Alan Shipnuck would like it to be known that he does not write the inside covers or press releases for his books.
So when Avid Reader Press took advantage of the release of Shipnuck’s latest book on the war between the PGA Tour and LIV Golf, “Live and Let Die,” to dub the veteran golf journalist “Bob Woodward moonlighting on the sports office,” Shipnuck could barely contain his sheepish look.
“Comparing myself to Bob Woodward…it was a bit much,” Shipnuck said of the legendary Washington Post investigative reporter who exposed the Watergate scandal that ultimately led to President Richard Nixon’s impeachment and who has since written a series of books on the Gulf. War, the Supreme Court and former President Donald Trump. “I probably would have toned it down. The publisher was just having fun. They’re good at selling books.”
Points lost:LIV players likely to continue falling in world golf rankings
Or maybe it’s because Shipnuck offers them a product that sells.
His latest book chronicles the PGA Tour’s battle against efforts to launch a rival golf tour that ultimately led to a two-year financial and legal war with the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia’s LIV Golf League and the tenuous – at least for the moment – framework agreement for the PGA Tour and the PIF which may or may not succeed.
At the heart of the issue is whether Saudi Arabia is “whitewashing” its image as an authoritarian regime with an appalling human rights record by organizing a world golf tour, and whether the PGA Tour overreacted at the initial start and effectively missed an early opportunity to partner with the PIF in a way that might have been more palatable than the current framework agreement.
Shipnuck launches with the LIV book
Shipnuck was a reporter for Sports Illustrated and Golf Magazine (where he broke Dan Jenkins’ record of 12 first-place writing awards from the Golf Writers Association) and wrote a series of biographies, the most notable of which was his book on Phil Mickelson published last year.
Shipnuck also featured LPGA star Christina Kim and Rich Beem.
Shipnuck previously tackled a book on a subject, “The Battle for Augusta National,” about the club’s resistance to female membership in the early 21st century, despite intense pressure from feminist groups and the media.
But he said this issue was different, a sprawling, multi-layered chronicle about nothing less than “the soul of golf.”
“It was a huge challenge, with so many protagonists, so many subplots happening in real time,” he said in a telephone interview from his home in Carmel, California. “It was like riding a wild horse, hanging on for dear life.”
Plots and subplots and an overall cast
Shipnuck had barely finished adding a chapter to the paperback version of his book on Mickelson when his editor asked him to address the issue of LIV versus the PGA Tour. He said he thought about it for a few seconds before accepting it.
“It’s a once-in-a-lifetime, once-in-a-career event,” he said. “It’s the biggest story of the century in golf, with a phenomenal cast of characters: the players, Donald Trump, the Saudi royal family. It turned out there were these giant, Shakespearean themes of betrayal, about revenge, money, power, politics and very complex geopolitical issues. The energy around this story was incredible.
Mickelson is also a prominent figure in “Liv and Let Die”, with her early roles in the Premier Golf League, moving to the Saudi company (although they refer to them as “creepy mother——-.” ), playing with the start of his own tour and always trying to squeeze more money from the PGA Tour before finally signing with LIV.
“He worked on four sides of the street,” Shipnuck said. “Phil is Phil. He has to be the smartest guy in the room. As long as LIV exists, Phil will have a voice. It won’t be easy for him to return to the Tour.”
Shipnuck defends the use of anonymous sources
Additionally, other individuals and their behind-the-scenes roles were leaders of the two warring factions, the PGA Tour commissioner said. Jay Monahan and CEO of LIV Golf Greg Normand, and the best golf players of the latest generation, Tiger Woods, Mickelson, Rory McIlroy, Jon Rahm, Brooks Koepka, Dustin Johnson and Bryson Dechambeau, and big characters such as Jimmy Dunne, Ed Herlihy, governor of the PIF and golf enthusiast Yasir Al Rumayyan (who, it was said, would have started a global professional volleyball league if he had been a volleyball fan).
But Shipnuck also spoke with tournament directors, caddies, players’ wives, representatives of golf’s major governing bodies, agents, swing coaches and money men to get to the heart of the matter. Byzantine affair.
Shipnuck has defended his extensive use of anonymous sources, and to date no one has publicly stated that anything in the book is inaccurate, except for two-time major champion Justin Thomas, who has further complained about the fact that Shipnuck had not “brought positivity” to golf. .
Thomas claimed there was “incorrect information” but did not provide details.
PGA Tour Commissioner, “Hockey Jay”
Among the revelations, Monahan has a nickname at Tour headquarters for his darker side: “Hockey Jay”, in reference to his college hockey career but also to times like when Monahan senses the Tour is threatened and reacts, as Shipnuck said, “like he was trying to get the puck out of the corner.”
Shipnuck’s source told him that Monahan had the chance to listen to an initial Saudi proposal if he had responded to a 2021 letter written to him by Majed Al-Sorour, CEO of the Saudi Golf Federation, offering to to be a partner of the PGA Tour with a launch of 14 events “which should take place on a schedule largely complementary to the PGA Tour”.
The new league would pay the PGA Tour to manage tournament operations, rules and scoring, and guarantee $25 million in purses for new events.
Monahan did not respond to the letter or present it to the Policy Board.
Hiring Greg Norman “an act of war”
Shipnuck doesn’t spare Norman either and says that LIV’s main mistake was putting Norman in charge in the first place.
Norman always believed that the Tour derailed his idea of an eight-tournament “World Tour” for the top 30 players in 1994 (the players who received a pass actually followed Arnold Palmer’s lead on the damage Norman’s plan would cause), then began a three-way tournament. four years later (which caused far less disruption to the Tour schedule and provided access to more than double the number of players under Norman’s concept).
As a result, Norman always had a major problem to sort out with the Tour and Shipnuck said that affected early resistance against LIV Golf.
“Hiring Greg Norman as leader was a declaration of war,” Shipnuck said. “He has always been deeply unpopular with the Tour, players and management and he has a unique ability to put his foot in his mouth. He set the tone with a happy, hyper-aggressive start and he was not easy to support him.”
Shipnuck said Norman’s personality filtered through the ranks of LIV Golf and he was personally affected, such as the time two forceful security guards kicked him out of a Mickelson press conference, a tournament where Shipnuck was accredited and had every right to attend.
Norman claimed to have no knowledge of the incident. But another reporter posted a photo of the incident on social media – with Norman in the background, watching Shipnuck get thrown.
“There were a lot of junkyard personalities at LIV,” he said. “Always coming up to you and barking, it gave them a buzz and energy but sometimes it backfired.”
The Times-Union sought comment from Monahan and Norman through their respective communications departments on the information and characterizations presented in the book. The Tour made no comment and LIV Golf gave no response.
LIV Book Issues Are Polarizing
Shipnuck said the issue seems to have a parallel with the current political temperature in the United States, where there are no shades of gray and emotions run high.
“This topic was so emotional and so overheated that it was symbiotic with American political discourse where you pick a side and defend it to the death,” Shipnuck said. “No room for complexity, subtlety and nuance. My role was to be a tour guide through a series of really complicated questions and to shine a light on these incredibly contradictory personalities.”
When Shipnuck’s book on Mickelson came out, a frequent comment from readers and reviewers was that they could not tell whether or not Shipnuck liked Mickelson.
“Live and Let Die” has a similar tone. Shipnuck has a lot of criticism and praise to offer and ultimately the reader can’t guess his allegiances, if there were any in the first place.
“My role was to tell the complete story and let the readers make up their own minds,” he said. “I also wanted to tell them things they don’t know. I didn’t want to impose my views and opinions and I think I did my job quite effectively.”
Shipnuck said it was difficult to say what would happen with the proposed framework agreement, especially since the U.S. Department of Justice and the The Senate is snooping.
“We don’t know how the story will end,” he said. “Whether the framework is consumed, explodes or there is a middle ground to attract private equity funds and dilute the interests and equity of the Saudis. Now you have the Gaza crisis and the Saudis have showed support for the Palestinians. It might make it harder for Jay Monahan to associate with them. That’s another log on the fire.
