Tag: Saudi golf

Two things are clear: the Players Championship has been diminished, and the PGA Tour is reeling

Monahan talked about the fans, but he talked more about what is best for the members of the PGA Tour.

When Jay Monahan met with the media ahead of this week’s Players Championship, the flagship tournament for the PGA Tour for which Monahan is the commissioner, two things became apparent.

First, with many of the LIV golfers in the world able to play in the four major championships, the Players Championship might be the tournament that is impacted the most by the absence of the LIV Tour players like Jon Rahm and Brooks Koepka. The narrative that the Players is the fifth major isn’t very strong when the majors are actually letting the LIV Golf and the PGA Tour players play together, but the Players Championship isn’t allowing that.

The second thing that is crystal clear is that the PGA Tour is still in trouble two years into the battle with the Saudi Arabia-backed LIV Tour. Monahan answered plenty of questions, but didn’t, in reality, give many answers.

Monahan said that the negotiations with the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund over a potential investment deal are still ongoing, but his unwillingness to offer details about the negotiations or what a potential deal will look like are hardly the things that disgruntled and frustrated golf fans want to hear.

What fans want is a deal. They want the talk of negotiations and player defections and money and money and more money to go away. Monahan basically told those fans that the battle will continue and there is no deadline for a deal. And there is certainly no guarantee that PGA Tour players will ignore overtures from LIV in the coming months.

Monahan talked about the fans, but when push came to shove, he talked more about what is best for the members of the PGA Tour. The fans have been rising with a more unified voice of frustration and are showing that frustration through a drop in television ratings for PGA Tour events. Only the American Express with its amateur winner Nick Dunlap has seen a ratings increase among tour events this year. Fans still don’t seem to be a priority.

2024 Players Championship
Viktor Hovland focuses on the 10th hole during the first round of The Players Championship Thursday, March 14, 2024, at TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla.

Will fans stay or revolt?

The thinking is probably that the fans are the fans and they will continue to be fans, and that they won’t abandon the game they love over two years of money grabs and insults. That might be dangerous thinking as the Tour continues negotiations with LIV, especially given that the PIF seems to have greater leverage than the PGA Tour because of money.

That was obvious in December when the PGA Tour’s Dec. 31 deadline for a deal with PIF grew closer and closer. The Tour did make a $3 billion deal with investment group Strategic Sports Group, but LIV poached Rahm from the PGA Tour with a deal of more than half a billion dollars, showing that its money advantage perhaps overruled the PGA Tour’s arguments of history and tradition or its SSG deal.

Members of the newly established 13-member board of directors of the new PGA Tour Enterprises need to understand that every week that goes by without a deal is another opportunity for fans to become a little more fed up with the constant noise and bickering between the two rival tours.

Fans honestly don’t care about player equity in the new structure of the PGA Tour. I’m not sure fans really care whether the top 10 players in the world all play together every week, just that they are all united on a single tour and have a chance to play together more often.

If this sounds like a condemnation of what the Tour is doing, that’s only partly true. The LIV players elevated guaranteed money to their greatest goal in the game. They took the money knowing there would be no world ranking points and there would be no easy path back to either the PGA Tour or the DP World Tour.

And they now play in a certain amount of obscurity, because the television ratings for that tour are worse than the worst PGA Tour event. Even adding Rahm, one of the great players in the game at the moment, hasn’t changed the television story for LIV. As Scottie Scheffler said this week, the splintering of professional golf came from the LIV players leaving, not the PGA Tour players staying.

So fans could walk away from Monahan’s press conference Tuesday with little hope that things are going to change in the coming weeks. And the prospect of federal intervention that could delay any final deal by a year or more has to be depressing for all parties involved.

In the end, it isn’t promises of an accelerated negotiation or $3.6 million first-prize checks or player equity fans want. Fans want a deal and for the rancor to go away. Without a deal, the fans might go away.

Larry Bohannan is the golf writer for The Desert Sun. You can contact him at (760) 778-4633 or at larry.bohannan@desertsun.com. Follow him on Facebook or on Twitter at @larry_bohannan. Support local journalism. Subscribe to The Desert Sun.

Armour: Jon Rahm is a hypocrite and a sellout. But he’s getting paid, and that’s clearly all he cares about

This wasn’t what Rahm wanted for his career. Until the money changed his mind.

Only Jon Rahm can say whether he sold his soul. His principles and his reputation, however, are now owned by the Saudis.

The two-time major champion and once-ardent defender of the PGA Tour became the biggest name to defect to LIV Golf on Thursday, deciding the tradition and challenge of the Tour weren’t so important to him, after all. Who needs to play on courses where Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods made their mark when you can stage glorified exhibitions with the Cleeks and the HyFlyers!

So long as the price is right, that is.

All his talk about “fealty” to the PGA Tour, of wanting to play against the best in the world in tournaments steeped in history, and Rahm turned out to be no better than his buddies Phil Mickelson and Sergio Garcia. Once the figure the Saudis were dangling got high enough, Rahm was quick to abandon all he’d once stood for.

As for the blood on the hands of his new employers that is now staining his own, well, all those zeroes make it easier to overlook. If nothing else, he can use one of his stacks of cash to wipe it off.

In photos: Jon Rahm through the years

The damage to Rahm’s reputation, and the Tour he supposedly loved so much, can never be undone.

Jon Rahm has officially joined LIV Golf.

Much like Rory McIlroy, Rahm had staked out a position as the conscience of golf, someone who saw LIV for the shameless money grab it is and wanted no part of it. He said as much. Many, many, many times.

“I already make an amazing living doing what I do. I’m extremely thankful, and that all happened because of the platform the PGA Tour provided me,” Rahm said in July. “As far as I’m concerned, they’ve done enough for me, and their focus should be on improving the PGA Tour and the game of golf for the future generations.”

Jon Rahm of Spain raises their cap as they acknowledge the crowd after putting on the 18th green on Day Three of The 151st Open at Royal Liverpool Golf Club on July 22, 2023 in Hoylake, England. (Photo by Ross Kinnaird/Getty Images)

Instead, he’s made it more difficult for the Tour to exist in its current form. This will be a setback for whatever détente PGA Tour overlords thought they’d brokered through their agreement with LIV earlier this year, and there’s no telling how it will get resolved. Odds are pretty good the folks with an endless supply of money will eventually get their way, however, and the giddiness of LIV chief operating officer Lawrence Burian on Thursday night did nothing to contradict that.

“LIV Golf is here to stay,” he said. “The addition of Jon reemphasizes that our league is not slowing down.”

Which would make the game a shell of what it once was.

Once upon a time, Rahm didn’t consider LIV to be “real” golf. Shotgun starts and three-day tournaments? You might as well be putting it through a clown’s mouth. And while he won at The Memorial and Torrey Pines and Augusta National, the best LIV could do for tradition was Doral.

Rahm wasn’t the only one who saw LIV for the charade it was. Even with fan favorites Mickelson, Dustin Johnson and Brooks Koepka on board, no major broadcaster had interest in LIV. It finally found a home on the CW, where its ratings were so abysmal some stations preempted tournaments for infomercials or reruns.

That wasn’t what Rahm wanted for his career. It wasn’t what he wanted for young players. And it certainly wasn’t what he wanted for the PGA Tour.

Until the money changed his mind.

“Obviously the past two years there’s been a lot of evolving on the game of golf, things have changed a lot and so have I,” Rahm said Thursday. “Seeing the growth of LIV Golf, seeing the evolution of LIV Golf and innovation is something that has really captured my attention.”

Growth? Innovation? Does Rahm know about some LIV the rest of us don’t? The only thing that changed was the amount of money the Saudis offered Rahm to be an accomplice in their sports washing.

“For all those things that I like about this movement, there’s always going to be some things that are not perfect,” Rahm said, “but that’s the situation in everybody’s life.”

Tell that to Jamal Khashoggi’s family. Or the families of those killed in 9/11.

LIV isn’t just a golf league. It’s a central part of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s scheme to use sports to cleanse his image. He figures if he splashes enough money out for sports, the world will forget about his and his country’s human rights abuses. Like the marginalization of women and suppression of the LGBTQ community.

And his ordering the murder of Khashoggi, whose body was then dismembered by a bone saw.

That’s who Rahm now works for. That’s whose image Rahm is helping make over.

Once one of the game’s good guys, Rahm is now a hypocrite and a sellout. But hey, he’s getting paid. That’s all that matters to him now.

Follow USA TODAY Sports columnist Nancy Armour on social media @nrarmour.

Lynch: LIV Golf’s unspoken secret — players are ripping off the Saudis

Even the Saudis will reach a point of accountability, to reconcile what’s been spent with what’s been returned.

Oscar Wilde was defining a cynic when he famously wrote of “a man who knows the price of everything and the value of nothing,” but today his aphorism might be as readily applied to a Crown Prince (Act Three, Lady Windermere’s Fan, if your majesty deigns, though you might wish to avoid De Profundis on the same shelf). The gap between price and value is relevant when it comes to LIV Golf, the Saudi-funded series churning professional golf’s usually placid waters, not merely as an abstract philosophical question but as a matter of basic fiscal responsibility.

It’s nigh on impossible to muster sympathy for the Saudi regime since that emotion is best reserved for those living under its jackboot. Still, one can almost commiserate with MBS’s fate — increasingly obvious, though perhaps not to him — as being hoodwinked into financing what amounts to welfare for wealthy, washed-up golfers. Consider the amount of someone else’s money that Greg Norman has been willing to bestow upon players whose potential is largely exhausted, limited or unrealized.

A couple hundred million for 52-year-old Phil Mickelson, a feckless overspend even if exaggerated by a multiple. Something similar so Dustin Johnson can accomplish his stated goal of not actually playing golf. A stout backhander to soothe the blushes of Brooks Koepka, who had to perform an about-face that would be the envy of Linda Blair in The Exorcist. Another nine figures for Bryson DeChambeau, whose surgically-repaired hand will find it easier to carry the check than his playing future. And that’s all before you tally ‘B’ tier guys like Sergio Garcia (best add a premium to cover tissues for his unceasing tears) and Lee Westwood (whose thirst for lucrative tinpot tournaments long predates his cushy landing, at age 49, on the Saudi scrap heap).

Seen through a clear business lens, these players would be classified not as assets but as liabilities, their peaks long past and their popularity severely diminished. But their pragmatic value bears no relation to their price when Norman is writing checks on MBS’s account. That’s why those who have managed to clamber aboard Greg’s gravy train can’t believe their luck.

“This opportunity has been like winning the lottery for me,” said Pat Perez. The 46-year-old, five years removed from the last of his three PGA Tour wins, didn’t even buy a ticket. It was handed to him.

“It’s a money thing,” echoed Matthew Wolff, whose tenderness in years hides a weary veteran’s scar tissue and distant form.

“Getting paid bigger, better,” said Abraham Ancer, apparently dissatisfied with his ratio of one victory to $15 million in career prize money.

Their comments explain why so many are eager to feast before the Crown Prince realizes how deeply the well-fed have burrowed into his trough. Last month, Norman announced that he had secured another $2 billion from the Saudi Public Investment Fund, in addition to the princely sum he’s already set alight. It’s proving awfully expensive to bankroll the bruised egos of Norman and Yasir Al-Rumayyan, the head of the PIF, who has bristled at the refusal of the PGA and DP World tours to indulge him.

A threadbare piece of armchair analysis says the Saudis have a bottomless purse and can finance Norman’s folly in perpetuity. That’s true, at a surface level. They can, but will they? Even the Saudis will reach a point of accountability, when some luckless bureaucrat must reconcile what has been spent with what has been returned. The LIV Golf ledger already shows an imbalance that is impossible to correct, and not just financial.

Even if one views it as an exercise in sportswashing where the only desired return is reputational, LIV Golf is proving a great white elephant, serving only to draw renewed attention to matters the Crown Prince might rather see forgotten. The dismemberment of Jamal Khashoggi, for example. Or his country’s links to the September 11th hijackers, as repeatedly pointed out by the families of their victims. Or the hit-and-run killing of 15-year-old Fallon Smart not far from Pumpkin Ridge, where LIV Golf is staging an event this week. A Saudi national faced manslaughter charges in her death but was whisked home before he could stand trial, and the regime has refused to return him to face justice. Until Norman found a willing stooge venue in Pumpkin Ridge, the death of Smart had been forgotten, except by those who loved her.

This entire grubby episode has been made possible by what people in golf are willing to forget about or set aside, things like character, honesty, morality, loyalty, integrity. Do that, and it’s easy money. Not much different than a grifter helping himself to the funds of an inattentive dupe. The intriguing question is how long it will take before MBS realizes he is the mark.

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Brooks Koepka withdraws from PGA Tour’s Travelers Championship amid reports of LIV Golf involvement

Koepka withdrew amid reports of his involvement with LIV Golf.

Brooks Koepka accused media members of putting a black cloud over the U.S. Open by talking about the LIV Golf Invitational Series, and just a week later he did the same to the PGA Tour’s Travelers Championship.

Amid reports of his involvement with the Saudi-backed, Greg Norman-led breakaway LIV Golf series, the PGA Tour announced late Monday night that Koepka had withdrawn from this week’s Tour stop at TPC River Highlands.

Previous reports suggested that Koepka would make his debut on the new circuit at its second event next week at Pumpkin Ridge Golf Club in Portland, Oregon. The four-time major champion joins the likes of Dustin Johnson, Bryson DeChambeau, Patrick Reed, Phil Mickelson, and Abraham Ancer as the big names to jump from the PGA Tour.

Koepka’s younger brother, Chase, has already committed to playing for LIV Golf and tied for 33rd a few weeks ago at the debut event in London, walking away with a check for $150,000.

Golfweek’s Riley Hamel contributed to this report.

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Dustin Johnson, Sergio Garcia, Louis Oosthuizen in field for LIV Golf’s London event; no Phil Mickelson

We finally learned who is heading to London for the LIV Golf Series opener June 9–11 at the Centurion Golf Club.

After a slight delay, we finally learned who is heading to London for the LIV Golf Series opener on June 9–11 at the Centurion Golf Club.

Among those in the field for the debut event for the outfit fronted by Greg Norman and backed by the Saudis is Dustin Johnson, a former No. 1 player in the world who has a pair of majors under his belt. LIV officials had previously insisted the field would be announced last Friday — which is also the day each week the PGA Tour announces fields — but the news wasn’t released until Tuesday night.

Others listed in the field include Sergio Garcia, Louis Oosthuizen, Ian Poulter, Lee Westwood and Talor Gooch. Kevin Na and Lee Westwood, also long rumored to be on the roster, were also announced as part of the group.

Phil Mickelson was not in the field, but there is still a chance he’s added before the event begins. Also, a number of players will be added after an International Series event this week being played in London.

Back in April, Golfweek broke the news that the PGA Tour would not grant waivers to players looking to play in the tournament, reversing a long-standing protocol of allowing players to play limited events overseas.

All members are required to seek a conflicting event release to compete in non-Tour events.

Back in February, Johnson released a statement stating he was fully committed to the PGA Tour. For nearly a year, Johnson, who counts 24 PGA Tour titles on his resume, has been rumored to be one of the top players who would join the circuit that would pay enormous amounts of guaranteed money, siphon off some of the game’s biggest names and be a direct rival with the PGA Tour.

Speculation of Johnson joining the league has been fueled in part by his playing in the Saudi International the past four years; he won in 2019 and 2021.

“Over the past several months, there has been a great deal of speculation about an alternative tour; much of which seems to have included me and my future in professional golf,” Johnson’s statement said in February. “I feel it is now time to put such speculation to rest. I am fully committed to the PGA Tour. I am grateful for the opportunity to play the best tour in the world and for all it has provided me and my family.”

The first year of the series will feature an eight-event schedule in 2022 with plenty more to allegedly come in the next few years.

LIV Golf has 10 events planned for next year and 14 events slated for 2024 and 2025 in the Asia Pacific, the Middle East, Europe and North America. Official dates and locations were not announced.

“We have a long-term vision and we’re here to stay,” said Norman, the CEO and commissioner of LIV Golf, via a release. “We’re going to grow the game, give more opportunities to players, and create a more entertaining product for fans. We believe in adding new experiences and energy to golf, and that includes building out our future schedule in more global markets. We’re creating an entertaining product that will increase golf participation and attract new fans across a broader global footprint. We realize it won’t happen overnight, and we’re excited for the opportunities LIV Golf will add to the game as we continue to grow.”

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Where in the world is Phil Mickelson, you ask? His mom knows: ‘He’s in such a good place’

“His brother and sister have mentioned … how happy he seems. How relaxed and comfortable.”

RANCHO SANTA FE, Calif. – Phil Mickelson’s estate, with golf greens and bunkers out his 13,000-square foot mansion, was stirring one day this week.

The wooden front gate swung open when a dry cleaner’s van arrived. Inside, gardeners cut and pruned the 5.85-acre property about 25 miles north of San Diego. And a man who introduced himself as the property manager greeted a reporter hoping to talk to Mickelson, who entered the World Golf Hall of Famer at the ripe age of 41.

“Right now he’s actually in meetings,’’ the property manager told USA Today Sports.

But Mickelson’s mother was available to talk. She said her son is as happy as she’s seen him in years and, during his three-month absence from professional golf, occasionally in public view.

“I didn’t recognize him at first,’’ Mary Mickelson told USA Today Sports during a phone interview. “He had a little bit of a beard and mustache. I don’t ever remember him doing that before. Not too many people recognize him, so it’s been fun to be able to go out with him.’’

On Thursday, Mickelson could have been teeing off at Southern Hills Country Club in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and defending the PGA Championship he won last year when, at 50, he became the oldest golfer to win a major.

Instead, he remains in exile.

Phil’s fall (and retreat)

Three months ago, Mickelson voiced support for a Saudi-backed, breakaway golf tour despite acknowledging the country’s “horrible record on human rights,’’ including the execution of gay people and the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, a Saudi national who worked for the Washington Post.

Facing backlash for his comments, Mickelson retreated to his mansion and largely disappeared from public view.

“I wish you could see him now,’’ Mary Mickelson said. “He’s relaxed, he laughs all the time. He’s not on the phone with people that are calling him for this and that, and please play in this tournament, and it’s hard when you have to say no, when you don’t have the time to spend. But he has taken a lot of time with our family.

Phil Mickelson
Phil Mickelson of the United States tees off on the 14th hole during day one of the PIF Saudi International at Royal Greens Golf & Country Club on February 3, 2022, in Al Murooj, Saudi Arabia. (Photo by Oisin Keniry/Getty Images)

“Tim and Tina, his brother and sister, have mentioned that too. How happy he seems. How relaxed and comfortable. And if it means going through all of this … I’m happy for him.

“I think you’ll see a different person if he decides to come back and if he plays, someone who’s going to enjoy playing just to be playing.’’

If Mickelson comes back?

“We don’t talk about (golf) very much,’’ she said. “I know when he comes to visit, we’re always in the backyard putting and chipping and just playing around. I guess he’s getting out there. I really don’t know for sure.”

Mickelson’s absence from the PGA Championship is much to the chagrin of his supporters such as Charles Barkley.

“I think it’s time for him to come out of hibernation,’’ Barkley, the NBA Hall of Famer-turned-broadcaster, told USA Today Sports, during a recent phone interview.

Barkley, who teamed up with Mickelson and beat Peyton Manning and Steph Curry during The Match III in 2020, said he has spoken to Mickelson.

“I talked to Phil and I told him, ‘Hey, man, how long are you going to hide out? It’s time for you to come out,’ ’’ Barkley said. “Phil is my friend and always will be my friend. That does not mean he did not screw up. But the notion that he’s got to stay in his house for the rest of his life is just (expletive).”

Mickelson’s beard and mustache

It turns out Mickelson has been getting out of his house but keeping a low profile thanks to that new mustache and beard, according to Mickelson’s mother.

She said her son’s public outings have included watching his nephew play Little League baseball and watching his niece play lacrosse.

At a recent San Carlos Little League game, astute spectators noticed Phil Mickelson watching the action from an adjacent field rather than from the stands.

The golfer, whose three children are in college, has made several visits to his parents’ home in San Diego during his break from golf, according to Mickelson’s mother.

“He spent a whole day with those little ones, his nephew and his niece, and really they saw a different side of him,’’ Mary Mickelson said. “And now every time we’re together they talk with him more and seem to appreciate him more, whereas before it was mainly watching on TV.

“Those things are so important to him and I think he probably forgot how important they were. Slowly you’re pulled away doing more corporate things, but things that were really the most important to him, they weren’t getting done. So I think now he’s in such a good place and every time I see him it’s as if he seems better and better.’’

On April 28, video surfaced of Mickelson hitting a drive at Rancho Santa Fe Golf Club, where he is a member. It was the first public evidence that he was back on a golf course rather than working on his short game in the front of his house.

The video recording incident violated the club’s code on privacy, said Michael Jack, Director of Golf at Rancho Santa Fe Golf Club. Jack declined to answer questions about Mickelson.

“I have special marching orders on that,’’ he said.

Capital One's The Match: Champions For Change
Phil Mickelson talks to Charles Barkley about his putt on the third green during Capital One’s The Match: Champions For Change at Stone Canyon Golf Club on November 27, 2020, in Oro Valley, Arizona. (Photo: Christian Petersen/Getty Images for The Match)

Charles Barkley says it’s time

But enough with the hiding, said Barkley, who offered advice for Mickelson.

“He needs to do one sit-down interview and let them ask him tough questions,’’ Barkley said, “and then apologize on camera, then move forward. You know, he released a statement (of apology). But statements, they’re not the same as somebody saying it in your face. I think he needs to do one sit-down interview and apologize. And then that’s it, that’s all he can do.’’

Later in the day, the property manager at Mickelson’s estate greeted the reporter again with an update on the interview request.

“He’s just not interested at this point, I guess,’’ the man said.

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Justin Thomas, Scottie Scheffler and more PGA Tour pros react to denied requests to play LIV Golf Invitational Series event in London

“I thought that was the perfect response,” said Will Zalatoris.

When the PGA Tour sent an email to its membership late Tuesday informing players that it had denied requests for a conflicting-event release to play in the LIV Golf Invitational Series inaugural event in London the same week as the Tour’s RBC Canadian Open, it was bound to become a topic of conversation at this week’s AT&T Byron Nelson.

“As a membership organization, we believe this decision is in the best interest of the PGA Tour and its players,” wrote Tyler Dennis, the Tour’s senior vice president and chief of operation.

World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler said he had a busy night at home, woke up early and played his pro am and hadn’t had much time to process the Tour’s decision, but at first glance supported the move.

“I kind of figured that was something that would happen,” he said in his pre-tournament news conference ahead of the AT&T Byron Nelson in his hometown of Dallas. “If you’re playing here on the PGA Tour, playing in something that could be a rival series to the PGA Tour, being a member of our Tour, it’s definitely not something where we want our membership to do because it’s going to harm the tournament that we have opposite that and that’s, I’m sure that’s why they were, why they did not release the players. Because if we have 15 guys go over there and play that hurts the RBC and the Canadian Open.”

2022 Zurich Classic of New Orleans
Will Zalatoris reacts after making a putt on the ninth green during the final round of the 2022 Zurich Classic of New Orleans in Avondale, Louisiana. (Photo: Andrew Wevers-USA TODAY Sports)

Will Zalatoris, last year’s Rookie of the Year and a member of the Tour’s Player Advisory Council, has been involved in talks behind closed doors and fully backed the decision made by Commissioner Jay Monahan.

“I thought that was the perfect response,” Zalatoris said. “Because we’re in a great place, the Tour’s in the best spot it’s ever been, it’s only going to get better and why would we want to, why would we encourage our players to get releases for those events when essentially we have all these sponsors that are involved with the Tour and are only making it better and better. We’re trying to promote our best product possible and if you want to be a part of this where it’s only getting better and better, then you shouldn’t have it both ways. You have a choice, I mean, you really do. You can go if you’d like, but, you know, it is what it is.”

Justin Thomas has made it clear repeatedly that he’s interested in winning tournaments and creating a legacy in the game more than simply lining his bank account with more lucre.

“I would hope it would deter them from going over there,” he said. “I think Jay’s made it very clear from the start of what would happen or, you know, I think a lot of people are probably like, “I can’t believe you did this’ or, ‘Wow, you went through with it.’ But I mean this is what he said was going to happen all along. And, yeah, it’s one of those things to where he just doesn’t want the competing tour, the back and forth. You know, it’s like, Look, if you want to go, go. I mean there’s been plenty of guys that have been advocates of it and have just talked it up all the time and they have been guys behind the scenes that are saying, ‘I’m going, I’m doing this.’ And like my whole thing is, like just go then. Like stop going back and forth or like you say you’re going to do this, it’s like you can do — everybody’s entitled to do what they want, you know what I mean?

“Like if I wanted to go play that tour I could go play that tour. But I’m loyal to the PGA Tour and I’ve said that and I think there’s a lot of opportunity for me to, I mean, break records, make history, do a lot of things on the PGA Tour I want to do. And there could be people that want to make that change and it’s like you’re allowed to have that decision, you’re a human being and that’s just a part of it.”

Former European Ryder Cup Captain Paul McGinley, who played most of his career on the DP World Tour, served as both a captain, Ryder Cup teammate and fellow competitor with many of the European players linked with joining the LIV series (including Lee Westwood, Sergio Garcia among others) brings a Euro-centric perspective. He expressed his opinion in an interview Wednesday with SiriusXM and joined Scheffler, Thomas and Zalatoris in supporting the established tours, which announced a strategic alliance in 2020 and have been rumored to be discussing a closer relationship to fend off the Saudi threat.

“I’m not gonna make this personal, they’re all friends of mine,” McGinley said. “But I’m very much a traditionalist, I’m very much aligned with the PGA, DP World Tour and the major championships indeed in terms of retaining and improving the status quo that we have at the moment, which is, you know, every week that we have both European and PGA Tours. So I want to enhance that. I think we have commonalities between the two tours trying to enhance that, uh, get somewhat of a world schedule going together. I know there’s some talks gone on behind the scenes in that regard of those two major tours coming together and working more collaboratively going forward.”

LIV Golf, which Tuesday announced a $2 billion infusion to support its launch, has been touting exorbitant purses and guaranteed money to lure players to enter its events.

“I can somewhat understand and see where the guys are coming from. I mean, the amount of money that’s been put on the table is an incredible amount of, huge amount of money. And so late in their careers an opportunity to make so much money,” McGinley said. “In a lot of ways I can understand the enticement that they’ve been offered and why they would be interested in it. But it’s not certainly, personally from my point of view, the side of the fence that I’m on.”

Speaking on the condition of anonymity, one pro who splits time on both the PGA Tour and DP World Tour told our Eamon Lynch the following: “I’m for sure weighing up the pros and cons of making a jump like this. What Jay [Monahan] decides is a hugely important part of that. Asking permission to play an international ‘tour’ event is something I’ve done with the PGA Tour since I first took my card many years ago. I understand the initial construct of this LIV tour was destructive in nature if the PGA Tour didn’t want part of it. Here in the short term, the events are being scheduled to be as non-conflicting as possible which is difficult to do. As a player who plays multiple tours, conflicting events is something we always deal with and I don’t see how the LIV tour is any different until it’s 48 guys locked in for 14 events a season.”

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PGA Tour denies players permission to play Saudi-funded event next month

It had been expected that the PGA Tour would grant waivers for the LIV Golf Invitational event near London.

The PGA Tour has denied its members permission to play in the Saudi-funded golf tournament in London next month. The denials were sent to players who had sought permission late Tuesday afternoon.

It had been expected that the PGA Tour would grant waivers for the LIV Golf Invitational event near London because of a precedent allowing players limited releases for overseas events. (All members are required to seek a conflicting event release to compete in non-Tour events.)

However, it is thought the decision is based on a belief that the event in the U.K. is effectively part of a rival series. LIV Golf, which is funded by the Saudi Arabian regime, has announced a schedule of eight tournaments — the second of which is due to be played July 1-3 in Portland, Oregon — with plans for more to come.

A PGA Tour spokesperson declined to confirm any details regarding what was communicated to members on the releases.

Among those who have acknowledged applying for permission to play the tournament—which has a $25 million purse—are Sergio Garcia and Lee Westwood. Players who defy the Tour and play without a green light would be subject to disciplinary action. It is unclear if any player will choose to do that, or if anyone will try to litigate the Tour’s right to influence his schedule.

One player, who spoke with Golfweek under the condition of anonymity, said he has since been monitoring the reaction of PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan.

“I’m for sure weighing up the pros and cons of making a jump like this. What Jay decides is a hugely important part of that. Asking permission to play an international ‘tour’ event is something I’ve done with the PGA Tour since I first took my card many years ago,” the player said. “I understand the initial construct of this LIV tour was destructive in nature if the PGA Tour didn’t want part of it. Here in the short term, the events are being scheduled to be as non-conflicting as possible which is difficult to do. As a player who plays multiple tours, conflicting events is something we always deal with and I don’t see how the LIV tour is any different until it’s 48 guys locked in for 14 events a season.”

Next Tuesday, May 17, is the deadline by which players must request waivers to compete in the second Saudi event, which will be held July 1-3 at Pumpkin Ridge Golf Club in Portland, Oregon. PGA Tour policy does not permit releases to be granted for events played against its own schedule in North America, so no applications for that tournament were expected to be granted.

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Lee Westwood confirms he asked for release to play in Saudi-backed LIV Golf opener in London

Lee Westwood: “I have to do what’s right for me.”

The first event in the Saudi Arabia-backed LIV Golf Invitational series is about five weeks away and names, numbers and speculation continue to swirl.

Greg Norman, CEO of the breakaway league, told ESPN earlier this week that at least 15 of the world’s top-50 ranked players had committed to the tournament at Centurion Golf Club in London, June 9-11. SI.com’s Bob Harig had previously reported that 15 of the world’s top 100 players had registered.

Reports also stated that two of the golfers are former World No. 1s and we’ve learned Lee Westwood is one of them. In talking with Sky Sports on Wednesday, Westwood said he put a release in “with the PGA Tour and the European Tour.” The European Tour changed its name to the DP World Tour at the start of the current season.

When asked if putting in the release was something he had to “think long and hard about,” Westwood replied: “No. It’s an opportunity to play in a big tournament with some of the best players in the world, in England. I love playing in England in front of the home fans, so anytime there’s an opportunity to like that, I feel like I should take it.”

The opportunity also reportedly comes with the chance at big money.

“I’m an independent contractor. I work for myself. It’s a job and I have to do what’s right for me,” he said.

LIV Golf is planning on 54-hole events with $20 million purses, with the winner getting $4 million. There’s further money to be won, if all goes according to plan, with prizes for winning teams at these events. Appearance fees could also sweeten the pot.

During the Sky Sports interview, Westwood wasn’t asked about any of those specific numbers but he was asked if he had any issues with where the money is coming from.

“Well, we’ve played European Tour events in Saudi Arabia and I’ve had releases from the PGA Tour saying that I can go play in Saudi Arabia and it’s been no problem to them,” he said. “Formula 1 raced there. Newcastle’s owned by, partly by people from Saudi Arabia. There’s been fights there, boxing fights. I think there’s been snooker and darts there as well.

“Golf’s not the first sport to have links with Saudi Arabia but it seems to be coming under scrutiny than anywhere else. Whether you think that’s right or not is the individual’s opinion.

“Saudi Arabia knows they got issues. Lots of countries around the world has got issues. And I think they’re trying to improve. They’re trying to do it through sport, which a lot of countries do.”

Most of the names of those golfers who registered to play in the LIV Series have not been released. Phil Mickelson and Robert Garrigus are two who have been confirmed to have registered.

The second event for the LIV Golf series is scheduled for Pumpkin Ridge Golf Club in Portland, July 1-3. It’s set to be the first in the U.S. The deadline for PGA Tour members to apply for waivers to compete is May 17, however, PGA Tour rules do not allow releases for tournaments held in North America against its own schedule. The PGA Tour’s John Deere Classic is June 30 to July 3 in Silvis, Illinois.

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No TV network deal yet for Saudi Arabia-backed LIV Golf Invitational series, but report says production deal could irk PGA Tour

Report: A company working with the PGA Tour is also negotiating with the LIV Golf Invitational series.

The PGA Tour is in the first year on a nine-year media rights deal with CBS, NBC and ESPN and all parties seem to be happy continuing their relationships.

But the pending arrival of the Saudi Arabia-backed LIV Golf Invitational series is sure to complicate things.

John Ourand of the Sports Business Journal reports that television production company NEP Group may soon have a deal with LIV Golf and writes that this “has the potential to create some upheaval in the television production world.”

Most sports fans are probably unfamiliar with NEP Group, Inc., a Pittsburgh-based production company that bills itself as the “leading technology partner for content creators around the globe.”

NEP already works with the PGA Tour, doing all the behind-the-scenes work that creates the live product that fans watching at home see on CBS, NBC or ESPN.

As Ourand reports, the PGA Tour “has been dissuading its corporate partners from working with the Saudi-backed upstart league.”

NEP reportedly beat out a few others for the LIV deal, should it actually pan out, and they’d be one of the only companies working with both the PGA Tour and the breakaway LIV series. Ourand writes that most companies that have contracts with the PGA Tour are steering clear of LIV.

As for which channel golf fans may find the LIV golf coverage, Ourand writes:

The other big question is who will carry the LIV Golf events in the U.S., considering that most of the big U.S.-based media companies already have deep relationships with the PGA Tour. Sources said LIV Golf had discussions about doing a deal with Fox, but those talks died down weeks ago.

The first LIV Golf event is June 9-11 in London. The first U.S.-based LIV event is scheduled for July 1-3 in Portland at Pumpkin Ridge.

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