Friday 20 March 2020 12:12, UK
Pablo Larrazabal believes the ongoing coronavirus pandemic could have wider complications for the golfing community and is still unsure when competitive action will return.
In the latest edition of the Sky Sports Golf podcast, the five-time European Tour winner spoke out about the impact the enforced shutdown is having on the sport and took a trip down memory lane to reflect on his own golfing highlights.
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The decimation of the schedule has left golfers facing several months with no tournaments to play, with Larrazabal admitting the stoppage affects many more than just the players.
"We don't know when we're going to be playing again," Larrazabal told the Sky Sports Golf podcast. "We would love to be out there, but we want our people to be healthy so there's no point in going out and play.
"We are the ones in front of the cameras, but there are a lot of people living from a golf player. Caddies, coaches, mental coaches, physical trainers and the brands, so it's very tough times with all of us.
"It's tough to talk to the sponsors as well, because how can you tell a sponsor to keep putting the money into a tournament they don't know if it's even going to happen?
"If this story goes on more than a month and a half or two, then I'm going to have to talk to my caddie and probably put some payment in front, because obviously when this coronavirus goes away then we're going to be playing a lot of golf!"
Away from the current global situation, Larrazabal discussed his early life and how he fell in love with the sport, as well as sharing some of the highs and lows from his eventful golfing career.
Larrazabal recalls his breakthrough victory at the Open de France and beating Sergio Garcia to win the BMW International Open, plus talks through the bee incident in Malaysia and last year's dramatic success at the Alfred Dunhill Championship.
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