Golf news 2022: Warring parties must thrash out world tour to stabilise sport, says Aussie official
The fight to control world golf has its first big winners — four of them in fact. But fans and sponsors might not see eye-to-eye with that scenario.
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The great golf war is turning off fans and is “terrible’’ for sponsors but has delivered ultimate power to an unexpected source — the majors.
This is the view of James Erskine, PGA Australia board member and a player agent who managed English great Nick Faldo.
Erskine believes Norman’s Saudi-backed LIV project should sit down with the PGA tour of America and Europe’s DP World Tour to thrash out a world tour featuring all three bodies, otherwise the damage to game could be substantial.
“People forget the shareholders of golf are the people watching at home or those paying their fees at a club and its definitely turning the general population off golf,’’ Erskine said.
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“And it’s terrible for sponsors. Imagine if you were a long time sponsor of the PGA tour and some of their events (which and been weakened by LIV bans).
“You wouldn’t like it at all but if you were a sponsor of one of the four majors you would be thinking “thank god I have backed the right horse’’ because they have become incredibly powerful.’’
While the PGA tour in America has indefinitely banned the LIV players and Europe’s DP World Tour recently banned them for three tournaments, the four majors — the British Open, the US Masters, the USPGA and the US Open — have reserved their judgments as they are entitled to do because they are all independent bodies.
“The majors are just sitting on their hands and not doing anything at the moment. They hold the real power now.’’
LIV players played in the recent British and US Opens and the PGA but were given no guarantee they would not be banned next year.
“The majors are not stupid enough to ban the LIV players from their events but if they did get together and do that it would be the one sure way to ruin LIV golf because no-one in their right mind would want to play for LIV if they couldn’t get in to the majors.’’
Erskine said it was important for the warring factions to get together because none of them were capable of winning the war alone.
“Let’s not muddle our words here. The PGA tour cannot win. The PGA should have a symbiotic relationship with the players but over time they have become very dictatorial and that has cost them here.
“And LIV has signed a lot of players who are near the end of their careers who you would not cross the street to watch. And you have to watch it on You Tube. LIV are living in fairyland if they think they are going to get a big television deal.
“But I do think if LIV sign Cameron Smith it will be a game changer. He could win another two, three or four majors yet I can’t see any other LIV player winning more than one. He has that X factor about him.’’
Norman’s rebel tour eyes Australia
– Brent Read
Greg Norman and his Saudi-backed rebel tour are set to invade Australia. The billion-dollar LIV Tour released a statement overnight confirming they were expanding their suite of events next year to 14 tournaments and Australia was in their sights.
The statement said the full schedule would be announced at a later date but would expand LIV’s global footprint. Norman has made no secret of his desire to bring his controversial tour to the land of his birth and it appears Australia is set to become a battleground in the ugly global stoush over the next 12 months.
A handful of Australians have already committed to the LIV Tour led by former Australian Open winner Matt Jones. There has been speculation in recent weeks that others are set to follow, most interest surrounding the future of British Open winner Cameron Smith.
Smith looks set to play out the year on the US PGA Tour but is yet to confirm his plans beyond that. News of the LIV Tour eyeing off Australia will no doubt pique the interest of Australian players who have been pushing the major tours to expand their tournament schedule to Australia – Smith has been a longstanding advocate for bringing a US PGA Tour event to his homeland.
“LIV Golf’s expanding global platform will add a new dimension to the golf ecosystem as we know it, one that provides an opportunity for players and fans around the world to help maximise our beloved sport’s true potential,” said Norman, the chief executive and commissioner of LIV Golf.
“Our franchise model will bring new energy and excitement to fans from all corners of the world, establishing a league of teams to connect and grow with.
“The International Series will attract new talent and offer unprecedented pathways that develop the next generation of stars.
“LIV Golf is committed to making sustainable investments that grow the game now and for the future, and we are proud to turn these dreams into a reality.”
There has been speculation that Norman will play an event in Sydney in April. Norman confirmed the schedule would not conflict with the majors, ensuring the best players in the world can compete.
“The 2023 league schedule will not compete with the majors, international team events or heritage events so the best players in the game will always be able to make their own choices about where to play,” the statement read.
“In total, LIV Golf will deliver 25 tournaments worldwide in 2023 that will bring value, innovation and new audiences to the game of golf.
LIV Golf has attracted some global stars to their tour, headlined by Bryson DeChambeau, Brooks Koepka, Dustin Johnson and Phil Mickelson.
Norman isn’t ready to put the cue in the rack either as he chases the cream of Australian golf, armed with a war chest from the Saudi investment fund.
It is understood he is keen to have an all-star Australian team next season that would be led by Smith, Adam Scott and Marc Leishman.
All three have remained tight-lipped on the tour given it would have serious ramifications for their ability to play on the US PGA Tour and potentially the majors.
TOP-RANKED GOLFER DENIES PLAN FOR LIV SWITCH
AFP
World number four Patrick Cantlay on Wednesday denied he was planning a move to LIV Golf without entirely closing the door on a future move to the rebel circuit rocking the game.
“I don’t have any plans at the moment to leave after the FedExCup,” Cantlay said when asked on the eve of the US PGA Tour’s Rocket Mortgage Classic in Detroit to address rumours he might be headed to the Saudi-funded series spearheaded by Greg Norman.
He said hearing his name linked to the controversial circuit that offers star players guaranteed appearance money as well as massive purses wasn’t a source of concern.
“I don’t take too much stock in outside noise,” said Cantlay, who acknowledged that the money up for grabs in LIV Golf — which on Wednesday announced plans for a 14-event league in 2023 — was certainly notable.
“I think anytime anyone’s playing their profession, money’s a big contributing motivator,” Cantlay said.
Cantlay scooped the $15 million FedEx Cup playoffs prize last season, edging Spain’s Jon Rahm in the Tour Championship finale after beating Bryson DeChambeau in an epic playoff at the BMW Championship earlier in the playoffs.
Cantlay finished last season with four US PGA Tour titles, getting the Player of the Year nod from his peers.
So far this season, Cantlay has one victory — alongside Xander Schauffele in the Zurich Classic team event — along with eight other top-10 finishes.
Two of those were runner-up finishes, and Cantlay said there’s still plenty of time for 2022 to turn into another landmark campaign for him.
“In a weird way, I’ve had a lot more opportunities this year to win, which is both encouraging and disappointing,” he said. “I would have liked to have closed out more of those tournaments, but that’s how golf is,” said Cantlay, who is the highest-ranked player in the field at Detroit Golf Club.
“My game’s in a really good spot. I’ve been trying to double down on the process that got me to where I am, not change a whole lot and just look for small incremental improvements and I think the consistent play I’ve had this year is a testament to that.
“Last year I was having a very average season until Memorial or very poor season for me and I won Memorial and then won BMW and the TOUR Championship and all of a sudden it was the best year I’ve ever had and I won PGA Tour Player of the Year,” he added.
“So golf is very interesting in that a week or two weeks could change, change the whole trajectory of your whole year.”
WATSON POISED TO JOIN REBEL TOUR
The Times
Bubba Watson is set to be presented as the latest high-profile player to defect to LIV Golf this week as the Saudi breakaway series plants more flags in the sand at Trump Bedminster.
LIV on Wednesday announced its long-anticipated plan to become a 14-tournament league from next year, with 12 established teams competing over a total prize fund of more than dollars 405 million (about pounds 333 million), as any prospect of a cordial coexistence with golf’s traditional tours receded further.
Instead, the unprecedented scale of that investment will deepen the divide in the sport and make the coup of securing a handful of the world’s top 15 players, such as Cameron Smith, the Open champion, and Hideki Matsuyama, more likely. Watson, however, has not waited until other dominoes fall.
The two-times Masters champion last won on the PGA Tour in 2018 and has slipped to 86th in the world rankings, but he remains one of the sport’s most recognisable players. That the 43-year-old earned dollars 3 million (about pounds 2.5 million) for finishing tenth in the PGA Tour’s Player Impact Performance program (introduced to reward players’ media footprint and ward off the threat of a breakaway) after an indifferent 2021 season is testament to the significance of his signing.
The tournament is preceded by a pro-am in which Donald Trump and his son, Eric, are expected to play. Trump’s involvement continues to be a source of protest from 9/11 Families United – 15 of the 19 hijackers in the attacks on the United States in 2001 were Saudi citizens and FBI files have suggested that a Saudi intelligence officer provided significant support to two of them. The Saudi state has denied any involvement.
On Wednesday, Paul Casey faced questions over his loyalty having become the latest Ryder Cup stalwart to sign up to LIV. The former Unicef ambassador had been hailed for refusing a multimillion-pound appearance fee to play golf in Saudi Arabia in 2019, admitting that it would make him a “hypocrite”. He was also steadfast in his view that sport and politics are inextricably entwined, and even claimed to have read reports on the war in Yemen.
Little more than three years later, Casey, 45, struck a very different tone as he extolled the virtues of an improving Saudi society.
“I’ve been to the kingdom,” he said of his about-face. “So I can confidently say that change is happening and that what we do is having a positive effect.”
Casey linked his epiphany to a pro-am he played in at the lucrative Saudi Invitational, claiming that a 17-year-old girl in his group spoke of how things have “radically changed for her and her family” and that her optimism had left him able to “honestly say that I see a positive trajectory in the kingdom”.
That relentless positivity did not extend to the topic of gay rights, though. “It’s not a subject I know enough about to speak about,” the Englishman said.
Casey did allude to more genuine reasons for his defection to LIV. A lingering back injury ruled him out of three majors this year before making his comeback at the Open this month. “I have to take care of my family first, and that’s not a financial thing,” he said. “Playing 28, 30 weeks a year, travelling around the planet, it’s led to injuries, it’s led to time off, it’s led to a lot of stuff that people have no idea what I deal with.”
Asked about the 9/11 protests, Casey tried to express sympathy towards the victims but was whisked away for press photographs before he could finish.
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