Tiger Woods is holding back the LIV Golf tide as breakaway tour shakes game’s foundations
As battle rages between the PGA Tour and LIV Golf, the winner of 15 majors is ready to fight for the game as he knows it and secure his own legacy, writes DAVID WALSH.
Golf
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It was clear the world of golf, with its neat polo shirts and smart country clubs, had taken a strange turn the moment Larry Klayman entered the room. Klayman is the attorney representing the former Masters champion Patrick Reed in his civil lawsuit against the Golf Channel analyst Brandel Chamblee. Florida-based Klayman filed the suit at a US District Court in Houston, Texas, last week seeking more than $US750 million in damages.
Klayman has experience of high-profile litigation. He has sued Bill and Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, OPEC, the former Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez and Iran – to list a few. He sought damages of $US10 trillion from Iran, so Reed may feel he is being short-changed. Klayman’s cases are not always winnable but they offer him and his client an opportunity to air a grievance before a sizeable audience.
The case against Chamblee is in fact another battle in the LIV Golf v PGA Tour war. According to the court documents, the suit contends that Chamblee and Golf Channel have “conspired” with the PGA Tour and Commissioner Jay Monahan “to engage in a pattern and practice of defaming Mr Reed, misreporting information with falsity and/or reckless disregard for the truth.”
The presumption is that LIV Golf and their Saudi backers will bankroll the case.
However tempting, it is not sensible to dismiss as frivolous a lawsuit that seeks $US750 million in damages. Chamblee, previously an outspoken critic of players who have joined LIV Golf, may feel he now has to be more circumspect. At a time when the PGA Tour is losing players to LIV, this is a distraction they could do without.
Soon the Tour will be without Cameron Smith, the world No.2 and Open champion. No official announcement has been made but it will come at LIV Golf Boston, the fourth tournament in the series, early next month. Smith’s contract is believed to be worth $US100 million. Others, including Smith’s fellow Australian Marc Leishman, are expected to be on the same bus as Smith, crossing to the other side.
The list of LIV players lengthens and the quality increases: Phil Mickelson, Smith, Dustin Johnson, Brooks Koepka, Louis Oosthuizen, Paul Casey, Bryson DeChambeau, Kevin Na, Jason Kokrak, Reed, Sergio Garcia, Lee Westwood, Ian Poulter, Graeme McDowell, Matthew Wolff, Bubba Watson.
Watson explained how he had come to his decision to join LIV. “My wife loved it, we prayed about it, we came to the decision and here we are,” the two-times Masters champion said.
A $US50 million offer was on the table and apparently Jesus told Bubba to go for it. Bubba, of course, will know that in the New Testament Jesus said: “It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.”
Such is the growing quality of the LIV line-up it is easy to believe that in their battle with the PGA Tour, LIV is winning. That would be a simplistic summary. Right now they have one player ranked in the world top 20 and the promise of a second (Smith) being announced next month. Given the money already invested in this tour, that’s a disappointing return.
They are also committed to a format – 54 holes, shotgun start, no cut – that golf enthusiasts have not warmed to. They have no TV contract and poor viewing figures for their YouTube streaming service.
More important than all of that, their opposition is led by a man with more credibility among elite golf professionals than any player in the world. He flew from his home in Florida to Wilmington in Delaware for a meeting with fellow PGA Tour professionals. They were there for the BMW Championship, the penultimate tournament in the FedEx Cup play-offs. He was there solely for the meeting.
After the meeting Rory McIlroy, Tiger Woods’s first lieutenant in the pro-PGA Tour ranks, spoke about Woods’s influence. “I think it’s pretty apparent that whenever we all get in the room, there’s an alpha in there, and it’s not me,” McIlroy said.
“It’s impactful, and I think it shows how much he cares about the Tour. It shows how much he cares about the players that are coming through and are going to be the next generation. Like it or not, they can’t really sell Tiger Woods any more. The Tour had an easy job for 20 years. They don’t have Tiger now. Yes, they’ve got a bunch of us and we’re all great players but we’re not Tiger Woods.
“He is the hero that we’ve all looked up to. His voice carries further than anyone else’s in the game of golf. His role is navigating us to a place where we all think we should be.”
“I’ve heard Tiger is the new commissioner, right?” Patrick Cantlay said. “That’s what everyone has been saying. I’m going to go to the meeting.”
Cantlay’s observation may have been made in jest but it contains more than a grain of truth. Jay Monahan, the actual commissioner, will welcome Woods’s involvement knowing that if anyone can keep the best young US players loyal to the PGA Tour, it is the 15-times major champion.
As for Woods, he didn’t take on this role without calculating the odds and understanding that in protecting the PGA Tour he is also taking care of his own legacy.
Woods knows what he’s facing. He turned down LIV’s $US800 million offer, so he’s not asking others to do what he hasn’t already done.
He will also scan the rankings, from the top: Scottie Scheffler, McIlroy, Cantlay, Xander Schauffele, Jon Rahm, Justin Thomas, Collin Morikawa, Viktor Hovland, Matt Fitzpatrick, Sam Burns, Jordan Spieth, Tony Finau, Will Zalatoris, Billy Horschel, Cameron Young. Fifteen of the world’s top 17 players.
Woods will believe in himself to keep these players inside the PGA Tour. If he does, the PGA Tour wins – and Woods won’t be remembered just for what he’s achieved on the golf course.
Originally published as Tiger Woods is holding back the LIV Golf tide as breakaway tour shakes game’s foundations
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