“I’ll see if they throw me out”

LIV Golf’s Richard Bland has joked that he plans to hurl a few insults at his former team-mates when he heads to Wentworth for the BMW PGA Championship later this year.

Bland confirmed that he will take part in the most important event in the latest edition of the DP World Tour Way to heaven podcast.

The Englishman would undoubtedly like to play in the event, but he is persona non grata in this series, having joined the group withdrawing from the race in 2022.

He last played in the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth in the 2020-2021 season, the same year he won his first title at the age of 48, finishing 57th.

To say that Bland has since made some money off of his good play would be an understatement.

The Cleeks team member has just won two consecutive senior tournaments and looks set to defend his spot in the league if he finishes in the top 24.

He has previously admitted that when his LIV career comes to an end, he will hang up his clubs for good.

Bland told podcast hosts Jerry Foltz and Su-Ann Heng that a few of his friends asked him if he wanted to watch a golf game for a change.

The LIV season will then come to an end, so Bland will have no prospects.

“I’m going to BMW this year,” he said on the podcast. “I’m going to do a walk around Wentworth this year with a few mates, so I’m looking forward to that.

“A couple of my buddies said, ‘Do you want to go and watch some golf?’ and I said, ‘Yeah, I think it’ll be pretty cool to go and watch some golf.'”

He added: “I’ll go and meet up with a few of the DP World guys I haven’t seen for a few years, you know, complain about them and see if they throw me out.

“I am sure that when my LIV career is over, I would like to go out and see it from the other side.

“As players, we only see it from the inside, looking out.”

Richard Bland

Bland was among the first wave of golfers to sign up to play in LIV Golf tournaments.

He has since claimed the only reason he left the ship was because of the money offered.

Bland has previously said he did not receive a signing bonus while players such as Jon Rahm, Bryson DeChambeau, Phil Mickelson, Dustin Johnson, Brooks Koepka and Cameron Smith reportedly made more than $100 million.

In the inaugural LIV campaign, Bland won $3,500,000 on the course with LIV and already in 2023 he exceeded this number, collecting 4,400,000 dollars.