A few words, if I may, on the hottest golfing subject of recent days: the merger of the PGA Tour, the DP World Tour and the LIV Tour.
For those of us who play today in Wenham, Beverly, Kernwood or any other local – those of us who care far more about playing the game than reading articles or watching various tournaments on TV – the recent blockbuster news about the marriage between the three tours doesn’t mean much. We will continue to watch, when it suits us, on the tube, our phones and our computers.
But above all we want to play the game. We can take or leave what the circuits offer us.
Following the media madness around the sudden and shocking news announced on the anniversary of D-Day, June 6, one would have believed that Earth had been invaded by Martians.
It’s golf, friends. Only golf.
Do not mistake yourself ; I love golf. Golf played a major role in my career as a journalist. I’ve been writing about the greatest of all games for 53 years.
But never lose sight, dear friends, that this collaboration is just a business deal that should make many people involved in all three circuits – primarily the players – richer than they already are. It’s called a sports entertainment company. Nothing more; nothing less.
It’s a GOLF tournament. Not Russia’s unjustified invasion of Ukraine. Not the struggling American economy.
In other words, not the real world.
Boston boy Jay Monahan, the PGA Tour commissioner who grew up at Winchester Country Club, is taking a lot of heat for his capitulation after calling the LIV Tour in the past almost as bad as Darth Vader. I honor him, PGA Tour Policy Chairman Ed Herlihy and Board Member Jimmy Dunne for seeing the light; the light that needed a merger to shine a light on the game and its star players, not the bickering and litigation, which is now ending.
The fact is, with the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund providing a bottomless amount of money to finance the LIV tour ad infinitum, Monahan and his friends realized that a merger was the easiest way (although temporarily painful) to end the nastiness between rounds.
How leaders of the three tours determine programming, sponsorships and TV deals going forward is complicated. But they will understand it. Money is always the main motivator in a union of this nature involving large financial entities.
As for the PGA Tour and DP World Tour’s decision to partner with the Saudi-backed LIV Tour, keep in mind that American business and the U.S. government have been dealing with the Saudis for decades, and that these relationships have not changed and will not change.
And remember, the 9/11 Commission’s final report, released in July 2004 at the request of the Bush administration and the US Congress, concluded that there was “no evidence” linking the Saudi government or its senior officials to the September 11 attacks.
The other issues which, according to critics of this merger, should rule out any association with LIV golf simply do not justify preventing said alliance.
I give no credit to the crying boy and self-proclaimed voice/face of PGA Tour players, Rory McIlroy, who calls himself “like a sacrificial lamb” after the PGA Tour made such a dramatic about-face in this which concerns his relations – previously only in court – with the LIV tour led by Greg Norman. McIlroy is extremely rich. The Irishman will overcome all of this and continue to make tons of money even if he never wins another major tournament (he has 4, but none in the last 9 years). He loves to hear himself talk.
As for Greg Norman, Hall of Famer and CEO of LIV golf, his future is uncertain. But he surely deserves credit for sticking his neck out and guiding the fledgling tour’s takeoff in 2022 and 2023.
Whether he plays a role in the new arrangement going forward is irrelevant. He pitched a world tour concept to PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem years ago and was dejected when, shortly thereafter, FInchem created a “World Golf Championship (WGC)” consisting of four tournaments, stolen from Norman’s playbook.
Conclusion: Norman’s legacy is guaranteed.
Despite all the words printed and spoken since the announcement in early June, never forget, my friends, that this is golf. Big-ticket golf, I admit; entertainment golf. But only golf.
Most importantly, all four majors and the Ryder Cup, the game’s five biggest competitions, will survive intact and feature the sport’s greatest players.
Finally, golf itself, in all its forms, will continue to thrive, especially for us guys who play regularly on the North Shore’s beautiful public and private courses.
