Wednesday, November 23, 2022

Midweek Musings

Just a handful of minor items to amuse, then we'll transition into holiday mode.

So, You're Saying there's A Chance? - This at first blush sounds devastating to our leading man:

A federal judge in Florida on Friday dismissed golfer Patrick Reed's $750 million defamation lawsuit against Brandel Chamblee, the Golf Channel and others.

U.S. District Court Judge Timothy J. Corrigan has given Reed until Dec. 16 to file an amended complaint. The defendants have until Jan. 13 to respond.

In his ruling Friday, Corrigan wrote that Reed "fails to give Defendants notice of the grounds upon which each claim rests because Reed alleges 120 factual allegations, then proceeds to incorporate all 120 allegations into each and every count."

"Reed attempts to allege various defamation and civil conspiracy violations against each Defendant; causes of action which require vastly different factual allegations," Corrigan wrote. "The Court is dismissing Reed's Complaint without prejudice. In his amended complaint, Reed is instructed to incorporate into each count only the factual allegations that are relevant to the respective causes of action.

For those who dream of invasive discovery, a group that includes your humble blogger, that will disappoint, though I'm hoping that the "without prejudice" might be our hope.  And, as if on clue, Patrick's shyster tells us that there's nothing to see here:

"Mr. Reed is pleased that the Court sustained diversity jurisdiction and set a deadline for the Defendants to respond to our soon to be filed amended complaint, which will add yet more defamatory statements that were published after the initial complaint was filed," Reed's attorney, Larry Klayman, said in a statement. "The order deals with the form of our pleading, which is easily addressed, not the substance of the allegations, which are strong. Mr. Reed and other LIV players have been maliciously defamed, and this case is designed to put an end to this, once and for all."

It's certainly been my experience that clients are always over the moon to discover that their attorney has filed a pleading in such a manner that it gets dismissed within an hour-and-a-half.

For what it's worth, this is the bit Klayman is crowing over:

Diversity jurisdiction refers to the Federal court's jurisdiction over cases involving a controversy between citizens of different States or between citizens of a State and of a foreign nation.

Even if he's correct on that narrow matter, good luck getting a court to rule in the desired manner:

Reed's allegations included that the defendants conspired "to destroy his reputation, create hate, and a hostile work environment for him, with the intention to discredit his name and accomplishments as a young, elite, world-class golfer, and the good and caring person, husband and father of two children that he is."

Well, I'll stipulate to "former world-class golfer", but the tell is that the only person on the planet that seems to find PReed a "good and caring person" has to be paid to reach that conclusion.

Brandel is no doubt ahead of himself with this, though who could really blame him?

But the purpose of this action remains unclear to your humble blogger.  It's virtually impossible for a public figure to get a judgement of defamation in the U.S., it requires a showing of intentional malice that just doesn't exist in the real world.  More importantly, who do we think might have more to worry about from discovery, Patrick or Brandel?

We'll keep a deep strategic reserve of popcorn at the ready  but, as with John Daly's similarly ill-advised lawsuit against a newspaper, we can anxiously await the leak of Reed's PGA Tour disciplinary file, which I have been reliably informed will show him to be a good and caring person.

DinnerGate - A couple of follow-ups to that awkward dinner in Naples where the LPGA players missed their cue.  Dylan Dethier, in his Monday Finish feature, lumps it in with the Honda story and has this takeaway:

That’s some seriously awkward imagery. And while things seemed smoothed over by the time Duffy greeted Ko on the 18th green — “This is a tournament we’re all very proud of, and we have an amazing winner and dear friend in Lydia Ko,” he said at the ceremony — there’s no question LPGA leadership will be revisiting this over the offseason.

More money comes with more expectations. Golf tours around the world are experiencing exactly that. And the sponsors are letting it be known what they expect in return.

That's quite obviously right as far as it goes, although the ladies have always been better at this than the men, for the simple reason that they have to be.

Garrett Morrison at the Fried Egg has some more interesting thoughts, but also adds a telling detail:

A source connected with the LPGA Tour offered The Fried Egg some additional context for what went down on Tuesday evening. Apparently, tennis legend Serena Williams was scheduled to speak at the dinner, and 11 golfers said they would attend. When Williams canceled, all of the players decided not to go. The LPGA evidently failed to notify Duffy; as Nichols detailed, he asked the players to stand and receive applause during his speech before realizing they weren't there.

Ouch!  That just makes it that much worse, that they'd come for Serena, but not for the guy paying Serena (and, yanno, them).  But see how you react to this speculation:

Sure, that sounds embarrassing. But I'd have to think Duffy's discontent goes beyond this particular incident. Otherwise, why would he be so broadly, bitingly critical of LPGA leadership? "I'm concerned about the future of the tour," he told Golfweek, "because the leadership needs to work with their players to make sure that everybody has a clear understanding of how we grow the game together, along with sponsors and others.... They say it takes a village, and I think their village is getting a little fractured."

Perhaps.  He's correct that it was quite the broadside, Duffy going far out of his lane to criticize the Tour's leadership.  Or perhaps Duffy is just a hothead and lashed out indiscriminately.  I found this bit telling:

“It’s an embarrassment to a company of my size and an embarrassment to me personally,” said Duffy, two days after the event.

Compensating much?  You seem a little preoccupied with size....

Obviously, the guy was pissed and justifiably so.  Maybe he has those deep-rooted concerns or perhaps he's come to the realization that he's wasted a lot of money.  It could even be that, with the sponsorship ending in 2023, he's just softening up the battle space for the negotiations.

Honda Boogaloo - The ladies Drive On™, whereas the men's sponsors are driving away.  Here are those Dylan Dethier thoughts on Honda:

SCHEDULE TALK

Do sour sponsors have a point?

After 42 years, Honda is pulling its sponsorship of the Honda Classic after the 2023 playing of
the tournament. The company told Golfweek in a statement that it had evolved its “marketing mix” and underscored that its business is distinctly different from when it started as a sponsor, which coincided with the U.S. launch of the Honda Accord.

But it would be silly to ignore the fact that this year’s Honda is in a horrendous spot on the PGA Tour schedule.

The 2023 event begins on Feb. 23, right on the heels of back-to-back elevated events, at the WM Phoenix Open and the Genesis Invitational, each of which will offer a $20 million purse. The Honda’s purse is $8.4 million, and the tournament is followed by two more elevated events: the Arnold Palmer Invitational and the Players Championship. Guess which event players will skip as a result?

This is inevitable; if some Tour events are elevated, others won’t be. Honda has gone from the backyard battlefield of Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy to a relegated second-tier event on Tour. It still has plenty to offer; we can just be honest about its place in the schedule. Hopefully there will be another sponsor willing to step in, knowing what that means.

Is Dylan trying to be funny with that query in the subhead?  Because, after reading his description of Honda's slot on the schedule, I'd have thought they'd be more likely to sue than to renew.  I have a different question, though  If the PGA Tour wanted to drive Honda out of golf sponsorship, what would they have done differently?  

It makes me curious as to what reps and warranties are contained in sponsorship agreements to ensure fair play.  It's always been the case that the events are supposed to compete with each other for their fields, but it's hard for me to believe that the new system of driving top talent to these elevated events, after of course extorting the money to fund the purses, must violate some assurances in their agreement, no?

More importantly, this is how you get treated after 42 years of sponsorship.... so, why would the next guy sign up?

Today In Triskaidekaphobia - Care to play Dueling Headers?  This is the header on the Golfweek Homepage:

It's here and it's spectacular: Renovation to the 13th tee box at Augusta National appears to be complete

Spectacular?  A tee box?  I think I like a Seinfeld reference as much as the next guy, but....

 A bit more professional header for the actual article:

The late, lamented 9th hole of Augusta Country Club....

Here's a broader view:


Yeah, we don't know how long the hole will play, though to me the more important yardage is that to the dogleg. If you asked me my favorite hole in golf, this would make the short list.  So I'd have left it as is, even changing it to a Par-4 if necessary.  

PIP II - We seem to be making fun of headers today, so whatcha think of this one?

PIP results are in! Surprises, takeaways from new $100 mil Player Impact Program

We don't blog punctuation often, but that's one of the funniest exclamation points your humble blogger has seen.  It is just so damn exciting that I understand their inability to contain their enthusiasm for....well, rich guys getting richer.

We know the top two, but the program is bigger ($100 million large and goes deeper (20 players) than the original, so here are your lucky Meltwater Mention impresarios:

1. Tiger Woods $15,000,000
2. Rory McIlroy $12,000,000
3. Jordan Spieth $9,000,000
4. Justin Thomas $7,500,000
5. Jon Rahm $6,000,000
6. Scottie Scheffler $5,500,000
7. Xander Schauffele $5,000,000
8. Matt Fitzpatrick $5,000,000
9. Will Zalatoris $5,000,000
10. Tony Finau $5,000,000
11. Collin Morikawa $3,000,000
12. Shane Lowry $3,000,000
13. Kevin Kisner $3,000,000
14. Max Homa $3,000,000
15. Billy Horschel $3,000,000
16. Rickie Fowler $2,000,000
17. Adam Scott $2,000,000
18. Jason Day $2,000,000
19. Patrick Cantlay $2,000,000
20. Viktor Hovland $2,000,000

Totally legit, right?

The whole thing isn't weird enough, but it's fun when they admit they're making it up as they go along:

Additional Players

These three pros would have qualified under the 2023 criteria (listed next to their names) despite failing to do so under 2022 criteria, so the PGA Tour decided to award them the same payout as players in spots 16-20:

11. Hideki Matsuyama ($2 million)

15. Cameron Young ($2 million)

20. Sam Burns ($2 million)

Remember over the summer when Hideki and  Cameron Young were going to LIV?  I don't need to connect that dot for you, do I?

Those top four will be pegging it in a few weeks.  How about they all throw their PIP proceeds into a pot and play winner-take-all?

The serious point to make is that Jay will look pretty damn foolish if he doesn't hit better than .500 this year.  

Sob Stories - Boo friggin' who, kids, but we are starting to see stories like these:

Yeah, why might that be?  Perhaps a playing schedule exclusively focused on exhibitions isn't the ticket?

This guy fits into the Harold Varner III category, which is far preferable, but also quite the tell:

Marc Leishman, whose best performance at a major was a T-2 at the 2015 Open, spoke with The
Sydney Morning Herald about the repercussions of joining the Greg Norman-led circuit.

“(Not playing the majors) was one of the things I had to weigh up when I did make the move,” Leishman said ahead of this week’s Fortinet Australian PGA Championship. “I’ve played at pretty much all the majors for the last 12 or 13 years. I’ve had my chances. Obviously, I want to play them, but I’m fine not playing them.”

Focusing on the important things first, that's quite the porn stache the Aussie is sporting, just a shame that it's buried on YouTube.

What the affable Aussie is telling us is that he took the guaranteed money because he knows/fears that he's no longer competitively relevant.  But there's a blindingly obvious follow-up question that seems impossible to ignore.  If you and your mates are publicly admitting this (and Graeme McDowell has helpfully informed us that it's golf without the grind), why should we watch?  or care?

Old Habits Die Hard - The last nine months has included much blather about the Saudis.  Greg Norman tells us that he's been to the Kingdom and seen the changes, and they're spectacular (see what I did there?).  Also that they "own" the Kashoggi murder, a singularly hilarious bit that deserves greater recognition, given that the Saudis haven't even acknowledged that it happened.

We're heading into a holiday weekend and this calls for an upbeat coda, no?

Saudi Arabia has executed 12 people in 10 days despite the Crown Prince's promise to cut down on such form of punishment, according to a human rights organisation.

Reprieve said the defendants, all males, were sentenced to death after being imprisoned for non-violent drug offences.

As I recall, MBS's exact quote was, "I can quit anytime."

But Greg Norman tells us they're changing, and Greg wouldn't lie to us, would he?

The latest figures bring the total number of people executed in Saudi Arabia this year to at least 132 - which is more than the number of Saudi executions in 2020 and 2021 combined.

Executions are continuing in the Middle Eastern country, despite promises by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to reform its justice system.

In 2018, Crown Prince bin Salman said his administration was looking to "minimise" capital punishment and only execute people found guilty of murder or manslaughter.

By my math, that's 33 foursomes of growth in the game of golf left on the cutting room floor.... Perhaps not the most felicitous of phrases.

My undying respect goes to the first reporter to ask Phil or Greg about this, though I frankly doubt that chit will be cashed.  Actually, strike that, the guy to ask is DJ...  Let's see, if you fail three drug tests on the PGA Tour, they help you cover it up and create fake jet-ski accidents to explain your suspension.  In Saudi Arabia, they take a sword to your throat.  Yeah, I can see why you signed on with them, DJ.

That's it for today.  I can't imagine there would be much to blog about over the holiday weekend, but one never knows.  Have a great holiday with family and friends, and we'll see where it all takes us.

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