Weekend Wrap - Off-Season Addition

So, Dear Reader, how was your off-season?  Thing is, as we get older, it seems to just fly by, felling like it couldn't possibly have been more than a couple of weeks.... And, yes, that specific joke is a bit of an annual ritual in these pages, although the Tour's threat to return to a calendar season puts that at risk.  Don't they know how few good bits I have?

Irish Eyes - Just a moment to reflect on that which makes sports so compelling.  We thought the floodgates would open for this guy after that magical week at Portrush, but reality intrudes:

Things were anything but ordinary this week at the BMW PGA Championship.

Lawsuits, barbs in the press, and geopolitics all had moments of topicality throughout the week at Wentworth, but on Sunday, the golf finally took center stage. And when the dust settled, Shane Lowry stood as the lone man atop the leaderboard.

“I’m so happy,” Lowry said. “I’m the happiest man in the world right now.”

Lowry’s sentiments were earnest and simple. It had been over three years since the Irishman had laid his hands on a trophy, and the drought was wearing on his psyche. But in a superb Sunday 65, Lowry quelled the negativity that crept into his head and bested a field of top players for a one-stroke victory.

It didn't seem to get much press, but Lowry was as adamant as that other fellow that hails from the same little island (but the word "countryman" doesn't quite fit):

The inclusion of LIV golfers in the field started the week on a tense note. Before a shot was even struck at Wentworth, the storylines were spicy. A lawsuit in the UK allowed for LIV golfers to gain entry into the field, and those who’ve remained loyal to the DP World Tour were not so happy to see their old pals — Lowry included.

“There are certain guys that I just can’t stand being here, if I’m being honest,” Lowry said. “I don’t like it that they’re here. To be honest, the one thing that has really annoyed me over the last few months is how disruptive they’re all trying to be. I get that they’re here to get world ranking points and do that, but in a way I think they’re here for that and to be disruptive.”

Disruptive?  Seems that's an awfully polite word for guys going out of their way to destroy your feed lot, Shane, but we'll circle back on that...

On this day, Lowry’s best was just good enough. With an eagle and five birdies — including at the par-5 18th hole — the Irishman posted at 17-under. And when McIlroy’s final eagle putt slid past the hole on the 18th green some 15 minutes later, Lowry finally claimed the crown.

The circumstances surrounding the tournament made it all the more sweet.

“I made no secrets how I felt about this whole thing at the start of the week,” Lowry said. “I wanted to go out and win this tournament for myself first and foremost. But also for this tour and everyone who’s stayed loyal to this tour. I really feel like this is one for the good guys.”

Shane has always seemed a good guy, although that might just be your humble blogger indulging in body-shaming, because aren't all fat guys jovial?  But he missed an obvious gloat, to wit, that he beat the LIVsters at their own game, to wit, LIV holes.

The Tour Confidential panel took on the presence of the rebels at Wentworth:

1. In the latest chapter of LIV Golf vs. PGA Tour drama, Jon Rahm, Billy Horschel and Rory McIlroy were among the PGA Tour players who spoke out about LIV players

competing in the BMW PGA Championship, which knocked some DP World Tour players out of the field and helped LIV players receive valuable World Ranking points. Do Horschel and Co. have the right to be angry with these LIV players?

Josh Sens: I understand why Horschel and Co. would be irked. These are heated times. LIV guys were technically within their rights to play. Were they honoring the game in the purest fashion? Hardly. But also hard to vilify them without running into some intellectual contradictions. On the emotional front, I’d probably save the anger for what Sergio Garcia did, taking someone’s spot, shooting a bad first-round score and then withdrawing with no immediate explanation. Lame.

Jack Hirsh: I understand Horschel spoke to several regular DP World Tour members before making his comments during the week. He definitely has a point and is qualified to talk about that as the event’s defending champion. However, I would have loved to see more of the regular DP World Tour pros, i.e., the guys who aren’t also regularly playing on the PGA Tour, speak up. I also think the bigger issue is how the suspensions of LIV pros on the Euro Tour isn’t resolved yet. It’s hard to fault the LIV guys for taking advantage of that situation since it was still available to them. Then again, like Bubba said last week about Augusta, why would they want to play in an event where they were clearly unwanted?

Josh Berhow: Absolutely, but at the same time, if you are one of these LIV players and earned a spot in the field, it’s your right to be there. The LIV guys know they need World Ranking points so it makes sense to be there and they earned a spot. But you can also be Jon Rahm and Billy Horschel and be annoyed at them. Both things can be true. As for Sergio, what a bad WD (even showing up at a college football game on Saturday), but I’m sure he’s not losing sleep over it.

Sean Zak: I’m not sure Billy Horschel gets to be the majority leader, but his opinion is shared by numerous others. I’m most interested in what G-Mac said during the week: that there should be a membership vote on if LIV players should be allowed to compete. While not really practical, it would sure be fascinating to see the results.

Yanno, I'm an old curmudgeon, but this whole debate is increasingly echoing our modern society.  Just a few years back professional golfers skewed conservative and demonstrated a flinty independence and self reliance that seems to have disappeared.

McDowell's suggestion has this superficial patina of reasonableness, let the majority decide.  Except, there are these limiting factors that, like good liberals, they simply will out of existence.  It's a cleaner example if we look at it from the perspective of the PGA Tour, only because the Euro Tour has become such an afterthought.  But if the LIVsters can't be prevented from playing events that compete with existing Tour events, then the Tour cannot meet its obligations to its sponsors, then end result of which is that they will no longer have sponsors.  

They tell us that they are relentlessly focused on growing the game, which I was surprised to learn can only be accomplished by destroying the organizations in which they built their own careers, a blindless indifference to those that come after them.  So,  when they say it's not about the money...

Not to worry, we'll get back to the despicable Sergio in a minute:

2. Due to the ongoing riff, the state of golf has made major headlines over the past year, but should the sport be worried that the constant bickering and jabs might hurt the game and turn off fed up and uninterested viewers?

Sens: I think it cuts both ways. In the ‘any publicity is good publicity’ sense, this has drawn a ton of new eyeballs, more than any non-Tiger-related story in memory. But there’s no doubt it has also turned off a lot of longtime golf fans. Too bad pro golf is such an important economic engine for golf. Because it’s definitely not the best or most interesting part of the game. The best parts of the game are the places it takes you and the people you meet. This past year has underscored that for me and a lot of golfers I know.

Hirsh: Absolutely not. Viewers love rivalry and controversy. Think about the ratings some of those Heat-Pacers games got in the early 2010s because LeBron and Lance Stephenson had such an intense rivalry. Now this isn’t the fabricated Brooks-Bryson rivalry. This is actual controversy, which it seems fans can’t get enough of. We didn’t get it this week, but it will no doubt happen soon enough where we see a LIV player in contention for a major, or potentially with a significant lead. Ratings will be through the roof.

Berhow: It can work both ways. I know people who hated watching golf 4-5 years ago when Tiger was struggling because the telecasts would show all of his shots no matter what, even if he was bound for a missed cut. That turned them off. But it also generated ratings because, well, it was Tiger. For every fan who is annoyed at golf’s constant bickering — and there are many — there are more who are intrigued by the constant consternation of the current state of the game. Part of me thinks majors, if LIV guys are still allowed to play (I think they will be), will be even more entertaining now since the two leagues will join together those weeks for some interesting sub-plots.

Zak: There won’t be enough bickering to make this an issue. Because there won’t be enough opportunities to bicker. This was a huge deal this week, but I don’t expect on-site tournament interviews to be as vital as they were this week. Players are about to settle in for the silly season.

Eyeballs, Josh?  Really, because those ratings have been predictably dreary, except in the case of LIV, where they've been non-existent.... Though I do very much like that back end of Josh's answer, putting these boys in their proper place.

There has been interest generated, but more on court hearings and awkward putting green confrontations than on the actual golf.  I don't really know who Jack Hirsch is, but he's a new name in these columns, but his sine qua non for intense rivalries involves the Indian Pacers and a guy of whom I've never heard?  I actually Googled Lance Stephenson becasue I'm quite convinced I have never heard the name...

But these guys seem to be going out of their way to miss the point. First, a significant portion of the universe of PGA Tour players have self-identified as selfish, money-grubbing nihilists, and I'm guessing that will hurt the game. Secondly, you've put the economic foundations of the Tour ecosystem, flawed as it's always been, under terrible stress. There's a butcher's bill coming...

As for the future?

3. The 2022-23 PGA Tour season begins on Thursday with the Fortinet Championship in Napa, Calif. As we turn the page to the next season, look into your crystal ball and predict how you see the LIV vs. PGA Tour battle playing out in the next year?

Sens: Not as much of a tug-of-war over talent. Feels like that fight has settled down, at least for the biggest names. I expect a smaller, underground skirmish over the amateur pipeline. But the most important battle (given that the antitrust stuff won’t likely be settled next year) will be over OWGR and access to the majors. If I had Fred Ridley on speed dial, I’d be willing to predict more.

Hirsh: Josh is right, it’s unlikely we see many more established pros not named Mito make the jump before the beginning of the next LIV season. I don’t see much changing from the end of this season until the court case finally gets settled. We’re going to continue seeing pettiness from both sides, especially at the majors, which I think it’s unlikely we see LIV players barred from. The main difference (and we’ll get a taste of it this weekend) will be seeing more PGA Tour and LIV going head to head in the same weekend. But even that won’t make that big of waves, unless LIV secures a TV deal.

Berhow: A few more players will jump — I think the last batch has kind of solidified teams for a bit — but I see LIV players being allowed in majors and World Ranking points granted for the new league. It even might all start to seem more … normal?

Zak: LIV players who are already qualified for majors will not be banned. However, the USGA AND R&A will alter their qualification rules for the next year of championships in slight ways to make the OWGR less necessary, making the LIV fight for OWGR points less necessary as well.

Boy, these guys are far more comfortable than your humble blogger that we've achieved some kind of stasis.  All I know is that every conversation about Cam Young or Hideki not going ends with the words, "for now."

But, setting aside the majors for a moment (as well as the obvious OWGR fight), this is a critical few months for Kubla Jay and the Tour.  I'd love to have some actual LIV data, i.e., what they've spent and what they've committed, but all we know is that the PIF has committed $2 billion large to the effort.  But what has this money bought so far?  The answer is nothing much, as they still cannot fill a field that's of sufficient strength to interest a golf fan.  

Are they content to go into their 14-event 20223 schedule with this field?  I can't imagine that, so one assumes that they continue to add zeros to their offers.  The Tour has apparently made some progress, as they have an actual schedule on their website, including the important ZoZo, which we can call the Hideki Invitational.  It means little to an American audience, but it's a big hold for Jay.

Our Sergio - With Robert Allenby in semi-retirement, can we just skip the preliminaries and declare Sergio the GOAT a*****e?  But who would you want to explicate Sergio's history?  Don't know about you, but I'm thinking that this demands Eamon Lynch's attention, and we all know that great minds think alike:

However implausible it may seem now, once upon a time Sergio Garcia enjoyed a reputation that was, if not quite the gold standard, then at least a couple of notches above junk status. That was

when he was a teenage phenom scissor-kicking down the fairway in pursuit of Tiger Woods, when success — particularly in major championships — seemed not only assured but imminent. In the almost 20 years that elapsed before that major win finally came, Garcia didn’t mature, his only growth apparent in a disposition that became more sullen, more entitled, more petulant and more unprofessional.

The data set for Garcia’s dickish behavior was augmented right up until his final regular event on the PGA Tour, where he has earned more than $54 million, before bonuses. At May’s Wells Fargo Championship, he bellyached about an unfair ruling before announcing, “I can’t wait to leave this tour. I can’t wait to get out of here … ” His words fell like a welcome rain on the usually arid world of rules officials.

Amusingly, also not especially bright, as he's insulting the very rules officials that will govern both LIV and the majors....Of course, the delicious irony is that he'll be spending time at Royal Greens, where the, checking notes, greens weren't to his taste: 

Garcia decamped to LIV Golf with a lengthy résumé of gauche antics, select lowlights of which include flinging his shoe into a gallery, flipping off spectators, spitting into the cup, and getting booted from a tournament in Saudi Arabia for defacing five greens during an extended conniption (that he found the Saudis’ limit for unseemly conduct is an accomplishment at least as impressive as winning the Masters). But like other LIV defectors, he wants to continue cherry-picking the most important stops on the tours he left behind. The BMW PGA Championship, for example, which was held this week in England.

But again, the self-importance and that relentless focus on growing the game:

The Spaniard had been asked about the chilly reception likely awaiting at Wentworth and his response sounded a note of selfishness that was wholly on-brand: “What I’m going to do is support the European tour and that’s all I can do. Whoever doesn’t like it, too bad for them.”

So, shall we look at how he supported the Euro Tour?

Garcia’s professed support of the DP World Tour has never been much in evidence at its flagship event, where he has appeared only twice in the past 22 years. On his last showing, in 2014, he quit after one round. If nothing else, this week indicated how little he has changed in the intervening years.

In Thursday’s first round, Garcia shot a 76 that had him firmly at the arse-end of the leaderboard. He was finished by the time news broke of Queen Elizabeth II’s death, which prompted a suspension of play and reduced the championship to 54 holes. When matters resumed on Saturday, he was announced as having withdrawn. A few hours later, he was sideline at the Texas-Alabama game in Austin, 5,000 miles from Wentworth. He did not extend tournament organizers the courtesy of an explanation for his WD.

There were other WDs, but Garcia was the only LIV member to commandeer a precious spot in the field and then abandon it after 18 indifferent holes. His was also the only WD intended as a middle finger to the DP World Tour and its unwelcoming members. To interpret it as anything else demands a generosity that he has not earned.

He's an asshole, there's simply no other word for it.  But he's a bigger dick because of how he's been coddled over they years, and I'd like to go through Eamon's list and see what penalties the two Tours actually imposed on him.  Is that too much to ask at this point?

But Eamon's not done:

It’s futile to wonder if Garcia’s reputation among his peers will be hurt by this latest unprofessionalism since one cannot further diminish that which has already been rendered fecal. He ensured as much at the BMW International Open in Munich earlier this summer with a locker room tirade overheard by a number of players. “This Tour is s***, you’re all f****d, should have taken the Saudi money!” he was widely reported to have shouted.

“Amazing how fast you can lose respect for someone that you’ve looked up to all your life,” said a barely cryptic tweet by Scotland’s Bob MacIntyre shortly afterward.

“He fooled a lot of people for quite some time,” said a Saturday evening text from one person who has known Garcia well for his entire career, “but I think his true colors are now visible in glorious technicolor.”

 I haven't exactly been a Tiger sycophant over the years, but gotta admit that he nailed this one.  

This withdrawal should result in a long suspension from Keith Pelley above and beyond any suspension for playing the LIV tour.  It's about time that Pelley and Jay grow a pair but, more importantly, this nonsense about not disclosing disciplinary actions has to stop.  We now know these guys aren't all gentlemen, so lets see what's really in those files.

Our Patrick - Guess what, everything you've heard is wrong:

In the interview with the Sunday Times — which you can read in full here — Reed said he

needed to defend himself.

“Everyone who knows the true me knows it’s not this narrative that the PGA Tour and the Golf Channel have built,” Reed told the Sunday Times. “It feels like the media have painted me as this black hat, and they’ve just allowed that to keep on driving their clicks as well as the amount of income they can bring in from attacking me. They run with everything they can find or try to spin it in a negative way. It’s hard to even talk about it because of how fictitious it is. The malice and deceit to say something like that about somebody is just ridiculous.”

Continuing his thoughts on the lawsuit, Reed admitted to the Sunday Times that he’s brought on some of the attention himself, noting comments he made on Jordan Spieth and Jim Furyk at the 2018 Ryder Cup, but he also said he’s never cheated. Notably, Reed was penalized for brushing away sand from behind his ball in a bunker during the 2019 Hero World Championship, though he has maintained that he did not mean to skirt the rules.

Patrick, thanks for that clarification, I stand corrected.   But since you brought it up and you're such a great guy, then you'll have no issues with the following:

1. The immediate release of your full, unreacted PGA Tour disciplinary file, and;
2. Disclosure of the control of the Twitter account, UseGolfFactsNow.

For a man of the people such as your self, I'm sure you'll have no objection to those steps just in the interest of confirming what a great human being you are.

The best part is how much Patrick and Sergio deserve each other and what a favor they've done us to self-segregate.

Blogging schedule will be light this week, although I don't think much will be happeneing.

Late-Week Lamentations

Not much to mull over, so we'll just grab a few bits and get you on your way....

LIVing History - I've been reliably informed that the winners write the history, so this from Dylan Dethier seems at best a little early:

The inside story of LIV Golf vs. the PGA Tour: Money, innovation and loyalty

Fair play, I guess, although for those last two it seems more about the lack thereof...

He takes us back to those Riviera days, reminding of how fraught with peril it all seeemd:

It was February in Los Angeles, the week of the Genesis Invitational. Riviera is one of the PGA Tour’s prized venues. Genesis is one of its top sponsors. And the tournament is hosted by its greatest icon, Tiger Woods. But, behind the scenes, there were two sides bracing for war.

Suddenly sensing the extent of the threat on its doorstep, the PGA Tour was frantically seeking to secure its players’ loyalty and, by extension, the Tour’s future. On the other side, LIV Golf was readying an announcement that would serve as the introductory paragraph to a new chapter in the sport — one that would put the first serious challenge in decades to the Tour’s supremacy.

The breakaway league, funded by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) and helmed by Tour legend Greg Norman, still consisted of just a half-dozen employees and zero public presence, but months of wheeling and dealing — plus promises totaling hundreds of millions of dollars — had turned them into a serious player on golf’s world stage. Now, unbeknownst to much of the golf world, they were on the brink of securing commitments from 24 players. That was a significant number because it represented fully half the slots in their new venture, which would accommodate only 48 golfers: 12 teams of four players each.

Remind me, what happened next?

But on the morning of round one, all the jockeying was abruptly upended by one explosive two-word phrase. Sensing that the sport was nearing a seismic shift, former GOLF writer Alan Shipnuck posted an excerpt from his soon-to-be-released Phil Mickelson biography. In it, Mickelson — who’d been commingling with Saudi financiers and, more recently, publicly airing his discontent with the Tour — spoke openly about LIV’s controversial Saudi backing, calling the Saudis “scary mother-f—–s.” Still, that wasn’t enough to dissuade him from aligning with LIV.

No, in fact they were the only ones to whom Phil apologized, so we can objectively consider him pro-scary mofos.

I owe Dylan a thank you note for informing us that your humble blogger wasn't the only one to make this premature call:

By week’s end, LIV’s demise seemed imminent, from without and within the organization. Rory McIlroy, unquestionably the PGA Tour’s most prominent and vocal supporter, summed up the mood: “It’s dead in the water, in my opinion,” he said.

Once Jon Rahm showed off his expanded vocabulary I figured that Jay had compromising photos of all his alpha players.

Dylan does not that, player objections notwithstanding, that we can't rule out the possibility that this might, just perhaps, be about the money.  Yeah, we got there ahead of you, but this little bit of delusion is quite priceless:

That argument has proven more compelling for some players than others. When LIV employees talk about the league, they don’t mention “sportswashing.” Instead, they compare themselves to Uber or Netflix, companies that prioritized growth and disruption over cash flow. The players who’ve signed on talk about balanced lifestyles and the pleasure of more family time. But, inescapably, money is the driver.

Yeah, that Netflix citation is unintentionally hilarious, given that they seem consigned to YouTube for eternity.   

But then, Dylan goes all existential on us:

In other words, things seem to be working out fairly well for the players, who are getting paid. But what about the fans? Big picture, and in light of LIV’s guaranteed money, maybe the better question is: Does all this dough make for a better product? Or does the division that comes with it mean a potential calamity for the sport?

I've been using this wee platform to argue from Day One that LIV's vision for the game is truly dreadful, an elitist series of exhibition matches of no import.  But the one issue neither Dylan nor I have pondered, what happens to a sport when a major gaggle of the elite talent reveal themselves to be tone-deaf, narcissistic a*******es?  Pull up a bench, the movie just started...

My belief is that the Saudis over-reached but then, rather than retreating quietly, decided to use their vast reserves to teach the rest of us a lesson.  

The sad part is that this will have you nodding your head:

The PIF considered the PGA Tour ripe for disruption because its product was, they say, stale. The Tour’s calling cards can also be considered shortcomings. There are tournaments every week, which leads to oversaturation and burnout for fans and players alike. Four days of golf with as many as 12 hours of competition every day? That’s a lot to keep track of. And despite the Tour’s wishes, not every one of its 48 tournaments can draw a compelling field and blockbuster ratings.

The Tour simply could not abide any other professional golf events happening outside their control, so expanded to fill every week on the calendar.   Not only did they thereby produce a watered-down product, but they damaged other players in the ecosystem such as the Euro and Asian Tours (and don't get me started on what they did to the amateur game).

There's a whole lot of bits thrown at the wall here: 

LIV’s argument is that it has developed a superior golf product, or at least one that makes pro golf more attractive to viewers, specifically younger viewers. The tournaments are shorter, running 54 holes instead of 72. Shotgun starts mean the viewing windows are five hours instead of all-day affairs. LIV’s team format adds, they think, a compelling extra dimension, affording fans the chance to — à la any team sport — align themselves passionately with a group rather than a single player.

That team element ties into LIV’s vision for the future of golf — and ties back to money too. Beginning next year, its “franchises” — with names like the Niblicks and the Iron Heads — will solidify. Team captains (think Mickelson, of the Hy Flyers; or DeChambeau, of the Crushers) own a 25 percent equity stake in their franchises. Over the next several years, they’ll plan to do what they can to increase the value of those franchises before LIV offers them up for sale to outside investors. In a world in which the value of sports teams continues to skyrocket, LIV envisions a day when it consists of a dozen billion-dollar franchises.

In tailoring its product to the younger fan, it has rendered its competitions into mere exhibitions.  The 54-holes is quite troubling, though that requires math.  Golf is problematic as a viewing sport, because the best players win so infrequently.  The problem for LIV is that 54 holes presents less time for everyone to regress to their mean, so the best players will logically win even less in such shortened events.

The bigger issue should be that, in order to play shotgun-style, the field sizes need to be limited to at or near the current 48-player limit.  That's not remotely close to a sufficiently large field, even if it were all top-level players, but here the Tour has made it's own life tough.  Not only do they play their "Super Bowl" (and continued thanks to the doofus LIV attorney that gave us that gem) with a thirty-player field (29 this year), but they were happy to award world-ranking points to a little exhibition in the Bahamas to make you-know-who happy.

The team bit is quite clearly the potentially most interesting bit.  I'm still quite skeptical on that, as it necessarily remains a stroke play team event.  I know I'm supposed to be excited about a South African team, although I'm not now nor have I ever been South African... 

Dylan does hit on some important points, although this one has me in "Yeah, but..." mode:

It’s easy to cringe when Tour fans cite values like “tradition” and “legacy” because it all sounds boring. But these things are also vitally important. Why do we care who wins the World Series? Terence Mann told us in Field of Dreams. “Baseball has marked the time. It reminds us of all that once was good and that could be again.” We know what it’s worth because of comparable competitions for decades prior. Think of sport’s greatest stages: Wimbledon. March Madness. The Super Bowl. We care about this year’s because we cared about last year’s, and the year before that, and the decade before that. Rip away that context and tradition and sport suddenly becomes less romantic. Less worth rooting for. Less… essential. In an age of upheaval, that may matter only to the nerdiest of the golf-watching community, but this is golf, where “A tradition unlike any other” actually resonates. LIV defectors have secured guaranteed millions, with millions more to come. That is clear. Less clear is what it means for golf that some of its biggest names might just be kicking its institutions to the curb.

Dylan has defended the Tour with an appeal to authority centered in the Masters (A tradition unlike any other) and, well baseball.  The latter is easy to dismiss, as all of baseball is pointed towards that October (really November these days) coda.  But for the PGA Tour, once you sever the majors off, the Tour itself seems, well, unstable.

It's got some history and continuity, although your humble blogger has more than once railed against their contempt for that very history, such as the cancellation of the Western Open.  But they were too blinded by their dominant roll, and they allowed themselves to get fat, dumb and happy, and the guys that use bonecutters know a soft target when they se eone.

But growing the game?  Errrr, this isn't how it's done, Phil:

The Ryder Cup is one such institution under threat, not only because some of its more interesting characters — Poulter, García, Koepka — are now ineligible to participate, but because Henrik Stenson chose to walk away from the Cup captaincy, an honor he’d counted among the highest of his career, to take a LIV deal. In the end, if the game’s best players aren’t invested in the meaning and importance of golf ’s history and historic events, why should fans be?

You built you reputation by success in certain institutions.  Then, on the way out the door, you destroy said institutions?  What do we think happens to your reputation?

I'm sure you saw this video of Billy Ho and our old friend Poults, though no lip-readers have emerged to inform us of what they said.  Poults, though, will have his own circle of hell awaiting:

'I have a right to wear it': Despite being asked not to, Ian Poulter wears 'Majesticks' LIV Golf logo during first round of BMW PGA Championship

You have a right to be a dick, and you've never shied away from asserting that right.  So, do enjoy your timer in YouTube obscurity, and keep working on that "Just sold my soul to the devil" look, because yours isn't quite up to Phil's standards.

the only relevance Ian Poulter has ever had in the game of golf is in the Ryder Cup, so I think it entirely fitting that he's now made it his life's work to destroy that event.

At Wentworth, they went to pains to avoid pairing the LIVsters with the loyalists in the early rounds, leaving us to contemplate potentially awkward pairings for Saturday (Rory-Poulter, anyone, or would we prefer Rory-PReed?).  Now I don't know when that might happen:

As the world stops to mourn Queen Elizabeth II’s loss, so, too, will professional golf.

The BMW PGA Championship suspended play on Thursday afternoon “until further notice” immediately following the death of Queen Elizabeth II, the longest-reigning monarch in British history.

“Out of respect for Her Majesty and the Royal Family, play has been suspended at the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth Club for the remainder of Thursday and flags at Wentworth Club will be lowered to half-mast,” a statement from the Tour reads. “Furthermore, no play will take place at the BMW PGA Championship on Friday and the golf course and practice facilities will be closed.”

That's a shame, because I was so looking forward to a continued discussion of Ian Poulter's rights.

Too Good To Fact Check - My favorite part of the LIV nonsense is the PReed defamation suit, a whiny pleading to stop Brandel form saying mean things about the delicate flower.  The entire LIV field has reeked of entitlement, but this bit might just top the charts.

It's virtually impossible for a public figure to win such a suit, so we're left to guess as to why the pusgy one thought this in his best interests.  To me it's an obvious parallel to the entire LIV initiative, which to this observer has generated nothing but bad publicity for their $2 billion large.  OK, Patrick, you want to talk more about your time at the University of Georgia?  

My hopes are raised further, tough, be the remembrance of when John Daly did something similarly short-sighted, which resulted in the public disclosure of his PGA Tour disciplinary file, a fun read for sure.  How thick would you imagine PReed's to be?

But this is schadenfreudalicious for sure:

Of all the legal venues in all the world, Patrick Reed’s defamation suit against Golf Channel and Brandel Chamblee has landed in the chambers of Alfred H. Bennett, a federal judge in Texas.

While Reed has little reason to know much about Bennett, Bennett is surely aware of Reed.

The judge is a golf fan and an avid golfer. At Golf Club of Houston, where he belongs, he has recorded 15 rounds in the past six months, and five more at other courses, according to his GHIN profile. His handicap index is 7.6, and you can bet he’s not sandbagging, friends and colleagues say.

Judge Bennett isn’t one for fudging numbers.

“He’s an absolute stickler for the rules,” said Randy Wilson, a justice in the 14th Court of Appeals who has played numerous rounds with Bennett. “He counts every stroke and putts out everything.”

Why is that relevant?  I get all my information from the Twitter account UseGolfFactsNow, and I've been relaibly informed that it's all a vicious conspiracy, jealousy, bad camera angles and that Jordan Spieth is such a p***k.

But riddle me this, Batman, when the players went to sue the Tour they hustled themselves to the scoundrels day spa in the Northern District of California.  Why would Patrick sue in Texas?

Obviously this is going nowhere:

What matters is the law. And in that regard, the challenge for the plaintiff is even steeper than the challenges of proper punctuation. For public figures to prove defamation, they must show that they have been the victim of “actual malice” — that the person they’re accusing has knowingly made false statements about them or acted with a “reckless disregard for the truth.”

It’s a stout legal standard, and with good reason, says Meredith J. Duncan, professor of law at the University of Houston Law Center.

“In this country, we enjoy a First Amendment right to freedom of speech, and defamation law errs on the side of protecting that right,” Duncan says. “There’s a high burden of proof, especially for public figures.”

Reed would have to prove that Chamblee knows he's not a cheater, but I can help draw up the defense's witness list, beginning with teammates at both colleges.  But it does sound like he found the perfect attorney, no?

Reed’s attorney is Larry Klayman, who, like his client, has a colorful reputation. It stems from his history of filing headline-making suits against high-profile figures ranging from Bill and Hillary Clinton to the comic prankster Sacha Baron Cohen. A former colleague once described Klayman as the sort of person who would “sue you for criticizing his tie.”

I think the lawsuit is most interesting for it's revelation of character to wit, that Patrick thinks he is due a life without criticism.  The solution for that is at hand, though it's a life without attention, so I do hope Patrick enjoys himself.

The defendants have not yet filed the inevitable motion to dismiss, although the real hope for us is that they instead files a motion for discovery.  That could be good fun.

That's it for toady.  I'll be back, although there really isn't much of interest going on, so a good time to dial it back a few notches.  So, I'll see you as events demand, but have a great weekend.

Off-Season Musings

It's a narrow window, as the off-season lasts a good hour and a half.

LIV Updates - We'll lede with what is not so much an update, but rather a forecast of awkward locker room moments:

This week at Wentworth Club in Surrey, England, the DP World Tour’s flagship event — the BMW PGA Championship — takes center stage and will feature 18 players who have all defected to the

LIV Golf Series. It could be uncomfortably awkward as the moment this scribe realized I had to wear speedos in a French public swimming pool. Sacre bleu indeed.

The likes of Abraham Ancer, Jason Kokrak, Kevin Na and Talor Gooch, who had hardly shown much interest in playing in Europe before, are all in the field now on the basis of their top-60-in-the-world exemption.

They need to top up their world ranking points – LIV Golf hasn’t been awarded world ranking status yet – but it must be mighty galling for some proper DP World Tour loyalists who miss out on the old European circuit’s showpiece amid this general tumult.

As for McIlroy’s views on the rebels pitching up in the leafy Surrey stockbroker belt? “I hate it, I really do,” said the Northern Irishman with his usual open and honest assessment of affairs. “It’s going to be hard for me to stomach going to Wentworth and seeing 18 of them there. That just doesn’t sit right with me.”

On the bright side, it might distract from the serial desecration of this Harry Colt gem by Ernie and others...

 But the writer seems to take a skeptical view of this one guy's decision making process:

“After much reflection, prayer, and conversations with trusted advisors I have made the decision not to renew my Tour membership for next year and join LIV Golf,” wrote the deeply religious Tringale in a lengthy epistle of justification.

The Lord, it seems, will provide. Or at least the Saudi Public Investment Fund will. These are fascinating times.

Maybe he needs to take time away to work on being the kind of man he wants to be....How's that working out for the other guy?

 But this seems unduly optimistic:

The fractured, disjointed scene at the top of a sport blinded by money remains a rather unedifying spectacle, though.

The players on either side of this divide are getting richer and richer but the game is poorer for all the squabbling and self-serving haverings. In this ongoing battle of attrition, it will be a while before a winner emerges.

For those who don't know, which includes your humble blogger with the caveat that, like Yiddish, the definition can be intuited from its sound:

havering

 /ˈhāv(ə)riNG/

noun

BRITISH

vacillating or indecisive behavior.

"she was exasperated by all this havering"

 As for a winner, best case might be a survivor...

The Tour Confidential panel had way too much time to contemplate LIV, so shall we?

1. The latest batch of LIV Golf defections came in on Tuesday, and the list of players was … not too surprising! World No. 2 Cameron Smith marked the highest-profile signing, joining the new league just weeks after winning the Open Championship at St. Andrews. How important was this batch of defections for LIV?

Josh Sens: Every player LIV picks up is a victory of a kind. But Smith is the biggest so far–the reigning Open and Players champ, the World No. 2, the first guy, really, who LIV critics couldn’t fully dismiss, whether by saying he was either past his prime or never that gung-ho about competition in the first place. On the other hand, LIV didn’t land Hideki, whose market impact would have felt even bigger.

Even Sergio?  PReed?  Ever heard of  Pyrrhus of Epirus?

James Colgan: It felt as if this batch of LIV defections was the first in which you picked your head up and realized, ‘whoa, the PGA Tour has lost a TON of talent.’ Sure, it helps the argument to see a 23-year-old multi-time winner and the World No. 2 join. But it’s hard to keep up the argument the LIV field consists only of old has-beens and burnout youngsters. This crop brought top-tier talent.

Sean Zak: If Sunday was any indication, hugely important. You had Cam Smith vs. Dustin Johnson vs. Joaquin Niemann. That’s entertaining! IT was the first time LIV Golf has truly entertained me with its finish, and I’m not particularly hard to please. I think in terms of marketability, it was massive. Because the reigning Players Champ and Open Champ is now in all their promotional material. That’s a nice bullet to have in the chamber.

It's not that Sean is completely wrong, but it's still a thin roster.  

Taking on the Shipnuck premise, which your humbler blogger defenestrated last week:

2. Phil Mickelson basked in the changing landscape in pro golf at LIV Golf Boston (where he finished T40). On the topic of structural changes enacted by the PGA Tour, Mickelson

argued they proved the Tour needed a rival. (“Unless there was leverage, nothing was going to happen,” he said.) With a rival league helping to force major changes on the PGA Tour, was Phil right?

Sens: He was right about the leverage. No way we would have seen such big changes so fast. And he was right that these changes are great for many pro-golfer bank accounts. It’s also been great for headlines and clicks. Whether all the shake ups have been great for fans is another matter. I don’t see any immediate perks, unless you’re caught up in that weird faux-populist belief that more money for already rich athletes is somehow a victory for the rest of us. To me, that’s been one of the most striking phenomena in all of this. All the cheering from the sidelines about sticking it to the system. Something we see more often in politics. Oh, wait. I forgot. Stick to sports!

Colgan: He was right, of course, but the irony is that he won’t ever be remembered for it. Right or wrong, Phil has tied his legacy to LIV. Maybe the PGA Tour needed his push, but no amount of victory laps is going to bring him back to see the fruits of his labor.

Zak: He was right but also wrong? Phil has routinely glossed over important details and even cited information incorrectly in this process of “being right” against the PGA Tour. So good for him! He can continue to bask in it, but I’ll continue to believe that there was an easier process than looping in money from Saudi Arabia.

It's quite the horrid look for golf and it's players, so by all means credit Phil.  Only he is smart enough to have them play exhibitions with no one watching while on the pay of the Wahabis... So, yeah, leverage over legacy.

And on this issue:

3. Bubba Watson, one of LIV’s newest players, said he was at peace with his decision to join, even if it cost him an invitation to the Masters. “If Augusta National tells me I can’t go, being a past champion, then I don’t want to be there anyway,” he said. Is there any chance Watson, a past champion, doesn’t receive an invitation next April?

Sens: Maybe I’m being naive, but I don’t see the Masters disinviting past champs. More likely that anyone who’s won a green jacket keeps coming back, with other invites being sorted out by World Ranking points, which is a whole other can o’ worms to be opened soon enough.

Colgan: I’m shocked a number of Masters champs made the jump without assurances from Augusta National that their invite would remain intact, but if a few more go to LIV, they may leave Augusta no choice.

Zak: I’m shocked Bubba even brought it up. I highly doubt any of the majors dis-invite people we would already expect to be qualified. It opens them all up to criticism, for better or worse, and even litigation potentially. No one wants that.

Limiting ourselves to the question as asked, I tend to agree with the responses.  I've analogized it to the belief expressed in recent years that Augusta would introduce a new ball to roll back distance, which always seemed a big ask for an individual golf club, even this atypical golf club.  Fred quite obviously prefers Jay to Greg and MBS, but is it really his to fix?

But that ties into this piece that I think misses the mark:

LIV players are seemingly calling the majors’ bluff. Could the tactic backfire?

 It gets off to tan interesting start:

The pinnacle events of the sport, it is well known, are managed by various governing bodies. At

times they are similar — the USGA and R&A act in concert to decide how golf is played at all levels — and at others they are different. But above all remains the notion that the majors matter the most. Or at least that’s what we’re led to believe.

But how much do the majors really matter?

It’s a question that has only been seriously asked this year as LIV golfers have in return for huge paydays risked the means by which they have long qualified for those events. They have joined a tour that currently does not award world ranking points, the easiest means for major qualification. Rank inside the top 50, you’re bound to play in every major. Top 60, you’re probably fine, too. And while many LIV signees would prefer to see change to the system, their joining LIV implies an acceptance that they might not play in the majors at all. Bubba Watson admitted that dilemma Wednesday, detailing how he told his children they might not be able to go to Augusta National next year. He didn’t seem to enjoy having that conversation, but he’s certainly come to grips with all potential outcomes.

How much do the majors matter?  Talk about the wrong question, as the edification we've all absorbed is more to the point of hos little the PGA Tour matters.  Though, of course, these guys have all shown us what matters most to them, that just doesn't have much to do with golf.

This to me gives the game away:

Sitting next to Watson in the press conference was Harold Varner III, who played in each major this season for the first time in his career. Varner admitted that when he won the Saudi International in January, his sole focus was to earn enough ranking points to qualify for the Masters. “This is my first year playing in every major, so it was cool,” Varner said. “But, like, I think it’s way cooler making sure my kid doesn’t have to worry about anything. That’s about it.”

Varner has been out there making bank for a while, and has endorsements that include guaranteed money for some time.  So, were his kids worrying about having enough?  This is a bunch of guys with 7-9-figure banks accounts preaching about financial security..... so sure, really happy for you Harold.

Unlike the header, I don't see this as brinksmanship or throwing down the gauntlet.  It's far more depressing than that, as these guys are willing to throw away their remaining careers for the check they just received.  Yet, having shown such indifference to their own careers, they somehow think the rest of us are somehow still interested... That's why I suggested there will be no winners.

As for that Varner guy, he disappoints me because I actually thought highly of him before this:

Varner, who opened up on social media and wrote easily the most honest explanation yet of anyone who defected from the PGA Tour to LIV Golf, nonetheless took a lot of flak on social media.

“It sucked,” he said after reading all the comments sent his way. “Who likes to be hated? It’s terrible. I hate being hated. I’d rather not be, not even be known than be hated.

“So yeah, it was terrible. I just hate to be hated because you’re doing what’s best for you and whenever someone else is doing something that’s best for them I’m like, ‘How can I help, how can I help you make a better decision, why are you making this decision?’ That should be more of the language instead of like, ‘Well, you didn’t do what I want you to do so I hate you, I’m done, I’m unfollowing.’ Like, you can’t win that. People are just not right.”

Guess what, Harold, your terms are acceptable, as you've moved to a place where you will no longer be known.    

If there's a battle space to watch, it seems to me to be the Euro Tour.  We had Lee Westwood's harsh words about the PGAT Tour making Keith Pelley their bitch, and we have a series of items about that make it clear that is the new front in this war.

These first couple are items from the London press that are behind paywalls, first this about a former Ryder Cup venue:

Valderrama the latest battleground for LIV Golf who hope to add course to 2023 schedule. @jcorrigangolf reports.https://t.co/YAO0wH3Pt5

— Telegraph Sport (@TelegraphSport) September 3, 2022

And this about the week that will be in Wentworth:

LIV Golf rebels in fiery exchange with DP World Tour AGM Keith Pelley https://t.co/jkMgt3eU2y

— James Corrigan (no blue tick) (@jcorrigangolf) September 5, 2022

Matthew Fitzpatrick has thoughts on this topic, though they feel different given that he hasn't taken those thirty pieces of silver:

“I do hope that events in Europe are part of whatever the final plan is,” Fitzpatrick said on Monday at Wentworth, where the DP World Tour’s signature event, the BMW PGA Championship, begins on Thursday. “The PGA Tour needs to live up to their role in the strategic alliance. I think it’s important that three or four DP World Tour events are part of the elite event mix. I was disappointed this year when so many spots in the Scottish Open were taken away from DP World Tour players. That was unfair. They got very little in return. They got screwed in my opinion. But I understand that’s where the tours are going."

Screwed?  Yeah, I think Matthew can anticipate a phone call from a 904 area code, but is he right that that was unfair?  I certainly feel for the players involved, but there has to be a benefit from the co-sanctioning and increasing the presence of the Tour, not the least being network coverage in the U.S.

 But this is just heresy:

“In my ideal world we’d play from January 1 to September 1. Then we’d have three months off. People would then miss golf and look forward to it coming back. We need to be more like the NFL. It is a relatively short season so just about every game is special.”

I guess he missed that class at Northwestern where they teach that nature abhors a vacuum....  the joke is that he was at Northwestern for an hour-and-a-half, but that is seriously Jay's concern about the Fall, that someone else will fill the void.

Mostly he just seems worried about his home tour, and who can blame him?  Oddly though, unlike Jon Rahm, he isn't balking at the number of events.

And on the important issues:

4. The LIV news wasn’t over there! On Friday, Greg Norman announced that players would be allowed to compete in shorts, upending a longstanding rule to the contrary. Is this a step forward for tournament golf, or much ado about nothing?

Sens: Egad! I’m scandalized! Nah. Seems very much on-brand and hard to argue with. Most golf dress codes are silly anyway. No shirt, no shoes, no service should be the extent of it. Not that I’m itching to see pasty legs on a golf broadcast, but it doesn’t really matter a lick to me one way or the other.

Colgan: It always struck me as strange that pants were required, especially when I realized Average Joes wore them to feel more professional during “important rounds” — like my buddy on Pinehurst No. 2 … in 115-degree heat. Shorts are a beautiful thing, even if their professional liberation is mostly trivial.

Zak: The pants vs. shorts rule has been one of the most difficult things to explain to non-golf fans in my entire career. It made no sense. It’s a good example of how a little speedboat like LIV can make quick turns for its benefit and the massive cruise ship that is the PGA Tour has struggled to do so. [It’s also pretty meaningless in scope]

Those going to LIV don't seem very invested in how they play, so why should they (or we) care how they look... 

Short-Term Beneficiaries - Obviously the golf ecosystem is taking its hits, but there are beneficiaries in the short-term:

Five weeks ago, Justin Lower gave one of the most raw and candid interviews of the PGA Tour season.

The rookie three-putted the 72nd hole at the Wyndham Championship to fall outside the top 125 in the FedEx Cup standings and lose his PGA Tour card for the 2022-2023 season.

Fast forward to this week, and even before the conclusion of the Korn Ferry Tour Finals, Lower has his card for next season secured — and he has LIV Golf to thank for it.

Because of the LIV golfers’ removal, Lower, along with Matt Wallace, Austin Smotherman, Doc Redman, Danny Willett and Kelly Kraft, all moved inside the top 125 of Eligibility Points List, secured PGA Tour cards and will have full status next season.

Be fun to see one or more take advantage of it...

The Late, Lamented Dinah -  The good news is that Chevron is putting some effort into it.... the bad news is that it'll suck, and suck without any history to it:

As previously announced, The Club at Carlton Woods will host the tournament formerly known as The Dinah from April 20-23, 2023. The latest efforts to upgrade the first women’s major of the season include an emphasis on more amateurs in the field:

• Expanded amateur access via exemptions to winners of the U.S. Women’s Amateur Championship, Women’s British Amateur Championship, Women’s Amateur Asia-Pacific Championship, Women’s Latin America Amateur Championship, Augusta National Women’s Amateur and Chevron Silverado Showdown.

• Chevron has introduced a new $5,000 stipend for all players who miss the cut.

• At least $2 million in donations to non-profit organizations based on year one of Chevron’s sponsorship with an emphasis on foundations and community programs advancing women's excellence and STEM.

• The event returns to network airwaves on NBC.

Yawn!  Still pissed at the Lords of Augusta for this one...

R.I.P., Herb Kohler -  Can't say I've ever know what to think of the guy:

Herb was an innovator and an artist, an American industrialist in full and a lover of the game. He ran Kohler Co. for 43 years as CEO, but he also personally held more than 200 design and utility

patents. And just as important as building the company was to him—more than 40,000 employees on six continents—he believed in building the community through service, his family trusts and foundation. And he left the mission in the hands of his son David, who took over seamlessly as president and CEO in 2015.

Herb Kohler made the state of Wisconsin a golf mecca through his portfolio known as Destination Kohler—Whistling Straits, Blackwolf Run, The American Club—that attracted six of golf’s major championships and the 2021 Ryder Cup. And he revitalized the town of St. Andrews with unprecedented investment in the Old Course Hotel, The Duke’s Course and Hamilton Hall.

I've just always found Mike Keiser's development work the more interesting, although there's more than enough room for the both of them in our game.  But Jerry Tarde makes it seem a life well lived, so R.I.P.

The next few days' schedule will not be conducive to blogging, so will see you at the end of the week.

After The Deluge

Oh to be in Boston on Labor Day weekend?  As an irrelevant aside, I remain unclear as to why the PGA Tour finishes the week before Labor Day...  Seems an own-goal, no?

Our Cup Runneth Over - Poor Trevor Immelman, I'm quite sure he's done nothing to deserve this fate, but it's not going to be pretty.

Zephyr Melton goes where no man should, laying out what that International squad might look like at Quail Hollow:

Here's the easy part:

Automatic qualifiers

Hideki Matsuyama

Sungaje Im

Tom Kim

Corey Conners

Adam Scott

Mito Pereira

These six pros have already automatically qualified and will suit up for the International side at Quail Hollow — and it’s a group with plenty of talent. Matsuyama and Scott are former major champs with past Presidents Cup experience, while Im (also a former Presidents Cupper) and Conners are two of the best ball strikers in the game. Add in the high upside of Pereira and Kim and you’ve got a solid top six in the lineup.

The good news is that I've heard of each and every one of those guys.  And, in case you missed it, there's amusement to be found in the background of that photo...

The website for the event is a bi schizophrenically at the moment.  That 404 error I had the other day is still there, though I also found a page that shows the six automatic qualifiers as noted above.  But this page hasn't been updated, still touting this guys as non-radioactive (though that might change before you have a chance to click through):

INTERNATIONAL TEAM

NO. 1 – CAMERON SMITH

Country: Australia

Age: 29

PGA TOUR Wins: 6

Presidents Cup: 1 (2019) / 1-1-1 record

2021-22 Highlights: Three wins, including the Sentry Tournament of Champions, PLAYERS Championship and The Open Championship. Entered the week at the BMW Championship ranked No. 3 in the FedExCup before withdrawing due to a hip injury.

Niemann, as well.

As for the rest of the squad?  If you can walk and chew gum....

Chalk

K.H. Lee

Sebastian Muñoz

Adam Hadwin

Ryan Fox

Mackenzie Hughes

Christiaan Bezuidenhout

These six are the “safest” picks Immelman can make. This group consists of the next six in the Presidents Cup standings, excluding LIV players and Erik van Rooyen, who’s been injured since July. Filling out the team with these six would certainly be the easiest thing to do, but that doesn’t necessarily mean it would field the strongest team. While some on this list are sure to be picked, don’t count on all of them making the team.

Warning noted, but if not them, who?

Experience

Jason Day

Si Woo Kim

Haotong Li

Jhonattan Vegas

Emiliano Grillo

C.T. Pan

These six haven’t played their best golf this season, but they have one thing that few others up for consideration do: experience. Each of these six has appeared on a Presidents Cup team in the past, so they know what it takes to compete in a hostile team-golf environment. In normal times, these players wouldn’t sniff consideration for a captain’s pick, but if Immelman wants to stack his team with experience, these are his best options.

Counter-intuitively, this could prove to be a difficult week for the American team and Captain Love (remind me again of why our vaunted task force has chosen a captain from the retired list?)   They will be expected to romp easily, yet eighteen holes of match play is barely more predictable (i.e., less chalky) than a coin toss.

At this late juncture, Jay has no choice but to play out the string, but it promises to be a difficult week.  no one will want to be there, and the American players will be in a classic no-win situation.  I don't even know what a happy ending looks like in such circumstances, but we can console ourselves with the thought that the Ryder Cup might prove to be just as big a mismatch.

Will I see You In September? - At lunch yesterday, Bobby D. asked me when the PGA Tour would be back, and I had to admit that I wasn't 100% sure.  I speculated that they would have no choice but to see the zombie-apocalypse portion of the their schedule through, and that turns out to be the case.  They'll be at Silverado the weekend after Labor Day, going head-to-head with a LIV event in Chicago at the dreadful Rich Harvest Farms.

This just has to be the Bataan Death March of golf events as, apologies to Coleridge, the Fall remains the albatross around Jay's neck.  There is no rime (pun intended) or reason for the Tour to be in action then, yet Jay is not likely to cede any portion of his schedule given the Saudi threat.  Which might be fine, had he not previously announced varying plans to undermine the sponsors of the vulnerable events.

The latest abrupt U-Turn is this:

On Wednesday, ESPN reported the Tour was delaying previously announced plans for a three-

event global series featuring the game’s best players competing for $25 million purses in order to focus its attention on its recently announced slate of 13 elevated tournaments. During his “State of the Tour” address ahead of last week’s season-ending Tour Championship, commissioner Jay Monahan rolled out a series of announcements that ranged from top players committing to 20 events starting next season to his firm stance on not allowing LIV Golf players to return to the Tour.

The three-event international series, announced Aug. 1 after Golfweek previously reported on the matter, was slated to feature limited fields that included the top 50 players in the FedEx Cup standings and no cuts. ESPN’s report stated the series may be staged in the future. With more elevated events added to the schedule, the Tour worried the global series may be too much for players who want more of an offseason break.

To restate a point, the announcement of these events was that they would be held in addition to the current slate of events, meaning that Jay intended to do to his sponsors that which LIV has attempted to do to Jay (i.e., skim off the elite talent).  So, if you're Fortinet/Sanderson Farms/McGladrey, the good news is that your zombie event might actually happen.  The bad news is that Jay is still scheming about ways to undermine your event, but  he's comfortable admitting that he can't walk and chew gum at the same time.

One issue that your humble blogger has been harping on is the players' treatment of their sponsors, specifically DJ jumping to LIV's first event, which was held opposite his long-time sponsor RBC's marquee event in Canada, no doubt blatantly violating the terms of their contract.  The flaw in such an argument is that the Tour is the leader in the clubhouse in f***ing sponsors, pretty much as soon as the ink dries on those contracts.

Boo Frickin' Hoo - Those defecting to LIV have shared some thoughts, some infusing trace elements of honesty.  I'd say that Cam Smith's comments have at least yielded some nods of....understanding:

Reached on the phone by Golf Digest, Smith did not shy away from admitting LIV’s guaranteed-money offer was one of the reasons behind his choice to leave the PGA Tour, where he has won

six times. He did not disclose the value of his LIV deal when asked, although reports have pegged it at more than $100 million. “[Money] was definitely a factor in making that decision, I won’t ignore that or say that wasn’t a reason,” Smith said. “It was obviously a business decision for one and an offer I couldn’t ignore.”

But the mullet-wearing Smith, who has earned $27 million during his eight years on tour, insists money was not the biggest lure—rather the opportunity to spend up to three months a year in Australia. It is believed LIV Golf’s offseason will run from late October, when its last 2022 event in Miami is scheduled, until mid-February 2023.

“The biggest thing for me joining is [LIV’s] schedule is really appealing,” Smith said. “I’ll be able to spend more time at home in Australia and maybe have an event down there, as well. I haven’t been able to do that, and to get that part of my life back was really appealing.”

On the one hand, he at least acknowledged that the money was the driving factor, which I'll take over Phil's insistence that it was all about the shotgun starts.  

But that said, aren't we the delicate one.... You fly private and can spend as much time in Oz as you want, so I'm thinking it's the money.  But to me, here's where it gets weird< as Cam had this on wthe OWGR points:

“I hope that these World Ranking points will sort themselves out before my exemption is up. You know, I think to the fans of major championship golf, it may be a little bit unfair on them. I think majors is about having the best guys in the best field on the best golf courses.”

I had been reliably informed that hope is not a strategy, but apparently I stand corrected.  I just really don't have the words to react to a player, in the prime of his career and having just notched his first slot in the history of the game, making a move that could bar his access to future majors (yes, I know he has an exemption, but we don't know what is coming down the pike from the Five Families).

I would further add that, even if his major access if not affected, his preparation will include nothing more than exhibitions and Pro-Ams.... Just a weird devaluing of his own career prospects for thirty pieces of silver.

Perhaps I could take Cam more seriously, if his countryman could have read from the script:

Marc Leishman: “There's many reasons why I decided to being a part of this tour: Three young kids at home; obviously to see them more. Yes, the money was a factor. Just to spend more time at home -- well, home being Virginia Beach and also in Australia. So there was a lot of factors for me. The majors was one of them that maybe was a little bit of a down point but like I said, hopefully things can sort itself out and I can get into those in the future.”

Remember when they held that match play event in Melbourne?   It turns out that the international players all live in Orlando, as well as the Yanks.  So, yeah, sign with LIV to spend more time in, checking notes, Virginia Beach.  How do we know they're lying?  Yup, the moving lips....

Then there's Bubba:

“Yeah, for me, it's a weird situation, being a Masters Champion. I sat my kids** down and I told them that their favorite tournament in the world is obviously Travelers Championship, so can't play there. But now, Augusta, right now, we can play in it, and I'm hoping, and praying, that they make the right decisions and past champions and people, we can all start playing.

“And so I told my kids** that there is a chance, there is a possibility, that we can't go to Augusta. And I told them, if they tell me that I can't go, being a past champion, then I don't want to be there anyway because that's just -- that's just the wrong way to look at it, it's the game of golf. We are all trying to be the best players.”

Call him the anti-Groucho, because he doesn't want to belong to a club that won't have him as a member.  But, as a man of faith and the proud father of two adopted children.... well, Geoff has the tip-in:

Adoption is illegal in Saudi Arabia, so maybe leave kids home for Royal Greens week. I don’t think it’ll have Travelers or Masters vibes.

But I don't think we can do better than the formerly admirable Harold Three-Sticks.  Talk about a motto to rally the troops around:

Harold Varner: “Yeah, you know, I'm okay with it. Like it is what it is. I can't hate on what situation I'm in or what situation I'm not in. I can only do what's best for me at the time from the experience I've had as a kid and I'm actually super proud [I] made a decision based off of what I believe in. I think it's very easy to get in a situation where you do what everyone else says you should do. Yeah, I think, I don't know, I just sat there. I think it's pretty bad when my wife is like, ‘Fuck everybody. Do what you want to do.’”

I doff my cap, because as marketing slogan, Fuck Everybody™ perfectly sums up their attitude and their actions.

As most of you know, I have little use for Gray Player, although I've had good fun and easy blogging thanks to his family.  But he had these comments in a BBC interview:

“I wouldn’t take a billion dollars for my nine majors on both tours,” Player told BBC 5. “I worked hard. I had desire. I traveled the world. It was an education, I met wonderful people. How can you ever be a champion playing a tour with 54 holes and no cut?”

Why is this of interest?  This is how the man in black looked at Augusta:

The Saudis don't seem to get much for their money.  Of course, they do deal with dissenters in their own fashion, so should Gary be invited to the Saudi consulate in Istanbul....

Is PReed Playing the Korn Ferry Tour? -  No, but he might want to take notes:

Would you believe a story from Korn Ferry Tour Q-school in which a pro with a purported 36 aces (eight of them on par-4s) supposedly holed-out on an approach shot from the rough that no one saw, lost a ball that was found hours later, got into a heated, hour-long meeting with rules official involving written testimony, rudimentary hole diagrams and a flock of turkeys, ultimately leading to the wildest disqualification in Q-school history?

Well, have I got a story for you.

Seriously?  How is this guy even allowed in the field?

It was here that Matt Moroz, Andrew Ni and Grant Haefner teed off in the final round on Friday. All three were hovering around the cut line. Unbeknownst to Ni and Haefner, Nebraska PGA officials planned to keep a close eye on the group. (PGA of America sections run Q-school sites.) Allegations of suspicious behavior had been made against Moroz from the previous day. His playing partners in the second round had told officials that Moroz was often walking well ahead of the group. They said there were incidents on two holes where the players believed Moroz was in penalty areas, only to find his ball in good shape. For four holes during the final round, nothing unusual happened. Things changed on the 5th hole, a 375-yard par-4.

Moroz hit his tee shot down the left side, leaving an approach from the rough that required him to negotiate a tree. Haefner and Ni hit their drives in the fairway down the right side, about 10 yards longer than Moroz’s. Interviewed separately, Haefner and Ni said Moroz hit a low runner that they described as thin and bladed. Moroz called the shot a “Jay Bilas,” saying he turned to Andy Smith, his caddie, and said, “I skullfucked it.” Everyone expected the ball to stop short and left of the green. Haefner and Ni estimated it landed nearly 60 yards short. Smith said he believed the ball was five yards left, but he also thought the ball was skipping through the rough. “Because the rough was a little wet in spots, there was a potential of skippage,” Smith said later. “That’s the best I can explain it.”

There is a large mound in front of the 5th green so the players couldn’t see where the ball had settled. (The description of the hole on the Quarry Oaks website says, “It’s lots of fun getting to the green and seeing where your ball is.”) Moroz and Smith walked quickly down the fairway and reached the green before the other two players had hit their approach shots. As Haefner and Ni crested the hill, they were dismayed to see Moroz walking toward them, pumping his fists and yelling, “It’s in the hole!” Moroz approached Haefner and extended his closed hand for a fist pound; Haefner half-heartedly obliged, too stunned to ignore the gesture. Neither Haefner nor Ni saw Moroz retrieve his ball out of the hole. Both were playing in their first Q-school and weren’t sure what to say. Haefner reasoned with himself, “We have all seen crazy bounces in golf.” Haefner and Ni both recall Moroz saying something like: “Maybe it bounced off the turkeys.” It was a reference to a flock of turkeys that were loitering in the rough. Moroz denied saying that, adding, “Maybe my caddie, Andy, did it as a joke.”

But we're not done:

The 7th hole is a challenging uphill 458-yard par-4 with trouble down both sides. Because of the difficulty of the hole, the section assigned a spotter to help players look for errant drives and to assist with the already tortoise-like pace of play at Q-school. The spotter was about 300 yards down the fairway on the right-hand side. After Haefner hit the fairway, Ni found the left penalty area. Moroz, who is left-handed, then pulled his drive into the right penalty area, roughly 30 yards from where the spotter, who doubles as a rules official, was standing. The spotter stuck a red flag in the ground where Moroz’s ball had entered the hazard and headed across the fairway to look for Ni’s ball. Haefner, Ni, his caddie, the spotter and a rules official who had rolled up to the group began searching for Ni’s ball, which they found.

Moroz and Smith didn’t join the group for the search, walking over only after Ni had chipped out. Haefner hit his approach, and when the group arrived at the green, Moroz’s ball was on the fringe, just 15 feet from the hole. Haefner, having grown increasingly skeptical, asked Moroz what he was putting for. “Birdie,” he replied. The penalty area where Moroz’s tee shot had entered was thick and for the most part unplayable; in fact, Moroz called it “jungle.” He explained that Smith had found his ball just outside the penalty area, nearly 30 yards ahead (and around a corner of the wooded area) of where the ball entered. Clayton Kucera, an experienced caddie who was carrying for Ni, had seen enough. As Haefner and Ni were putting out, Kucera approached the rules official and explained what had happened. As the group left the green, the rules official returned to where Moroz’s drive had entered the penalty area.

But, gee, who coulda seen this coming?

After some discussion, Hearn, who has worked in rules on the Korn Ferry and PGA Tours and section events for more than 20 years, pulled a ball out of his pocket marked exactly like the one Moroz had played, with purple lines and the number 12 written on it. According to Haefner, Moroz denied it was his ball before acknowledging it was. Hearn explained the ball had been found on the 7th hole at precisely the spot where the official had placed the flag. Moroz quickly transitioned, saying although it was one of his balls, he had hit a ball there the previous day and two others during his practice round, reasoning it must have been a ball he never found from those rounds.

But, this was so egregious, that a follow-up was required:

The Case Against Matt Moroz Mounts

Nebraska PGA officials found two more balls believed to belong to the DQ’d golfer

Best of all is this photo of the rules officials:

Proudly displaying the machete used to dig out one of those balls....  I'm sure his LIV contract is pending....

That's all for now kids.  Not planning to blog tomorrow or Monday, so you can enjoy the golf from Boston on your own.  Have a great holiday weekend.