When Phil took out his driver and aimed it at the PGA TOUR, we all winced.
No reputation in golf was as pretty as Phil Mickelson’s, and now he’s exiled because he hates the PGA TOUR’s rules.
As globally popular as Tiger Woods was, and still is, even he recognized he cannot beat the PGA TOUR.
The PGA TOUR made Tiger.
Tiger always needed the PGA TOUR more than the PGA TOUR ever needed Tiger Woods.
Phil’s ego grew so big that he failed to see the player needs the event more than the event needs the player.
Golf remains aflutter at the “threat” of the Saudi Arabian start up LIV Golf Invitational Series, which is expected to begin in June. It promises to throw money at golfers the way you’d expect an oil sheikh to spend cash.
There is so much money involved that it could potentially pose as a threat to the PGA TOUR, but this is not about golf. This is another attempt by a dirty government to “sports wash” both their money, and their globally sullied reputation.
The Nazis tried this with the Olympics in the 1930s.
China has tried it twice this century by hosting both a Summer and Winter Olympics.//
Russia tried this with the 2014 Winter Olympics. Then the 2018 World Cup.
Qatar is trying it out with the 2022 World Cup.
Hosting a few big-name golf tournaments cannot erase host country’s human right records, and according to Amnesty International, Saudi Arabia’s human right’s record is slightly terrible.
If this startup golf series was affiliated with a different country, the PGA TOUR could afford to be a little less strident, but not for this one. There is no incentive for the PGA TOUR to let the LIV Golf Invitational Series play through.
Golf legend Greg Norman is attached to a series that currently has eight announced sites this year, including four in the United States, with one of those locations being at Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, N.J.
If a golfer wants to play the LIV Golf Invitational Series, let him. And the PGA TOUR should use every legal means to see through a lifetime ban of that player.
The PGA should join hands with the PGA TOUR and issue a similar edict.
PGA TOUR commissioner Jay Monahan, according to a report in The Florida Times Union, inferred to TOUR players earlier this year that they’re gone if they go to the LIV.
Norman threatened legal action if the TOUR tries to keep players from playing in the LIV tournaments. Legally, he has a case, but no player of any marketing value is going to want to be in the middle of this fight.
And a golf tournament without names is basically a Hooter’s Tour event.
The PGA Champions tour comes to Irving this week with the ClubCorp Classic, a three-day event that starts April 22; it features a loaded card with past PGA TOUR winners, and top celebrity players, most notably Tony Romo.
I asked former PGA TOUR winner Corey Pavin to assess the impact a LIV series could have.
“I don’t see it being a threat,” Pavin said. “This happened, gosh, 30 years ago, maybe. It’s just pretty tough to get traction with it.”
Pavin is referring to the startup World Golf Tour, which had the support of Australian media mogul Rupert Murdoch in 1994. That league had the backing of … Greg Norman.
After the PGA TOUR made some threats, the WGT didn’t last.
“I think the major champions have been pretty forthright with what they would do. The tour is certainly forthright with their sanctions that would be on players,” Pavin said. “I just don’t see players wanting to go just go play for money. The best players in the world, I think they just want to have an opportunity to create a legacy for themselves. So I don’t see how that’s going to get traction. You might attract a few players.”
Given the amount of money reportedly involved in the LIV Golf Invitational Series a player would be dumb not to entertain playing in those tournaments. The purse figures are $25 million for the first seven tournaments, and $50 million for the finale.
The fields are smaller with only 48 golfers, and the 54-hole tournament will feature shotgun starts.
Norman has said that “marquee names” have said they will join LIV, however, he hasn’t revealed who these “marquee names” are.
The Telegraph has reported that a handful of European players, and one American, have applied. PGA TOUR pro Robert Garrigus has reportedly requested his release from the TOUR.
Someone needs to tell Norman that Garrigus is not Greek for Tiger. Or Rory. Or Rahm.
Speaking of those guys, they have all committed to the TOUR.
They do so because as much as they may want the type of independence that Phil wants, what they really want is to win The Masters. And the U.S. Open. The PGA Championship. Memorial. Torrey Pines. And so on.
They only want to leave the States to play golf if the tournament is in Great Britain.
They are all committed because they don’t want to be associated with events that are backed by Saudi government.
Nor should anyone.