LOS ANGELES — The US Open trophy is no longer in Matt Fitzpatrick’s possession. Questions about Saudi involvement in golf and the LIV Golf Tour will not go away.
From Brookline to Los Angeles, from one US Open to the next, little has changed, only the nature of the questions and the vagueness – and weariness – of the answers.
“I guess it’s all confusing,” Fitzpatrick said Monday. “It was confusing last year.”
LIV Golf had just played its first tournament before the US Open last year, and the uncertainty was whether the event would gain traction and who else might join it. Now it comes to last week’s blockbuster announcement that the PGA Tour — in the midst of a bitter antitrust lawsuit with LIV and after standing firm on LIV’s legacy and source of money — has agreed to partner with the Saudi Arabian wealth fund which finances LIVGolf.
The players were blinded by the agreement, which was described as a framework because the merger of companies still has no concrete content. They still have no answers. Nobody does it.
“I really know as much as you do, to be honest,” said British Open champion Cameron Smith, who defected to LIV after the PGA Tour season ended last August. “I wasn’t told much. I just take it as it comes.
PGA Tour players complained about receiving news of the stunning development on social media (CNBC lifted the embargo on when the tour informed players). Smith said Yasir Al-Rumayyan, the governor of the Public Investment Fund, called him and a few other LIV players shortly before Al-Rumayyan – whom Smith calls “HE” for His Excellency – joins PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan on CNBC.
Scottie Scheffler hits from a bunker on the 17th green during a practice round of the U.S. Open golf tournament at Los Angeles Country Club, Monday, June 12, 2023, in Los Angeles. Credit: AP/Marcio José Sanchez
“I guess the first reaction was I thought it was some kind of joke,” Smith said. “And then HE called me and kind of explained to me what was going on. He didn’t really explain much. I think there’s still a lot to sort out, and as time goes on we’ll know more and more. But there are certainly a lot of curious players, I think, on both sides, as to what the future will look like.
The timing isn’t great. The US Open is the third major tournament of the year and presents a new challenge for most players as the Los Angeles Country Club has never hosted the major tournament known as golf’s toughest test.
Monday was the first full day of practice, and even the players who snuck onto the North Course during the West Coast swing didn’t see it dry and fast.
There are angles to learn. Two par 3s are over 280 yards, another can be as short as 80 yards. Expect to hear the term “barranca,” which, in layman’s terms, means a wide ditch of native grasses and dirt that winds across the front nine.
Sergio Garcia reacts as he prepares to tee off from the fifth tee during a practice round of the U.S. Open golf tournament at Los Angeles Country Club, Monday, June 12, 2023, in Los Angeles. Credit: AP/Marcio José Sanchez
And there is LIV and the Saudi deal, but no answers.
“I don’t think anyone knows what’s going on. Do we sign with the PIF, do we not sign with the PIF? I have no idea,” Fitzpatrick said. “While it’s confusing, it’s clear that no one knows what’s going on except for about four people in the world.”
Billy Horschel played peacefully among the top nine in the LACC on Sunday. He played the back nine on Monday and left the 18th green for a television interview.
He can talk as well as anyone, even in circles.
Yes, he was shocked when the news broke last Tuesday. Since then, he has become more patient and is waiting for the details to understand what it all means.
“There is a deal structure, but that’s all there is,” Horschel said. “Until all of this information is understood and shared with us, I remain unmoved – which is rare for me. And what’s even rarer is that I’m not going to give a thought or opinion because I don’t have enough information to speak.
Rory McIlroy must feel the same way. He canceled his press conference scheduled for Tuesday. Fitzpatrick thought long and hard about whether he should be compensated for his loyalty to the tour before saying, “I’ll pass.” When another question on the subject was asked, a USGA official stepped in to focus on the US Open.
Oh yes. That.
It was like that a year ago at the US Open, notably with Phil Mickelson playing on American soil for the first time since LIV launched its league. It was only later discovered that the PGA Tour had suspended him for his involvement in recruiting players for LIV Golf.
On Thursday, the focus shifted to the Country Club and on Sunday, Fitzpatrick held the shiny silver trophy. We’re expecting a lot this week.
“Look, it can be a distraction. There’s no doubt about it,” Horschel said. “If guys are worrying about it, thinking about it, talking about it all the time and they’re not focusing on their game and what matters at the end of the day… all you can do is play some good golf and hopefully everything else works as it should.
