのポイント付与について「もらってもいいとは思うが、ただ他のツアーは４日間。３日間でやっているのをどう評価するのかは難しいんじゃないか」と語った。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2022/10/12-13:37）

Hideki Matsuyama said Tuesday that he was fully committed to playing on the US PGA Tour as he prepares to defend his title at this week's Zozo Championship in his native Japan.
Matsuyama, who became Japan's first male major winner at the US Masters last year, will face a field including Tokyo Olympic champion Xander Schauffele, Collin Morikawa and rising South Korean Kim Joo-hyung as the US PGA Tour returns to Narashino Country Club.
Several top stars including two-time major winner Dustin Johnson and British Open champion Cameron Smith have defected from the US PGA Tour to Saudi-backed LIV Golf, which offers huge prize purses.
The PGA Tour has banned LIV golfers from competing in their events and world number 19 Matsuyama said he had no intention of joining the rebel circuit.
I'm a member of the PGA Tour -- the players who left did so because they thought it was the right thing to do, so I can't say anything about them, said the 30-year-old, who won last year's Zozo Championship title with a stunning eagle on the final hole.
I am playing on the PGA Tour and I want to continue doing my best here.
The US PGA Tour arrived in Japan days after LIV Golf held its first $25 million event in Asia in Bangkok.
The breakaway circuit is smarting from an announcement that players competing in Bangkok and its season-ending event in Jeddah would not receive world ranking points, despite a co-sanctioning agreement with the MENA (Middle East and North Africa) Tour.
The OWGR (Official World Golf Rankings) which awards points said it had been given insufficient notice and needed to conduct a review of LIV Golf's events, the latest chapter in a bitter civil war that has torn golf apart and sparked accusations of Saudi sportswashing.
Big-hitting American Bryson DeChambeau, a LIV player, said the failure to award ranking points was delaying the inevitable.
- Tiger landmark -
Matsuyama offered his sympathies to LIV players but said resolving the matter was unlikely to be easy.
I think it's fine to award them, but I think it's difficult considering how it would be viewed by the other tours, Matsuyama said.
Norway's world number 11 Viktor Hovland said LIV players should not just get points overnight.
If you want to get world ranking points, you have to follow the process, he told reporters at Narashino Country Club.
At the same time, they have some really good players over there and if some of those players drop outside the top 100 players in the world, that's not good for the world rankings either.
The $11 million Zozo Championship was established in 2019 as the first US PGA Tour tournament in Japan.
Thousands of Japanese fans turned up to watch Tiger Woods win the inaugural title for his 82nd US PGA Tour victory -- equalling Sam Snead's 54-year-old record.
The tournament was held in California in 2020 because of the pandemic but returned to Japan last year in front of limited spectators.
There are no attendance restrictions this year and Matsuyama said he was looking forward to the home support.
It's great to be back as the defending champion, he said.
I've really been impressed the last couple of days. They were practice days but still lots of people came out and cheered us on, and I know there are going to be even more come Thursday and over the weekend.
Hopefully I can play my best and give everyone something to root for.