In which golf101 hopes for greater unity in the world of golf.
“What does it matter to ya, When you've got a job to do
You gotta do it well, You gotta give the other fellow hell
You used to say live and let live
(You know you did, you know you did, you know you did)
But if this ever changing world In which we're living
Makes you give in and cry
Say live and let die” Paul McCartney (1978)
Here we go then, teeing off in 2024.
Let’s get a sitrep on the golf ecosystem.
December 2023
LIV bought Jon Rahm for £450 million.
His remarks to the press, although a contradiction of previous statements, were nonetheless convincing.
The move wasn’t motivated by money said Jon. He’d got enough of that already.
But then again there’s having money and having a Rockefeller size wedge.
Actually he’s still miles away from that kind of wealth, old J.D was one of the richest men who ever lived…and there’s a few surprising entries on the (inflation adjusted) top ten…Top 10 Richest Men In History | Wealthy Persons
But £100 million a year to halve your workload is still crazy money.
Jon reasoned he’d have to be El Loco to turn it down.
You can see it from his (agents) point of view.
And this felt a seismic move.
A potential watershed moment.
Reaction from within golf was swift.
Anyone playing LIV Golf whose name is ‘Jon Rahm’ should remain eligible for Ryder Cup selection.
January 2024
McIlroy went even further with his comments this week.
During a podcast he said he could now envisage a scenario where he would play in LIV events, for example if the brand developed into a golfing equivalent of Cricket’s IPL.
An olive branch extended.
Greg Norman was quick to hail this as significant for the sport.
He welcomed the softening of Rory’s comments towards LIV.
Seizing the moment for some constructive dialogue he went on to call McIlroy judgemental, uninformed, and, in respect of his previous criticism of LIV, of talking out his arse.
Classic Greg – alumni of the Genghis Khan school of Diplomacy.
But, despite Greg choosing to operate in a magnanimity vacuum, it feels like this is the point at which the Saudi’s have effectively bought golf.
Rahm’s move will probably act as an accelerant to a deal between the PGA and DP World tours and the Saudi PIF.
And golf101 concedes that this must now happen for the sake of the game.
Currently huge sums of money are being injected into the various tours in a fiscal arms race.
The ongoing battle for market share has undoubtedly encouraged more money, funding more events globally, than ever before.
And some individuals, regardless of performance, are getting seriously rich.
Now you might think ‘good for them’.
Conversely you might question a world in which someone can attract a salary of £100 million for playing golf when 333 million children (1 in 6) live in extreme poverty. Children bearing brunt of stalled progress on extreme poverty reduction worldwide – UNICEF, World Bank
But regardless of where you stand on that issue, golf101 contends that the impact of all this new money, so far, has been to compromise the quality of the product on all sides.
LIV have enough marquee players to host their own Ryder (Riyadh?) Cup and President’s Cup combined.
Here's the potential team line ups from the current LIV stable.
USA | Europe | RoW |
Phil Mickleson | Lee Westwood | Cameron Smith |
Patrick Reed | Ian Poulter | Louis Oosthuizen |
Dustin Johnson | Sergio Garcia | Joaquin Niemann |
Brooks Koepka | Henrik Stenson | Abraham Ancer |
Bryson De Chambeau | Graeme McDowell | Charl Schwartzel |
Pat Perez | Martin Kaymer | Marc Leishman |
Taylor Gooch | Jon Rahm | Carlos Ortiz |
Harold Varner III | Paul Casey | Danny Lee |
Bubba Watson | Thomas Pieters | Sebastian Munoz |
Charles Howell III | Richard Bland | Mito Periera |
Kevin Na | Sam Horsfield | Brandon Grace |
Jason Kokrak | Eugenio Chacarra | Anirban Lahiri |
Ok, I couldn't pick Chacarra or Lahiri out of a line up either.
But there's some decent talent there.
Despite that, LIV events don’t attract many spectators and they have yet to garner mainstream TV coverage.
That’s surely an indication that the format’s a bit pants – no?
Meanwhile, the DP World and PGA tours , in seeking to retain their best players, have considerably hiked up tournament prize funds.
And more money is probably on the way. A deal with Strategic Sports Group (a consortium of billionaire sports investors) is apparently in the pipeline. THE STRATEGIC SPORTS GROUP
But, as evermore funding is secured, the loss of talent to LIV has unequivocally weakened the strength of the fields in many PGA and DP World tournaments.
Take the reintroduction of the DP World Tour event in Bahrain next month.
DP World are currently boasting Jordan Smith as the top ranked (OGWR 78th) player committed to teeing it up at the Bahrain Royal Golf Club. Home - Royal Golf Club (theroyalgolfclub.com)
Golf101 played the back nine of the course just over a year ago.
It was a first experience of floodlit golf at that.
When the DP Tour lands there in early February, Smith’s competition is likely to come from, among others, Dan Bradbury, Yannik Paul and Rasmus Hojgaard.
All very decent players.
Tour winners all.
But hardly box office.
Golf101 will be watching regardless. If only to see what the front nine looks like and how the course is presented in daylight.
And who knows, if the tv cameras sweep the hospitality area, there’s a good chance of spotting a few familiar faces.
Scotty Scheffler starts the year at the top of the World Rankings.
Who could argue with that.
But the OWGR has Dustin Johnson ranked as the 170th best player in the world.
That’s nonsensical, and another reason why things need to change in 2024.
So, let’s hope Jay Monahan, Greg Norman, Keith Pelley et. al. can hurry up and sort things out.
Put an end to the current impasse and find a way to live together.
Golf will be stronger for it.
And If the tours don’t crack on and agree a way to all co-exist?
Well surely they run the risk that golf starts to lose the interest of the Saudi Crown Prince.
After all, other sports are lighting up the firmament.
Last week, teenage sensation Luke Littler, and newly crowned PDC World Champion Luke Humphries, attracted more viewers than the Ryder Cup.
You can be certain that the Al Yamamah Palace has a newly installed oche.
And golf has a readymade chant for Messrs Littler and Humphries.
“Luuuuuuuuuuke”