LIV, Saudis, PGA Tour – and what ‘no one wants to admit’, says analyst

Frank Nobilo says it’s something ‘no one wants to admit’ when talking about LIV Golf, the PGA Tour and the proposed deal between the Tour and LIV’s backer, the Public Investment Fund from Saudi Arabia.

“They don’t want to say it,” he said.

But Nobilo believes it, as ironic as it may seem given that he himself is a long-time professional and analyst.

“Golfers are overpaid,” he says, “compared to all other sports.”

He spoke this week on Five clubs podcast – that you can and should listen here – and the Saudi subject is both complex and evolving. For a year and two seasons, the Tour and the LIV argued over players and prestige, but men’s professional golf took a spiral when Tour commissioner Jay Monahan and PIF governor Yassir Al- Rumayyan, said they had reach a financing agreement. And now there is the waiting.

Will the parties meet the December 31 deadline? Probably not. Could they finally agree? Maybe. Could it fall? Potentially. Could another contender for financing come ? Maybe. What does the future of LIV look like? Unknown.

So, on the podcast, host Gary Williams simply asked Nobilo this:

In 24 months, what do you think it will look like?

“Wow,” Nobilo began.

His thoughts were layered. He first talked about the initial fight.

LIV, he said on the podcast, is a divorce.

“And there’s nothing amicable,” Nobilo continued. “When you’re going in two different directions, that’s the best way to put it. And so all the acrimony came out. If the LIV had never happened, would the people who went there have spoken so poorly of the PGA Tour? I think we all know the answer to this question.

“Does this mean the PGA Tour is squeaky clean? No we are not. We are never invited to the obligatory meeting to explain TV, for example, to the players. Players have no idea about the TV product, do they. So there’s a lot of things that I think the PGA Tour can improve on as well.

What if the deal goes through? Earlier this week, Rory McIlroyas big a critic of LIV as he was, even said he hoped the PIF would be involved.

There would be benefits to this deal, Nobilo said on the podcast. Perhaps a lower commercial burden, thanks to the influx of dollars.

Here again, Nobilo wondered what place golf had in the sporting landscape. We were thinking about money and sustainability here, and he admitted it was strange.

“But I also think there’s a realization: We’re not getting a high enough rating, even though it pains me to say it,” he said on the podcast. “Golfers are overpaid compared to all other sports. Nobody wants to admit it. They don’t want to say it.

“If LIV never existed, we would have over 20 million scholarships. And we don’t have the notes. Globally – and I’ve used this many times – volleyball will have higher global rates than golf. I don’t see volleyball players running around in private planes and all sorts of things. So we’re in a really weird space.

“So I would like to have an answer for 2024, but if Jay Monahan and his team obviously stick to the 9/11 statement and decide to go in a different direction, we’re going to have a war. We really will. …You invite competition. And it’s going to be like Coke and Pepsi.

Also on the podcast, Williams asked Nobilo about Phil Mickelson being so tall and as a controversial part of LIV like anyone, and whether “there will at some point be reintegration for him to a level that we always thought was proportionate to who he was.”

Nobilo said no. What he said was sad.

“I was at CBS (and) we called the PGA Championship, where we wonand I say to myself, when you are part of a — I was in Zozo when Tiger (Woods) had 82 victories — Phil winning this PGA Championship, it’s a good moment,” Nobilo said on the podcast. “And the way he did it, Winged Foot, Johnny Miller riding a white stallion, all those things were redeemed. Phil had a record that no one else had. And it’s not Tiger Woods who will get it. And I say to myself, finally you are complete in this generation.

“And so I consider this Phil – also a contemporary; I played against him a lot – I admire his talent and ability. And then I see the role of the statesman, which is really what he is today, and it is very disastrous. That saddens me. The books that are written, and obviously at the moment we only hear bad things about Phil – they’re all true, to be honest. I suffered with Phil, whether it was a Presidents Cup on the other side or certain things, I know how he can behave. But I also know that for our own foundation, for example, if we asked for a Masters flag to be signed by Phil, Phil and Amy (Mickelson’s wife) would send back two, not one. Unfortunately, Phil always will be – there’s a split personality, and that’s a shame. This is what is tragic right now.

“I don’t think we can fairly answer that question until he hangs up the clubs.”

Editor’s note: To listen to the entire Cinq Clubs podcast with Nobilo, please click here.

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Nick Piastowski

Publisher of Golf.com

Nick Piastowski is the editor-in-chief of Golf.com and Golf Magazine. In his role, he is responsible for editing, writing and developing stories in the golf space. And when he’s not writing about ways to hit the golf ball farther and straighter, the Milwaukee native is probably playing the game, hitting the ball left, right and short, and drinking a cold beer to clear his score. You can contact him on any of these topics – his stories, his game or his beers – at [email protected].