Thursday Themes - Pre-Departure Edition

Just a few hits for this morning, before the bride and I head West to see family.  You'll next see me on Tuesday or Wednesday, depending upon the news cycle and your humble blogger's energy level.

LIV Angst - It seems I'm not the only one clueless about what the hell is going on.  I always suggested that, happy talk aside, there seemed little possibility that LIV would not operate in 2024, my logic being that Phil and DJ would need a place to tee it up.  But I certainly didn't have "in perpetuity" on my bingo card:

The acting COO of LIV Golf, Gary Davidson, would not say if the league would resubmit it its application for world ranking points, offering again that the system is flawed if LIV players are not being ranked properly.

And while there are all manner of opinions, nobody can truly say what will happen with the "framework agreement" between the PGA Tour, DP World Tour and the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia that has a Dec. 31 deadline.

Not that LIV Golf is viewing it that way. The attitude is “business as usual," with a full schedule to be announced for next year and plans for 2025—as if nothing will change with the PGA Tour. The framework agreement has been viewed as a positive for LIV Golf.

"It’s good for us," Davidson said. "As we’ve said before, we’ve already got long-term commitments for venues, we’ve signed more long-term commitments to certain venues for the next two or three years. So in terms of long-term planning, it’s opened a couple of doors, taken away some headwinds, and we’ve taken that chance to bring on more venue broaden our schedule more internationally. We’re very positive into 2024 and beyond."

So, what have we learned?  That venues, like players, like to cash checks....

But it all seems to make lots of sense, unless you happen to have seen the product.... So, where are they on tackling their deficiencies?  Well, Bryson floated that balloon about them just waving the LIVsters into the Masters.....Sounded reasonable, well, perhaps if you've been into the 'shrooms:

Based on the responses to questions about the status of LIV golfers in major championships put to Augusta National chairman Fred Ridley and R&A chief executive Martin Slumbers on

Thursday in Australia, it does not appear LIV members will be given a special category into the Masters and Open Championship in 2024.

Asked whether the Masters and the Open would create such exemptions for 2024, Slumbers brought up a recent media report suggesting talks were already underway to specifically include LIV golfers, and he rejected that notion.

“There's been some speculation in the media recently on the topic that you're raising,” Slumbers said at the Asia Pacific Amateur Championship at Royal Melbourne. “I would say that it is completely off the mark. I would like to make it very clear that exemptions for the Open, we do not discuss them with anyone and nor would we at any point in time. I think it's very important that you don't lose sight of the fact that the Open is intended to be open to everybody; that you earn your place in the field, through exemptions, and that won't change.”

The Open differs from the Masters in that it actively runs qualifying events, both at PGA Tour and DP World Tour events around the world via its Open Qualifying Series, as well as 36-hole final qualifying tournaments. The Masters is an invitational with criteria and special exemptions for entrants.

 Shockingly, these guys don't take orders from nor are they intimidated by the Brysons of the world....

Bob Harig did have this update on major eligibility amongs the LIVoverse:

As it stands, there are 12 LIV players who will be eligible for at least one major championship in 2024. Only five—Dustin Johnson, Brooks Koepka, Cam Smith, DeChambeau and Mickelson—are eligible for all four.

Well, Phil is eligible for the Thursday and Friday portions thereof.... As for the other guys, they apparently considered Greg Norman a reliable source, despite thirty years of evidence to the contrary.

Any other issues for these nice folks?  It just occurred to me that we haven't seen LIV release TV ratings recently, which I'm sure is just an oversight:

LIV Golf’s next big TV test starts now — and the result will reveal much

I'm not at all worried, given how they aced that last such test...

Staeger, LIV’s chief media officer, and his team have faced a host of challenges admirably in the league’s first two years, launching a golf broadcast with a distinct feel and pace practically from

thin air (aided, in part, by limited commercial sponsors). But one area where the upstart league has failed to find its footing quite as gracefully is in the turbulent world of sports television rights, where LIV remains on the hunt for partners heading into year 3.

The league has just one domestic TV rights partner, the CW, a network with which the league has just completed the first season of a two-year agreement. But that deal only covers the league’s weekend broadcasts, not its Friday opening rounds, meaning that approximately 33 percent of LIV’s possible airtime is not being fully monetized.

Are you done laughing at the thought that it's only Friday that hasn't been fully monetized?  There's a reason they no longer announce all six people that tuned in....

I do wish there was some kind of duration measurement in TV ratings, because every single human being that's told me they happened upon a LIV broadcast has added that their viewing window was measured in seconds, not even minutes.

But these guys are relentless about growing our sad little game, so note the bold plan to tackle this issue:

Staeger knows that has to change, which is why, the Hot Mic has learned, he and his team are doubling down on their efforts this week at the Sportel sports media conference in Monaco. Every year, the conference serves as one of the throughlines of the sports-media world — a convention for sports media brands and sports properties from around the globe. Staeger and the media team at LIV are hopeful that their attendance at the event will help expedite preliminary conversations with some of the league’s targets, opening the doors for a new domestic TV and streaming partner(s) to sign on by the beginning of next year.

That's the ticket!  A fancy conference at a warm-weather resort, the aggressive goal being "preliminary conversations", as if the Saudis penchant for writing large checks couldn't open those doors.

But there remain just a few pesky issues:

The big question still facing Staeger is whether LIV can manage to wrangle not only a partner but also a significant one. The major players — CBS, FOX, NBC, Disney, Warner Bros. Discovery — have largely stayed out of LIV’s business, but their considerable sports-rights war chest and audience sizes could play a crucial role in solidifying the league’s standing with golf audiences. Interest in golf TV rights remains high among this group, particularly after ESPN signed on to broadcast Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy’s team golf league, the TGL, beginning in January.

Not exactly.  OK, the Tiger-Rory thing drew interest, but that's Monday night filler that preempts Tin Cup reruns.... LIV's problem is they're peddling a lame product in a niche market where supply already vastly exceeds demand.  Good luck with that, but have a nice time in Casablanca...

And the hits keep on coming, not that this matters in any meaningful sense:

With the 2024 Presidents Cup less than a year away, a recent announcement on the selection

 

criteria make it appear that there is even less wiggle room for LIV players to compete for the American or International teams at Royal Montreal Golf Club next September. For the Americans, six players will qualify off a points lists with six picks going to captain Jim Furyk. For the Internationals, the top six off the Official World Golf Ranking will automatically make the team with Mike Weir picking the remaining six players, up from four captain’s picks in 2022. But in the fine print is the relevant clause impacting LIV players.

That was the same caveat that impacted the two sides during the 2022 competition at Quail Hollow. International captain Trevor Immelman saw the likes of Cameron Smith, Joaquinn Niemann, Abraham Ancer, Marc Leishman and Louis Oosthuizen removed from consideration after they joined LIV during the summer. And American captain Davis Love III was without Brooks Koepka, Dustin Johnson and Bryson DeChambeau.

Unless there's actually peace in our time..... though that seems increasingly unlikely anytime soon.

Oh, and next year is a leap year, so there's also this:

Column: Getting to the majors is tough for LIV Golf players. Making the Olympics is even harder

No word on whether Stefan will have any thoughts about Olympic golf or allow the defending champion to play.  Also no word on the range of hat sizes available....

This week's Tour Confidential dipped their toe into these waters with this Q&A:

2. In a press conference during LIV Golf’s Team Championship, Phil Mickelson was confident that more PGA Tour and DP World Tour players would join LIV. “Do I think that? No,” he said. “I know that’s going to happen.” How much truth do you think there is in Mickelson’s statement? Given the state of the current golf world and the fact that LIV was just denied World Ranking points, how intrigued do you think pros are to join LIV right now?

Sens: Mickelson is both a LIV player and a LIV PR agent, so everything he says has to be taken in that context. In this case, though, I think he speaks the truth. Seems inevitable that some additional guys will jump; most people have a price, after all. If there’s enough money involved, someone will be intrigued. Whether those will be big names or players of slim relevance is another matter. With so much up in the air with the merger, it’s hard to make the calculus. Or make predictions. While the OWGR’s decision to deny ranking points wasn’t good news for LIV, it could become moot depending on the terms of the deal. We may soon see a world where players can move fluidly between LIV and the other tours. Only time will tell. I doubt even Jimmy Dunne and Yassir know exactly what’s going to happen at this point.

Barath: Similar to what Josh said, I think Phil is throwing whatever predictions he can into the void, so he can claim any that come true as him being right. As for top players, I bet there could be a few who have existing major exemptions who are willing to sign a deal with LIV if the number is high enough. Look, we can be as romantic as we want about the game of golf, but at the professional level, there are a lot of players who are simply there to use their skills to make as much money as possible — and if LIV still has a wide-open checkbook, why not take the money?

Hirsh: Barath took the words straight outta my mouth, err, off my keyboard? Anyway, I totally agree: Mickelson is just throwing you-know-what at the wall and seeing what sticks. I’m not sure he’s as keyed in with discussions as he lets on. I doubt many more PGA Tour players will jump over given how LIV’s future has never been more clouded, given the impending deal with the PGA and DP World Tours. If I’m a pro, there’s no way I’m leaving the PGA Tour for a tour that may not exist in 2025.

Phil, throwing s**t against the wall?  I'm so disillusioned..... 

But mostly that provides one of my signature effortless segues into this Eamon Lynch offering:

Lynch: No one in golf is certain about anything. Except LIV Golf's Greg Norman and Phil Mickelson, of course

Yeah, ain't that the truth....

Uncertainty is the sole currency circulating in the golf world right now. About whether the PGA Tour’s Framework Agreement with the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund will be

consummated. About how radical the realignment of the game’s ecosystem will be. About the timeframe for obtaining clarity. About how private investment fits into the schematic. About the degree of dilution the Saudis will accept before losing face. About what the players on the Tour’s board will support. Ask any informed person about these issues and the one response you won’t get is confident assurances. They simply don’t know. The only precinct where bombastic certitude is the coin of the realm is LIV, as evidenced by comments from Norman and Mickelson this week at Trump Doral.

Since the announcement of the Framework Agreement almost five months ago, Norman has been so uncharacteristically muted that his ultimate employer may have enjoined him to silence, though not as permanently as he did Jamal Khashoggi. Clearly, the flaxen-haired finger puppet hasn’t spent those months in quiet contemplation of troubling facts. “All indications show you that the position of LIV has never been stronger and the position and success of our players and our brand has never been in a better place,” he said in Miami.

Even by Eamon's elevated standards, flaxen-haired finger puppet is pretty good....

Eamon's on a roll, so my job is to not get in the way:

What those indicators are, he didn’t share. In reality, his product still has no audience of scale, has attracted no announced buyers for team franchises, despite Bubba Watson insisting he’s besieged by interested parties, and presents a risible broadcast that makes North Korean state television seem comparatively nonpartisan, and for which it no longer publishes viewership figures. The only thing LIV can boast, in abundance, is something that seldom galvanizes genuine fans in any sport: cash.

“The business model works,” Norman added, displaying the kind of bulletproof confidence he could have used on many a second Sunday in April. Perhaps LIV has “never been stronger,” but that owes less to Norman’s management or product quality than to the fact that its sole benefactor views it as a useful (for now) vehicle to legitimacy in the sport.

What might it look like if it didn't work?  

Mickelson, for his part, deserves a Rosie the Riveter-style poster in his likeness, so dependable is he in shilling for the cause. “I’m excited about who’s coming for next year,” he said last week. “Over time, we’ll just keep getting better and better, and getting better players.”

That’s as proximate to a truthful statement as Mickelson has been for some time. There will be new players because LIV announced that at least four members of the current roster will be relegated. It’s also accurate to claim that the quality of players will improve since any new recruits presumably won’t stink as much as those being benched. Asked on Wednesday if he thinks there will be a new movement of players to LIV, Mickelson replied: “Do I think that? No, I know that’s going to happen. When players look at LIV, they want to be a part of it.”

The issue is, of course, the caliber of any new recruits. Is there a single needle-mover willing to make the leap?

Patrick and Xander?   I don't actually think they have the cujones to jump, but they've attended Phil's master class in leverage....

He gets in a Waiting for Godot reference, a rarity in the golf press, but here's his rousing coda:

It’s feasible that an elite star is out there and ready to sign with LIV. The Framework Agreement had a clause halting LIV’s poaching of players, but that stipulation was dropped after Department of Justice scrutiny. Yet what are the odds a top player will jump now amid such ambiguity on the future relationship between the tours? And how likely are the Saudis to imperil negotiations by making such a play? Whoever joins LIV over the winter probably won’t be anyone who sells tickets or draws eyes. The only league signing stars is TGL, the tech-centric outfit backed by Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy and partnered with the PGA Tour. Almost every player on Norman’s wish list has committed, which suggests that any team component in a future ecosystem will be seeded from TGL, not LIV. The cocksure bluster of Norman and Mickelson on LIV’s prospects is less a credible promise than mere posturing to comfort the players they have stranded in competitive irrelevance.

The future of professional golf has never been more uncertain or more volatile, a reality that impacts every tour and its members. And just about the only thing all of those players can be sure about is that anyone who “knows,” who claims to see many chess moves ahead, is simply manufacturing a self-serving fantasy.

We're for sure in this weird interregnum, in which the Saudis may well hold back to the extent that they see that Framework Agreement leading to a acceptable deal with the PGA Tour.  Of course, my mind starts wandering towards the scenario under which negotiations break down and all hell breaks loose....

But Eamon is spot-on that anyone who purports to know what's going to happen is blowing smoke.  Which inures to LIV's benefit, because that's Phil's and Sharkie's default position.

Legends Lost - I'm not great at keeping up with these but, we lost two iconic figure recently.  First, the voice of the Open Championship:

Ivor Robson, 1940-2023

The art of announcing golfers has lost its Rembrandt.

The not-so-simple task of alerting spectators to who is on the tee can be more complicated than it

looks. Too often the announcer draws attention to themselves by bungling names and hometowns, upsetting the calming presence golfers appreciate before getting a big round off the ground. Ivor Robson found a way to bring that coolness with just enough sense of the warm and theatrical to infuse 41 years of Open introductions with the perfect dollop of personality.

While there have been imitators (including players respectfully impersonating). But there will only be one Robson to grace a first tee all day and set competitors on their way. He worked his final Open was at St Andrews in 2015 and while there have imitators, his style and touch will never be matched.

The R&A announced his passing Tuesday and published this lovely remembrance of the great first tee voice to the Open.

 

That's a lovely tribute.  The funniest bit I ever saw related to Ivor was K.J. Choi impersonating Robson's introduction of himself, though I haven't been able to find that video in ages.

Betsy Rawls, a 4-time U.S. Women's Open champion, dies at age 95

Betsy Rawls, a four-time U.S. Women’s Open champion, died Saturday at the age of 95, the USGA has confirmed. One of the most prolific winners in golf, Rawls transitioned from a playing

career to tournament administrator in 1975, impacting the LPGA greatly both inside and outside the ropes.

Rawls won 55 times on the LPGA, including eight majors. Only Kathy Whitworth (88), Mickey Wright (82), Annika Sorenstam (72), Louise Suggs (61) and Patty Berg (60) won more.

“There are simply not many careers that can compare to Betsy’s,” said USGA CEO Mike Whan in a release. “Fifty-five wins, eight major titles, LPGA and World Golf Halls of Fame, former LPGA president, Bob Jones Award winner. She was a legend in the game who would have been successful in anything she pursued, so we are all lucky she made golf her passion. RIP to a true champion.”

R.I.P.

The Road Not Taken -  Geoff had a provocative Quad post on  the PGA Championship, noting the missed opportunity.  But first, how is May working out?

The PGA Championship held out hopes of becoming more than just a “last chance to win,” with dreams of a May date propelling the PGA of America’s golf instructors into the springtime spotlight when golfers are more apt to book a lesson. PGA’s in May were supposed to deliver better agronomics, weather and venue options than in sultry August.

Since the first edition in 2019 at Bethpage the May date has yet to deliver similar television ratings enjoyed when the PGA was the only major sports event in August. Venues have played fine in May, but it’s already been a close call agronomically after long winters prior to Bethpage, Southern Hills and Oak Hill. Only Kiawah improved under May conditions while the others were amazing testaments to wise superintendents and a little luck. And while not stated publicly, it appears Georgia and Florida courses are not a PGA option.

By following the Masters with late May dates, this has ruled out old PGA cashcows and successful weeks at your Hazeltine’s, Medinah’s and Bellerive’s, plus it seems, at least in unspoken Five Family terms, any venue near The Masters and The Players is out. Even the Pacific Northwest can be less than ideal in May, while Arizona is too hot and devoid of the wintertime residents who would support a championship. California’s prime coastal venues are likely to be foggy.

Fair enough, but let's remember that this organization used its August date to go to Atlanta Athletic Club, Shoal Creek, Valhalla, Kiawah and Southern Hills, just to note a few.  

As noted elsewhere in his piece, this was all trigger5ed by the Olympics, which is odd given that that's a once every four year issue and it affects only a handful of players.

Geoff the revisits a suggestion he made back then:

The obvious candidate to help free up the schedule in Olympic years would have been a February

date in Australia to kick things off. The land Down Under offers the most appetizing potential given the obvious venue quality, a country crying out to host a golf major, and likely government support for something as monumental as a major. They put up $28,000,000 Australian dollars (almost $18 million) for the last Presidents Cup and that’s a tiny event compared to a men’s major.

Tennis’ Australian Open has thrived in January thanks to investment, innovations and the intangible perks of returning annually to magnificent Melbourne. Though if a suitable course could be found, a major in Asia would have had no trouble generating the revenue and excitement necessary to offset cost increases for the PGA and possible advertising hits for television partners. Japan has plenty of swell options.

Geoff even tees up a DEI-compliant opportunity in the sandbelt:

Which brings us to Australia, where they’re playing this week’s Asia Pacific Amateur at Royal Melbourne. The country and its wise Golf Australia team have given birth to several innovative tournament formats combining men and women’s events (Vic Open, 2022 Australian Open). This alone should be inspiration for the PGA of America, or would it be the World Alliance of PGA’s?

There would be undeniable cost savings of conducting back-to-back championships in the Sandbelt. It’s a market made for such a scenario from the quality of golf to the weather outside of April-to-August, to millions from government and corporate support. Most of all, going international would give the PGA Championship and Women’s PGA enormous reputational and prestige boosts that can never hurt. As nice as spreading out the schedule would be in this scenario to give players the best chance to put on a great show, the ultimate victors would be an organization taken at gunpoint screaming into a sound idea. Wouldn’t be the first time.

That would actually be interesting and would, how do the kids put it, grow the game, so of course we can't allow it to happen.

That's it fore today, kids.  Have a great weekend and we'll catch up sometime next week.