Graeme McDowell regrets speaking out over LIV move and wishes he'd given a 'Koepka style press conference'

Graeme McDowell wishes he hadn't put his head above the parapet when he joined the rebel side in golf's civil war.

After 20 years on the DP World Tour and PGA Tour, the Ulsterman cashed in his chips to become one of the big name players to join pied piper Greg Norman in the controversial new Saudi-backed venture.

Speaking before the first LIV event in London, McDowell said he was "proud" to join the new tour and found himself facing a storm.

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Later, relatives of 9/11 victims criticised Phil Mickelson for joining Saudi-backed LIV - and while Mickelson expressed "empathy" with the support group, McDowell wouldn't comment on the issue when contacted by Amnesty International.

As a consequence, the Portrush man was hammered at home in the media. "How am I supposed to respond to Amnesty International? That's called fighting a losing battle," argued the 42-year-old. "Of course I'm not going to respond. It's ridiculous.

"It's just golf. I'm not trying to solve the world's issues. For my family to read that s***, it's unfair. This has just been blown completely out of all proportion. I was on the firing line in London because I was stupid enough to talk about it.

"Listen, in hindsight I wish I'd said nothing. Genuinely, I wish I had went with the Brooks Koepka, Pat Perez style press conference. How many top players are going to have to play in the thing and create a product to where you guys will start talking about golf?

"I get it, the amount of s**t that's been written about me the last six weeks - it's something I have never had to deal with in my golfing career before. The negativity doesn't make you proud of yourself every day. You wake up