July is an important milestone in the calendar of golf. It signifies the end of the major season, and what a major season it has been. We have had Scotty Scheffler win at Augusta National, dominate the early season and rise to world number 1. Justin Thomas then overcame a shank in the final round to close out a wonderful PGA. Englishman Matt Fitzpatrick winning the US Open and his first PGA tour victory on the same course he won the US amateur and Cam Smith closing in style with an 8 under par 64 to win the 150th Open at St. Andrews.
July marks the end of the major season and with that cash grab of the PGA final stages commences. This has always been the way. The major season finishes and the players embark upon the journey to make the final 30 in the FedEx standings (other delivery companies are available) to go for the obscene amounts of money up for grabs in East Lake. This year the winner of the FedEx will pocket a cool $18 million. This is up $3 million from last year, which had gone up $5 million from years past.
Lest we forget, there is also the Player Impact Fund. The PIP promised to identify the 10 biggest movers and shakers in the game through various dubious metrics and just give them money hand over fist. The cynic in me wondered why the PIP was created, considering by definition the players that move the needle are players that do well on the golf course. Perhaps I was blind to the steam train that was approaching, or perhaps I chose not to see.
The 2021 Player Impact Program identified the following players as the most influential in the game of golf:
- Tiger Woods
- Phil Mickleson
- Rory McIlroy
- Jordan Speith
- Bryson DeChambeau
- Juston Thomas
- Dustin Johnson
- Brookes Keopka
- John Rahm
- Bubba Watson
Ironically, 40% of the list that we rewarded for helping to develop and promote the PGA tour, have since decided that the PGA tour is no longer a place where they can earn sufficient money to justify their continued presence.
The inexorable escalation towards unfathomable sums of money has been going on for years. Arnold slammed his foot on the financial accelerator, Tiger added the turbo charger, and the current crop of players are moving at the violent speeds that constant acceleration provided.
For some players, however, this isn’t enough. The issue with being an “independent contractor” is that no money is ever really guaranteed. If injury caused the end of their playing days tomorrow, the truth is these players would never earn again (apart from one of the best pension packages in the world of sport), and this financial arrangement has left a gap in the market that the Saudi backed LIV golf has looked to fill.
The rumours about a Saudi golf initiative have been going round for years. Always scoffed at by the big wigs on the PGA tour as something that could never happen, Greg Norman got onboard and his garrulous approach to the new venture started to gain some traction in mainstream media and more importantly, with the players themselves.
Media is a fickle beast. Mainstream media can control the narrative in such a way that it can shape and manipulate its coverage to whatever agenda it sees fit. Now in absolutely no way do I condone the Human Rights abuses that the Saudi government has been linked with – the same way I don’t condone the treatment of prisoners in Guantanamo Bay, the Novichok poisonings or the invasion of Ukraine, but the attention of the Saudi regime has been viscous in its vitriol.
Fact 1: The Saudi government is an ally of the US. In fact,
“The U.S. is Saudi Arabia’s largest trading partner, and Saudi Arabia is the largest U.S. export market in the Middle East. The United States and Saudi Arabia have a history of technical and educational exchange which has benefited both nations, and the longstanding security relationship continues to be important.” – US Embassy
Fact 2: The Saudi government is an ally of the UK.
“We develop and maintain the long-standing relationship between the UK and Saudi Arabia. We build on the bilateral relationship between our two governments and peoples, especially in the areas of trade and investment, education, culture, energy and climate security, and defence.” – www.gov.uk
With the above statements in mind, why the sudden attack on golfers that are choosing to apply their trade funded by an ally of our governments? If our government chooses to do business with the Saudis then why shouldn’t we? The women have had the ARAMCO series since 2020, also funded by the Saudi Arabians, but to my knowledge, there certainly hasn’t been the uproar in the ladies game. In fact – it is often cited that the ladies don’t have the same funding as the men so it’s good to see the money going into the women’s game, which I am all for.
It appears to me that the media and opponents of the new LIV golf all seem to have a stake in the PGA tour, either directly or indirectly. Golf Channel and Sky are heavily invested in the PGA and DP World Tour, and the dilution of the playing pool will only lead to a negative impact on these outlets. Similarly, sponsors that have paid vast amounts of money into tournaments will no longer have some of the marquee names that were the initial attraction, further diluting prize funds and media sponsorship deals.
Twitter is awash with attacks on players that would support public beheadings and Jamal Khashoggi murder, but I wonder whether that is just a line we are being fed as consumers in an attempt to poison us against a Saudi Public Invesment Fund backed league.
Digging a little deeper, the PIF has a stake in Uber, Facebook, Bank of America & Capcom to name just a few. Does this mean we no longer use Facebook, Instagram, or Whatsapp? Do we no longer use the time saving Uber and wave down a taxi instead? Do we shift all funds out of Bank of America and no longer play video games? Because unless we also boycott these companies, we are adding money into the PIF pockets and we are ultimately acting hypocritically – boycott everything or nothing, there is no inbetween.
I don’t know what is going to happen in the coming months. With the lack of OWGR points for the LIV events, its players (as it stands) are likely to miss out on the OWGR points required to qualify for majors. Rumours are rife around the Australian contingent of the PGA tour and once the FedEx final is completed this year, all bets are well and truly off. I can only hope that golf finds a balance and that these outstanding golfers all playing in various ecosystems can coexist and golf can leverage the talents of all its players and in all forms, for all of us to enjoy.
