On Tuesday morning as news broke that a deal had been brokered between the PGA Tour, the Saudi's Public Investment Fund, and the DP World Tour, I was making the turn at Andover CC in a Massachusetts Amateur qualifier.
A few days removed from the news, I liked the fact that I was participating in a golf event that doesn't have anything to do with the nonsense that Jay Monahan and others brought to the headlines. The decision doesn't effect my personal, recreational enjoyment of the game.
Call it bifurcation.
There isn't much that I can say about this new professional golf landscape that is interesting or novel.
Without the brain power or intellect to synthesize Tuesday's news, I'll simply list a few thoughts that continue to cross my mind.
This feels a lot like the European soccer "Super League" that elite, (and rich) clubs tried to form in April of 2021. The announcement came out of nowhere, and the backlash caused the entire plan to come to a screeching halt when six English teams bailed, and fans threw a hissy fit. Some seem to think golf's latest join venture will come crashing down, too.
Jay Monahan cannot continue to be a part of professional golf in any form or fashion. Leveraging 9/11 victims in June of 2022 and then joining forces and trusting Yasir Al-Rumayyan "ten minutes after meeting him" in 2023 is disgusting. History will not remember him fondly.
Phil Mickelson railing against a monopolistic golf product, working for the Saudi Arabian government, taking hundreds of millions of dollars, and acting like an asshat only to return to the PGA Tour as an even bigger monopoly is stunning.
I think Brooks Koepka's Masters performance and PGA Championship victory aren't getting enough credit for this partnership happening so quickly. He proved that players can cash in and still compete in the majors. I'll be interested to see if there was interest in LIV from other world-class players recently. Rahm's name has been floating around.
If this deal actually comes to fruition (it might not), I wouldn't be surprised if absolutely nothing changed within the structure of the PGA Tour's schedule and organization. They have proved that they are so afraid of change, they have an incredibly pissed-off contingent of players that any sort of change could ignite a real issue. The only difference will be the purse sizes and where the money is coming from. After all, the staples of the season are the four majors, and they hold a lot of the schedule hostage.
Bryson DeChambeau is an idiot.
In the words of Mike McDermott in Rounders, "If you can't spot the sucker in your first half hour at the table, then you ARE the sucker. ... I think Rory might have been the sucker at those 7-hour Board Meetings when he should have been practicing or resting or being a dad or doing literally anything else.
With Rose Zhang's win on Sunday, I can't help but wonder if the LPGA could have been part of this deal or if it will be involved down the road.
I only know a bit about Jimmy Dunne (this Golf Digest article gives some background and so does this interview). He's done a whole lot in the world of golf behind the scenes with the upper-crust. This is a hell of a way to introduce himself to the wider world.
As far as I can tell, If Rory and the other loyal golfers get paid out to make things "right" it might be the first time money has paid for loyalty.
One more time for the people in the back... Bryson is an idiot.