Unplayable Lies

Tuesday, October 17, 2023

Tuesday Tastings - Entourage Edition

Another late start, but no hard deadline to work around. Not that we're going to go long, but strange times for sure.

So, where are we with the PGA Tour PIF deal? Sorry, kids, but I've no bloody clue as to what's going on, and the events of October 7th certainly have only made the region and, therefore, the status of and outlook for the Framework Agreement more opaque.

Yesterday we discussed the recent decision of the body that administers the Official World Golf Rankings to deny LIV, as currently constructed, points for the players in their events. Obviously nothing happens in a vacuum, and you've heard Phil's accusations, to wit, that it's a massive collusion against LIV and he's shocked, shocked I tell you, that OWGR points are being used as leverage in the Tour's negotiation with PIF. Phil's outrage at others having and using leverage brings a wry smile to the lips of your humble blogger, but this isn't about me.

First question, how are the negotiations going? Good luck getting a serious answer, but here's one take:

How are things progressing in the PGA Tour’s efforts to move forward on the framework agreement it signed in June with Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund? It depends who you ask.

ESPN reported “that while the negotiations with PIF chairman Yasir Al-Rumayyan and other officials with the country’s sovereign wealth fund are ongoing, the proposed deal is far from getting done for a variety of reasons, including PIF officials wanting more control of the new for-profit enterprise. Sources said the Saudis are also digging in their heels on incorporating team golf into the sport’s future global ecosystem.”

Wow, who coulda seen that one coming, although I suspect they'll want to control of more than just the for-profit entity. People wring checks in the billions can be funny that way...

That Golfweek piece comes under this neutral header:

Report: PGA Tour evaluating alternative sources of capital beyond current framework agreement with PIF

But, how is one to know when the Tour is lying to us? Yeah, those moving lips are as good a proxy as any, so you might want to shut off your BS detector, otherwise the constant buzzing will get tedious:

Earlier this week, PGA Tour executive Jason Gore sent a memo to players providing an update. As first reported by ESPN, Gore wrote, “We remain focused on reaching a Definitive Agreement with PIF and the DP World Tour, but not surprisingly, these negotiations have resulted in unsolicited outreach and proposals from a number of other interested investors. All of this activity reinforces the Tour’s strong position and our potential for growth.”

Unsolicited? These guys aren't very good liars, because that's laugh-out-loud hilarious.... We at this point have exactly zero clue as to what this for-profit entity will be doing, but the Wolves of Wall Street are showring them with unsolicited offer? Yeah, that's not how any of this works....

And there may well be a tortious interference claim hanging over Jay:

Bloomberg previously named three bidders last month, including Endeavor Group Holdings, Inc. In May, Endeavor CEO Ari Emanuel said on the Freakonomics podcast that, at the behest of LIV’s Phil Mickelson and Bryson DeChambeau, the company had been considering investing a billion dollars in LIV until Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan persuaded him to reconsider.

Speaking at a Bloomberg conference this week, Emanuel confirmed the company is interested in buying a stake in the Tour.

“We put in a bid. It’s one of the great sports. I love it. You know, I think we could add to it what we’ve added to all of our sports.”

Ari Emanuel? In case you were wondering about the header, this is the payoff:

Ari's character is based in part on the real-life Hollywood agent Ari Emanuel,[1] who broke away from mega-agency ICM to form the Endeavor Talent Agency, which represents such stars as Vin Diesel and Larry David, both of whom are represented on the show by the fictional Ari Gold. Likewise, both Emanuel and Gold represent series producer Mark Wahlberg, upon whose experiences in Hollywood the series is loosely based. Ari Emanuel also once represented Jeremy Piven himself, and in an interview on the special features of the Season 3 Part 2 DVD, Entourage creator Doug Ellin says that Ari Emanuel demanded the "Ari Gold" part be cast to Piven and wouldn't accept anyone else to play him. Ari Gold, in the episode 'Playin with Fire' says that director Peter Berg was his roommate in college, as was Emanuel's.

Ari Emanuel is the brother of Ezekiel Emanuel—a bioethicist—and Rahm Emanuel—former mayor of Chicago, former White House Chief of Staff, and member of the U.S.House of Representatives.

I'm just relieved that he thinks we're one of the great sports....

Although this Forbes header seems to capture the moment more accurately:

The PGA Tour Wants U.S. Money As Insurance For Opposition Of Saudi LIV Golf Takeover

The Forbes piece has this on the political background, which might capture the current moment:

U.S. politicians are probing the merger because LIV Golf is financed by Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund and some view the deal as a takeover of an American institution by dirty, foreign money. In July, the Senate Homeland Security Committee’s Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations held a three-hour hearing on the PGA Tour’s planned merger with Saudi Arabia-backed LIV Golf. Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), who chaired the panel, was most critical of the deal, repeatedly urging PGA Tour officials not to go through with it. Republicans, led by Senator Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, were more supportive. If green-lit by politicians, PGA tour players would still have to approve the merger.

But quite obviously fails to anticipate how that might change in the course of a election campaign. Mr. Blumenthal is quite the poser, even by the elevated standards of his institution, but how do we imagine his principled opposition might be affected by a President running for reelection who needs lower prices at the gas pump? Any recent events, say on October 7th, that might increase the chances of an oil spike?

But I'm not sure this makes much sense at all:

Now the PGA Tour is looking at taking on U.S. investors. Bloomberg reported yesterday that “high-profile U.S. investors are being considered to help finance the PGA Tour’s transaction with Saudi-backed LIV Golf in an effort to ease political opposition to the deal.” The article noted that the interest from U.S. investors was unsolicited. But an American investor with interests in a few sports teams tells Forbes that the PGA is seeking U.S. money in case the PGA players vote down the merger with LIV Golf. “The PGA needs the money,” he said.

As I wrote a year ago, the PGA has behaved like a stale monopoly for many years. It has caused some of its players to grumble about a lack of financial disclosure, paid its executives too much and failed to deliver for its customers, who often don’t even know where their favorite golfers are going to play. In short, LIV Golf exposed the PGA Tour as an undervalued asset that could be significantly more valuable if it were run properly.

That second graph is quite the hot mess. I completely agree with that first premise and, while LIV might have caused some of this focus, they're a bigger mess than the PGA Tour. Is the PGA Tour undervalued? Maybe, but maybe it's also just a silly niche sport that can't support the money the Saudis are pumping in?

But the bigger issue to this observer is this concept of using other financing sources to support the Saudi deal, which strikes me as weird because money is the only thing the Saudis bring to the table.

Geoff has some more interesting bits before ducking behind his paywall, first on the status of things:

Months since learning the framework agreement “events of June 6th agreement” only had three-
or-so weeks of negotiation remaining, there are signs of an impending deal collapse and pro golf division for years to come.

One of the two key protagonists in the weird June 6th rollout teed it up in the recent Alfred Dunhill Links. He was the guest of tournament chairman Johan Rupert who nobly is trying to bring all parties onto the same page and to get the endless money talk out of the news. But just days after “His Excellency” Yasir Al-Rumayyan presumably made a final pitch to key Official World Golf Ranking power players over rounds at Carnoustie and the Old Course, LIV Golf was denied the legitimizing points. But at least H.E. received encouragement via the disapproval letter from OWGR President And Old Course Hotel GM Peter Dawson, whose bizarro message was for LIV to keep being you. Blast that music, wear those shorts no matter how unflattering, peddle Torque merch and grow that game! However, we don’t give GTG points here at the OWGR.

The other figurehead in the June 6th announcement who also did not want to be deposed and therefore agreed to a rushed deal who wanted to bring game-growing harmony and keep his free jet rides to every elite hideaway imaginable, has disappeared again.

Thank you for that, Geoff, because where the hell is Jay (and I haven't seen anyone else notice that he's gone to ground again)? Has he given in to his depression again, or is he off playing his own brand of 34D chess. If I were a PGA Tour member, I'd be awfully curious as to who is really running this show.

Amusingly, Geoff picks up on the one known entry on Jay's calendar:

But we do know PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan will be turning up at next month’s Dealbook summit, his name screaming “outlier” at a conference including chats with the world’s richest man, the Vice President, the recently ousted Speaker of the House, and multiple respected CEO’s who will all be of more interest to the audience.

It is an outlier, though I think Geoff perhaps misses a more interesting point. His presence on that Dealbook panel implies that he'll have a deal done by that point, which is the interesting bit for us all to ponder in the current moment.

But where Geoff senses deal collapse, I have to add the question of whether this deal was ever meant to get done.

Let me also remind you of the accounts we've heard of the efforts of the Hatless Wonder, a/k/a the "terrific penis." What is being discussed here is using other financial sources to somehow help get the deal done with the Saudis, which makes no sense to me as noted above. But Cantlay was going down a different path entirely, desiring to keep the Saudis as competitors for leverage, while using other financing sources to fund Saudi-level compensation. It's quite it's own beautiful thing, Patrick desiring a check with just as many zeros as Phil got, just without that pesky human rights issue rearing its ugly (big) head. Remember Eamon Lynch's piece yesterday about excessive entitlement? Yup, he was over the target for sure.

Monday, October 16, 2023

Weekend Wrap - OWGR/LIV Update Edition

I'm terribly late to the keyboard due to a 15 lb. feline making its home in my lap for most of the early morning hours, circulation to my legs obviously being a low priority to him. So, you can grab your Lexi news on your own, but what of the larger issues in our game. Or at least those that can be covered in 45 minutes...

OWGR Musings - We'll lede with the Tour Confidential panel's take on that OWGR decision:

After 16 months of deliberation, LIV Golf has been denied World Ranking points, with the OWGR board essentially saying the biggest strike against LIV was its lack of guaranteed promotion and relegation of players. Are you surprised? And was this the right move?

Berhow: Not totally surprised, because it sounded like this was the likely outcome for a while now. What gets me is that LIV Golf wanted its format to be different, yes, but if we are going back to the early days, I’d want to make sure my start-up league would be doing everything it could to make it incredibly easy to be included in the system. Instead it seemed like LIV did what it wanted and was expecting everyone else to conform. Apparently that tactic didn’t work.

Marksbury: Spot on, Josh. There was never any indication that this was going to work in LIV’s favor. But I did find it interesting that LIV has a bit of a roadmap to OWGR legitimacy now. Time will tell if they will make any changes — or if their players will even care that much.

Sens: PIF chair Yasir Al-Rumayyan played golf with the R&A’s Martin Slumbers and OWGR’s Peter Dawson at the Dunhill right before this decision came down, so none of this should come as a surprise to LIV. Or to anyone else. Dawson’s letter on the decision lays out a lot of the rationale (mainly, limited channels for players performing their way onto LIV or dropping off the circuit), all of which sounds defensible enough on the face of it. LIV’s failure to meet a number of the criteria gave the OWGR plausible ground to stand on. At the same time, it’s hard to imagine that all kinds of other political and economic considerations weren’t also at play, and that we aren’t being told the entire story. One of the many lessons of the past year-plus is that we shouldn’t count on golf’s major power brokers being entirely transparent with us.

Yeah, nothing too new there, but to note that the door wasn't slammed shut entirely. The decision seems both justifiable on the merits, but also awkward given the context of ongoing negotiations.

Eamon Lynch has a characteristic take on the matter, which may not be all that much more enlightening, though will undoubtedly amuse you to a far greater extent:

Lynch: The ranking points row exposes what powers LIV Golf beyond Saudi cash — naked entitlement

Buckle yourself in:

LIV golfers are courageously forging an innovative new path for a stuffy old sport in the face of obstructionist conspiracies by golf’s corrupt deep state. Or so insists Phil Mickelson, whose prior
perilous proximity to an insider trading indictment at least grants him some authority on corrupt conspiracies.

The latest supposed evidence of anti-LIV collusion is the refusal by the Official World Golf Ranking to recognize the Saudi-funded circuit, and the reaction to that rejection exposes an argument by the league and its players that is less about rewarding their enlightenment than indulging their entitlement.

Phil seems quite sad these days:

The OWGR’s decision was neither surprising nor suspicious. LIV didn’t meet multiple criteria for inclusion when applied 15 months ago and has made no serious effort at compliance since. The chairman of the ranking body, Peter Dawson, said algorithmic solutions exist to questions about field size, number of rounds and the lack of a cut, but that there remain two areas of significant concern: the qualification process, and how LIV’s individual tournaments co-exist with the team component.

Entry to LIV is determined by the whim of Greg Norman and the checkbook of Yasir Al-Rumayyan, the head of Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund. Exits from LIV are equally inequitable, with some stars contractually exempt from the consequences of poor play. “Simply put, the Board Committee does not believe it is equitable to thousands of players who strive every day to get starts in OWGR Eligible Tournaments to have a tour. operate in this mostly-closed fashion,” Dawson wrote to Norman. He further noted that LIV teammates are often grouped together and cited comments by Sebastian Munoz, who in April admitted that he was less concerned with tying Brooks Koepka on the final hole of an individual tournament than in protecting a narrow lead in the team event.

All of which one might have thought through before committing that $2 billion large, though larger geopolitical issues might also be involved.

None of this will surprise you, but it is amusing when we're reminded of how smart these folks pretend to be:

Warming to the goal of gaslighting, LIV’s statement continued: “A ranking which fails to fairly represent all participants, irrespective of where in the world they play golf, robs fans, players and all of golf’s stakeholders of the objective basis underpinning any accurate recognition of the world’s best player performances. It also robs some traditional tournaments of the best fields possible.”

This week alone, the OWGR will rank competitors in the United States, Spain, Macau, Japan, South Korea, Australia, China, South Africa, Sweden and Indonesia. It meets any reasonable standard for “irrespective of where in the world,” even as it excludes Saudi Arabia. This isn’t a dispute about individuals or geography but about format. It’s not who or where, but how. As for robbing events of the best fields, the majors have always been free to adjust exemption criteria to accommodate LIV players, though none is likely to embrace Bryson DeChambeau’s fatuous idea of automatically exempting the league’s top twelve members — 25% of the entire roster.

Yes, LIV is all about the golf fan, notwithstanding their attempts to destroy that which golf fans have held dear....

I won't too deep into Phil's fever dream Twitter thread, but apparentlyy the best is yet to come:

After the OWGR announcement, Phredo Mickelson swung by social media to peddle conspiracy theories so specious that one loses IQ points just by reading them, all while conveniently ignoring the problematic structure of LIV. “This is move six in a long game of chess,” he posted. “You won’t believe moves 32-37. That’s when it gets REALLY good.”

This reminds me of one of my favorite tracks from Greg Norman Greatest Hits Album, the one where he promised to revolutionize the game and delivered a, checking notes, pimped out golf cart that went exactly nowhere. I'm on the edge of my seat to see Phil's Moves 32-37, though I'm guessing this 3D chess game exists only in Phi's mind. Not that it matters, because apparently the check cleared....

Or, yanno, just let Eamon go on:

Leaving aside the smug gibberish you’d expect from the smartest guy ever to be bailed out by butchers, it’s unsurprising that he clings to some mysterious master plan that we’re all too dumb to grasp. The bill of goods that Norman sold in public, Mickelson pitched to players in private: LIV guys could cherry-pick events from other tours; they would be eligible for majors; they would be hailed as innovators. Instead, the courts said no, the majors said ‘earn it’ and public opinion said they are pawns for sportswashing. The only legitimacy LIV can boast was conferred upon it via the Framework Agreement by the very tours it sought to topple.

The position argued by LIV and a few of its players on ranking points is grounded in the same trait that drew many to its ranks: entitlement. They’re entitled to enormous compensation that the open market has never considered feasible. They’re entitled to job security, regardless of performance. They’re entitled to entry into the most meaningful events on name recognition alone. They’re entitled to be ranked among the world’s best golfers despite almost never measuring themselves against the best. They’re entitled to be accommodated by a system they simultaneously deride as obsolete.

Yeah, there was only one reason to ever believe anything those two say, and that had to do with all those zeros and commas on the checks...

But, as your humble blogger presciently predicted long ago, that sense of entitlement is like poa, it spreads everywhere:

That sense of entitlement isn’t exclusive to LIV. It has disfigured elite golf, in the expectations of PGA Tour players who have never sold a ticket nor drawn an eyeball, and in the various entities that discreetly doffed their caps to Al-Rumayyan in hopes that his bankroll would eventually be directed toward them rather than ranged against them. The unseemly dash to be next in line at the trough has been underway for some time.

The bickering over world rankings is no different from every other combative cul-de-sac the sport has visited in the past two years. It boils down to one thing: guys who freely chose cash over competitive legitimacy, and who don’t think they should have to live with the consequences of their decisions. And that’s their problem, not the OWGR’s.

He's right that it's their problem, but Rory and Tiger have used tit to infect the rest of the game as well, so we're all losers.

LIV Musings - I'm up against the clock, but the most interesting part of Phil's OWDR screed is his conspiracy mongering, in which he can't seem to discern among the varied organizations. From Geoff:

In a Twitter response to fellow former Masters champion Trevor Immelman, Mickelson alleged
that the men’s majors were “protecting themselves” by denying LIV players points. He said the majors never intended to give points and believes the Lords of Augusta, Liberty Corner, St Andrews and Frisco are conducting the PGA Tour’s bidding because “the PGA Tour tv contract is based on owgr criteria for them to get all their money.”

(The majors have separate deals with networks and do not benefit from the PGA Tour’s arrangement with CBS, NBC and/or ESPN+.)

Mickelson said the Tour “would lose leverage in negotiations if LIV got points” even though the Ponte Vedra-based organization is wrapping up year two of a nine-year television deal and not believed to be in any media negotiations.

Obviously there's a high level of overlap and associated cooperation among the various parties... How dare they organize the golf ecosystem before the Saudis got involved!

But to watch these four organizations operate since LIV launched is to see a pattern of risk avoidance.... they don't want any part of the legal drama, and they've mostly stayed above the fray, at least as far as participation in their events is concerned. Do they favor Jay as opposed to the scary MoFos? Well, any normal person would...

Oh, and I do love Geoff's graphic.... not least because he got Phil's iconic calves into the mix.

4) last but not least, Tour has BORROWED against the tv deal! If they don't hit their bench marks and don't get all their tv money (from CBS:) they will have an immediate capital call. Don't believe me? Ask Sean McManus

There is a ring of truth to those claims and it’s certainly an issue for all involved if PGA Tour events are too heavily weighted given the media deal claims of Mickelson. However, it was known for years that the Tour lobbied hard for a new OWGR system, believing a majority of the best golfers played on the U.S.-based Tour and were not getting enough points. All entities who have hinted at an OWGR minimum in the current TV deal have said it was a last minute addition to the Tour’s contract and came after the revised ranking process was designed (but not yet implemented).

Mickelson also accused the Masters, PGA Championship, U.S. Open and The Open of colluding to protect their events (even though they’d love nothing more than for all of this to go away).

Whether they borrowed or not, they've to some extent mortgaged their feedlot to head off the LIV threat, not exactly breaking news. It's just hard to see where the other four families would assume the risk of defending the Tour's interests.

What it feels like is a four-year old's temper tantrum, not to say that there may not be an interesting fact or two in the rant (or that the Tour's reaction is above reproach). But one does have to note that Phil hasn't exactly engaged with the arguments presented by Mr. Dawson, in fact he's completely compromised on that subject. Because when Mr. Dawson notes the absence of a relegation process, he's calling out Phil first and foremost.

But here's the other interesting bit on this subject:

Report: PGA Tour evaluating alternative sources of capital beyond current framework agreement with PIF

My instincts say that there is much less here than meets the eyes, but I'm also completely out of time. So, if you would be so kind t hold those thoughts, I will dive in to this tomorrow.

Friday, October 13, 2023

Late-Week Lamentations - Wrath Of God Edition

So, a week in which real world events overtake our little sports bubble. Not to worry, most of this post will serve as the escapism we need and deserve, though the biggest issue overhanging our game is inseparable from the current news cycle.

But Alan Shipnuck is back with his new book on the LIVolution, and posted this for comment:

🚨BREAKING: Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, Mohammed bin Salman.

STATEMENT:

“His Highness affirms that the Kingdom stands by the Palestinian people to achieve their legitimate rights, realize their hopes and aspirations, and achieve just and lasting peace.”

Thoughts? pic.twitter.com/hBBlc3ZIW1
— Ian Jaeger (@IanJaeger29) October 9, 2023

I'd love to know how Alan is taking all this, because at times I'm convinced he must have gone to Harvard, with his elite-level whataboutism.... famously dismissing concerns about the murder and dismemberment of Jamal Kashoggi because of, checking notes, Abu Ghraib. Alan is such a reliable leftie that I wouldn't want to venture a guess where he stands on the broader issue.

The MBS statement aside, the geopolitical waters run deep, and our little LIV v. PGA Tour conflagration might at times seem a bit silly in that context. I think my anti-Saudi credentials speak for themselves but, unlike out childish leaders, I'm forced to live in the real world. The point I'm making is that Joe Biden calling Saudi Arabia a pariah state was empty virtue signaling, but has seriously complicated the U.S. relationship with the Kingdom, which is rather important right now.

But as much as we all might hate that statement from MBS, guess who hates it even more:

Iran wanted Saudi Arabia to drop Israel — but failed miserably

The Saudi prince, known as MBS, wants peace with Israel and his country’s full integration into the world economy, an agenda that puts him fundamentally at odds with Tehran’s drive to destroy Israel and dominate the Middle East through a network of clients and proxies.

According to the Saudi readout of Thursday’s call, MBS “reaffirmed the kingdom’s unshakable position in championing the Palestinian cause and in supporting efforts to bring comprehensive and just peace, which guarantees the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people.”

For Tehran, the Saudi reference to peace is intolerable because Israel’s existence is intolerable.

Hamas’ charter likewise states the group’s goal is to “liberate Palestine, from River Jordan in the east to the Mediterranean in the west.”

Despite restoring diplomatic ties with the Saudis in April, Iran may have instigated Hamas to launch its Oct. 7 attack on Israel because it feared the progress of Saudi-Israeli normalization talks.

This take is pretty good, although that lead sentence has a rather large omission. To wit, that notwithstanding their recent phone call, the Saudis view Iran as an existential threat, and Trump's Abraham Accords represent a substantive realignment of Middle East alliances to the benefit of Israel. My understanding is that the Saudis were interested in such a deal, but held off out of concern for the outcome of our 2020 elections and the constancy of U.S. support. They kind of nailed it, eh?

Hamas might be the frontline aggressor, but the issue is and always has been Iran. The tool to combat the threat is an alliance of Sunni states against the Iranians, and this is for those that need a little optimism this morning:

Saudi Arabia was well into normalization talks with Israel, thus prompting Iran, per a Wall Street Journal report the White House disputes, to instruct Hamas to turn the table and start war, which so far seems to have put Arab-Israeli peace efforts on hold but without killing them — at least this is how America and European powers understand the situation.

Saudi Arabia has yet to join anti-Western coalitions, even if Riyadh acts nice around them.

Similarly, Saudi Arabia might seem on the same page with Iran and Hamas, but in reality, the kingdom is still on the Western side and seeking a military treaty with America and normalization of relations with Israel.

When Israel beats Hamas and the dust settles, Saudi-Israeli talks will likely resume.

I certainly hope that's true, though the author ignores the fact that the Biden administration seems desperate to resurrect the despicable Obama treaty with Iran, and to shovel money to a regime whose principal business is the killing of Americans and Jews (and who has likely taken additional American hostages in Israel). You've no doubt seen the accounts of that $6 billion, though number under Biden is closer to $50 billion, though I don't know if any of it actually came on pallets.

We're done with optimism, now here's a bite for those of you that just need a laugh:

Harvard Student Leaves Lecture On Microaggressions To Attend ‘Kill The Jews’ Rally

It's the Babylon Bee so it's in theory satire.... But is it really?

Back to our silly golf stuff....

No OWGR Pints For You - You've heard the news, but let's just make sure you've seen the reasoning:

According to GGP, the OWGR cited two broad areas for its decision: The 54-hole, no-cut format of 48-player fields, and both the limited access for players to join LIV and limited relegation for
players who underperform.

“The important point is, this is not about the players. LIV players are self-evidently good enough to be ranked; there is no doubt about that,” Peter Dawson, chairman of the OWGR board, told GGP. “This is about, should a tour whose formats are so different and whose qualification criteria are so different, can they be ranked equitably with other tours who conform to the OWGR norm and have more competition to them than perhaps the closed shop that is LIV?”

There was also a concern about the team competition affecting individual play, what we'll dub the Sebastian Munoz issue.

I think this the correct decision, though perhaps justifiable would be a better word. As Dawson makes clear, LIV doesn't fit into the world golf ecosystem easily, though I certainly would have been harsher on the field size/54 hole issues. But Dawson makes clear that this isn't a final decision, it just lays out what needs to be fixed to reexamine at a later date.

But the decision comes as a surprise for two obvious reasons. First, it comes after Mr. Waterman made the rounds of Fife in the Dunhill Links Championship, where he was paired with Martin Slumbers and palled around with Dawson himself, as per the photo above. It sure seemed he was welcome in polite society, so perhaps they really do have convictions? Yeah, we'll reserve judgment on that... Geoff has a fun take on that pseudonym bit:

The ranking news comes as a surprise given last week’s very public and upbeat appearance by Public Investment Fund head ~~Andrew~~ ~~Waterman~~ Yasir Al Rumayyan at the Alfred Dunhill Links. According to The Scotsman’s Martin Dempster, the PIF controller of hundreds of billions was initially entered last minute under the Waterman pseudonym, then was identified as the equally “H.E.” on standard bearer signage. (That’s “His Excellency” for those forgot how, at least for a brief time, golf leadership pathetically referred to the PIF head by his preferred moniker.)

Can we just shoot all these people?

The second reason for surprise is the existence of that Framework Agreement promising Peace in our Time, which specifically included language requiring the parties to cooperate to arrange OWGR points for the LIVsters. This might be ironic, because the LIV folks were adamant that Jay Monahan and Keith Pelley recuse themselves, whereas they were the two signatories to the Framework Agreement with a vote.

The other bit of delicious schadenfreude is to enjoy how clueless the Saudis and their enablers can be. They had their thick McKinsey report, but somehow all Talor Gooch needed to cash that check was Greg Norman's assurances that they wouldn't be suspended and would still get OWGR points. How are those Greg Norman guarantees playing out, Talor?

Monday, October 9, 2023

Weekend Wrap - Hatgate Forensic Edition

Nothing to see here, kids. First, just a few seconds to actual golf action....

FedEx Fall Follies - An actually exciting finish, at least for the five guys involved:

The PGA Tour official made it clear on the tee: these guys would likely come back tomorrow.

“If this playoff goes into tomorrow, which is likely, we will resume from this tee tomorrow morning,” the official told the five players about to start a playoff for the Sanderson Farms Championship.

Luke List must not have heard him.

After getting a read on Ludvig Aberg’s birdie try, List, just the second player to attempt his third in the playoff, drilled a 43-foot putt to turn out the lights at the Country Club of Jackson and win the Sanderson Farms Championship.

I have the count of buried ledes at two, the first being the inevitable issue of running the event right up against sunset, failing to allow time for a playoff.... The second BL being the presence of Euro phenom Ludvig Aberg in that playoff. No Ryder cup hangover there, eh?

But see if you can work up any concern here?

What LIV Golf, PGA Tour alignment could mean for future of Sanderson Farms Championship

We're selling out birthright for thirty pieces of silver, but let's obsess over that chicken trophy.... OK, enough on this subject.

My Kingdom For a Brolley - The Dunhill Links even is played quite late in the year, leading to an early sell-out of wooly hats. But perhaps they didn't get the memo, because it's been just a wee bit wet there this week:

This happens approximately never, given that's it's built on a sand bar that drains immediately.

This is a sweet story for sure, though it's not at all clear what today might bring:

Dunhill Links spills into Monday due to wet weather as Matt Fitzpatrick tries to deliver his mom a unique present

A nice young man playing with his Mum:

But it's not clear if they'll get it in:

But to get play in on Monday will require some logistical hurdles to be cleared. Those playing the Old Course and Kingsbarns will start off two tees beginning at 9 a.m. local time. Play at the most water-logged of the three courses, Carnoustie, won't begin until 11:30 a.m. when a shotgun start will be used. At 7:30 a.m. local time, however, a decision will be made as to whether Carnoustie will be ready by 11:30. If it's deemed that the course won't be playable, no play will take place on any course and a further announcement about the fate of the tournament will be made.

So, the Dunhill Links has gotten Pebble weather? This story should have come with an irony alert, no?

But wait, we're not finished with the ironies..... Because, as we informed you last week, Andrew Waterman is in the field:

“Now on the tee, Mr. Andrew Waterman” pic.twitter.com/QKodDtWrYw
— The Shotgun Start (@TheShotgunStart) October 5, 2023

Actually, a twofer.... First, that nom de guerre is pretty funny, given the the amount of water Mr. Waterman has endured. But, no, it seems any event in which this man participates will be limited to just the 54 holes..... though, perhaps if Carnoustie can't be made ready, the league will re renamed XXXVI?

Hatgate Post Hoc Forensics - The truth will out, and you'll be shocked to learn that our heroes aren't always completely honest with us... I know, take a moment, because that's quite the shock. ike Bamberger provides the sunshine:

The Truth About Hatgate Finally Comes Out

Patrick Cantlay’s unguarded remark on the first tee on Friday morning contradicts the dishonest statements he made over Ryder Cup weekend

How did you react when you first heard the terrific penis' comments about wearing a hat? he's one of my least favorite guys out there so I'm inclined to think the worst, but in this case I didn't exactly pounce. Because I could imagine a context in which his comments was just a nothingburger... For a guy that doesn't love hats (or for whom hats don't fit so well) noting that he only wears them for his sponsors isn't problematic at all....

But, no, this guy has that laser-like focus of a world-class athlete, and there's no confusion as to his priorities, as reported by Mike Bamberger:

On the Friday morning of the 2023 Ryder Cup, Patrick Cantlay emerged from a temporary tunnel
underneath the first-tee bleachers and into the bright sunshine of Rome on a warm September day. He was not wearing a hat. Normally, he plays golf in a hat, but HatGate, as a buzz word of the 44th Ryder Cup, did not yet exist.

“No hat?” Steve Sands, the veteran NBC Sports reporter and interviewer, said upon seeing Cantlay.

Cantlay was in the fourth and last group of the morning session, playing with his regular wingman, Xander Schauffele. They are both Californians who do not seem to crave the spotlight. Cantlay was wearing the same dark blue pants and dark blue shirt with horizontal stripes as his 11 American teammates. The only thing missing was the official team cap, a blue-and-white trucker hat with the letters USA on the panel above the brim. It wasn’t like he forgot to put it on.

The bleachers were stuffed with 5,000 fans. The perimeter of the first tee was crowded with dozens of Ryder Cup officials, caddies and players and assistant captains, camera operators and photographers and media members, Steve Sands among them.

Sands (below) enjoys a good rapport and a casual ease with scores of PGA Tour players, and Cantlay, 31, an eight-time Tour winner, is among them. Cantlay did not blow him off.

“I’ll wear a hat when I’m paid to be here like he is,” Cantlay said. He motioned in the direction of Julius Mason, a longtime PGA of America public relations executive, standing in the vicinity.

I've always resisted the easy explanations of U.S. Ryder Cup futility, believing that they more likely cared too much rather than too little.... But these guys simply won't let us wallow in our naïve perceptions, will they?

In the aftermath of the disappointing performance, we're left to understand why the team showed up woefully unprepared for Friday's matches, famously losing that morning session 4-0. Cantlay was one of Zach's horses, forming a critical team with wingman Xander, but he was perhaps too busy worrying about the Benjamins to be properly focused on his match, or even to come over a few weeks earlier to scout the venue and bond with his teammates.

Do we need to know anything further about him?

Bams is being careful with his sourcing:

Cantlay’s response to Sands was shared with me by three Americans who were at this year’s Ryder Cup in different official capacities. (I was not there.) There were slight variations in the exact wording of Cantlay’s response. In one version, for instance, Mason was cited by name. But there was no material differences in what he was quoted as saying as he walked on to the first tee.

I would argue that it's not merely dickish, but oddly personal as well..... Obviously the argument about those Netflix cameras got heated, but it's pretty clear who was bringing the heat. But this was Patrick's take:

At the end of play on Saturday, Sands asked Cantlay, in a live greenside interview, why he was not wearing a hat. “It just doesn’t fit,” Cantlay said. He laughed briefly and continued. “I didn’t wear it [at the 2021 Ryder Cup] at Whistling Straits because the hat just doesn’t fit. That’s really all it is.”

Cantlay’s use of the word fit was open to parsing. Did that mean it didn’t align with a core belief that professional golfers should get paid to play golf? Whatever he meant by it, HatGate was in full swing. It was a gift to the fans at the Ryder Cup, the first played in Italy. All during Cantlay’s play on Saturday, and again on Sunday, spectators mocked him for his no-pay, no-hat stance.

Yes, and watching and rootig for you is an equally bad fit for this observer....

The next afternoon, at the conclusion of Cantlay’s win in Sunday’s singles over Justin Rose, Sands, in a live interview, asked Cantlay again about the “money” issue and by implication Weir’s tweet, which made the whole absurd affair public to millions of sports fans across the world. But Weir’s tweet also made a few Ryder Cup insiders reconsider Cantlay’s Friday morning comment on the first tee to Sands.

“It’s totally false,” Cantlay told Sands and the NBC Sports audience, reported to be 1.4 million viewers on Saturday. “It couldn’t be further from the truth. There hasn’t been one word of [team division] all week. The U.S. team has been close all week. It’s just outright lies. Not a shred of truth in the article that just one journalist wrote. It’s crazy that one journalist can put a tweet out there, totally unfounded, with complete lies.”

Sands, reached for comment on Friday, said he could not comment publicly on a private exchange with the golfer.

Say what? Sands is there in network swag covering the first tee with 5,000 of his closest friends, but this exchange is somehow "private"? Yeah, that'll work... This is Mikey's coda:

A spokesman for Cantlay, Preston Valder, said in a text on Friday that “the hat stuff is completely false so there’s nothing further to add here outside of it being a fictitious story.”

But Cantlay’s unguarded show-me-the-money hat comment more than suggests that the pay-to-wear issue is not “completely false,” as Valder said. Cantlay’s use of the phrase “outright lies,” in connection to this petty contretemps, also seems to be a wildly inaccurate and unfair claim.

Mason, one of the most even-tempered and well-liked executives in men’s professional golf, noted that his greatest disappointment from this year’s Ryder Cup was that the American team did not come home with the Ryder Cup trophy. Mason’s first Ryder Cup for the PGA of America was in 1993, at the Belfry in England. Some American players wore a hat that year, some a visor, some wore no hat at all. One player, Payne Stewart, wore a Hogan-style British racing cap, consistent with the style he often wore in PGA Tour events. The Americans won, 15-13. It was the last time the Americans have won a Ryder Cup in Europe.

Any confusion as to Patrick's biggest disappointment? It's pretty damn clear that Patrick and Xander brought the money issue into the team room, and that their teammates were required to lie on their behalf. How do you feel, Max Homa?

Joel Beall tries to tackle this issue head on:

The Ryder Cup underscores golf's biggest problem

Money and emotion both resonate with golfers. The problem is that they're not the same thing.

That sub-head shows up only on the Golf Digest home page, but pretty much misses the point entirely. There's exactly no one, perhaps excepting Stefan Schauffelle, that confuses those two. In fact, the Ryder Cup is supposed to be the one week that we don't have to deal with the crap, though certain players won't allow for the respite.

To me, this is the most damning bit from Joel:

It would be a misnomer to think this applies to all Americans. Scottie Scheffler cared so much he was brought to tears in the middle of the event, not because he was embarrassed by his play but because he thought he let his club down. No one questions Justin Thomas’ adoration for the Ryder Cup; Max Homa has repeatedly said he wasn’t interested in LIV offers because LIV “can’t buy my dreams,” one of which was to compete in this event. Then there is Bradley. He famously has not opened his luggage from the 2012 Ryder Cup, allowing himself only to do so when he's part of a winning Ryder Cup. In an era when many Americans were accused of not caring, Bradley cared a lot. When he won the Travelers, Bradley said his first thought was the feat put him one step closer to achieving that dream. It’s why his exclusion from this year’s team was so notable, for Bradley did not hide how bad he wanted it, and that’s something American fans have wanted out of their boys for some time.

Which is why the Cantlay-Schauffelle initiative had to split the team at a certain level. Oh, I'm sure they tamped down the friction because they had to get through the week, but it's pretty clear that the split in the team room was real at a certain level.

But Joel to me is going off into a cul-de-sac:

Which begs the question to golf's stakeholders: How do you replicate this fervor that only seems to exist around this three-day event?

Much like dissecting why the Americans continue to struggle on the road, there is no easy solution to golf’s caring problem. We do know what doesn’t work, and that’s throwing money at the issue. If that was the answer LIV Golf would have successfully disrupted the sport, and the tour’s postseason would be talked about in the same vein as the majors. To the tour’s credit, the new signature-event series may rectify part of that woe, letting the sport know these tournaments require their attention. But considering a popular response to the series is that these events are nothing more than WGCs. 2.0, the tour will likely continue to fight an uphill battle.

Perhaps the only answer is what makes the Ryder Cup special is what makes the rest of the schedule fall short. Again, it’s not that what happens on the PGA Tour or DP World Tour or any tour around the world is inconsequential, or that they are the same as LIV Golf when it comes to relevance. It’s just a continuum, and the Ryder Cup continues to cement itself far down the caring spectrum from anything else in the game. Because from now until Bethpage there will be millions to be made playing golf that mostly looks the same as the golf played the week before that will look like the golf coming after. But then the Ryder Cup will come and it will be different. We care about the Ryder Cup because it’s fleeting, and because its memories are eternal.

You can't make the rest of the schedule like the Ryder Cup, which I might remind floundered in irrelevancy for fifty years before finding its footing. But the events of the last two years should remind us of why we love that week so....

The sickness in the soul of Cantlay and Xander is profound and shouldn't be covered up by the likes of Steve Sands. As expressed by Schauffelle père, they actually think the event will be more popular if the guys play for money, whereas the reality is we're desperate for a week in which money isn't Topic A.

The Tour Confidential panel has some Ryder Cup follow up bits as well:

1. More Ryder Cup news broke in the days after players departed Rome. The Times, based in London, spoke to Stefan Schauffele, the father of Xander Schauffele, who said that Xander and Patrick Cantlay were in a contract disagreement with the PGA of America over a player participation and benefit agreement they wanted amended in three places. Stefan said they were threatened to be removed from the team, although it eventually got sorted out. How much would this have changed the narrative if this was out the week of the event? And does this bit of news change your opinion on what happened last week?

Josh Sens: The main themes would have been the same but it would have changed the tone, in part by exposing Cantlay for being coy and disingenuous in his answers about the pay-to-play
question. He was able to deflect and defuse the issue somewhat by saying getting paid wasn’t an issue for him, when clearly it was. If he’d been forthright, the heckling, I suspect, would have been even more intense on Sunday. Also, Cantlay might not have been able to get away with falsely branding a reporter as a liar.

Sean Zak: Yeah, likely changes the tenor of press conferences, and even perhaps the ribbing by fans in Rome. Cantlay was the only player to really face any gruff from spectators, and that was pretty playful if anything. I’d say this re-informs my opinion rather than changes anything.

Zephyr Melton: Agree with my colleagues above. It was obvious in the lead-up that Cantlay and Schauffele were not on the same page as their teammates (skipping the scouting trip), and now we know why. Just another distraction that kept Team USA from playing their best.

Jack Hirsh: Pay shouldn’t be a distraction in the Ryder Cup. It wasn’t for one team. I don’t think it changes my opinion on what happened as it’s always been clear the Europeans get up for the Ryder Cup while it’s more of an obligation for the Americans. I’m, regrettably, not surprised.

Of course the media is complicit, though it's of marginal use to ask the media about that.....

Cantlay fascinates me, though not in a good way at all. In the broader issue of LIV v. PGA Tour, he's the guy trying to queer the Saudi deal to keep them there for leverage, while finding another merchant bank to shower them with largesse. Most folks react to that in terms of its implausibility..... True enough, but for this observer the tell is that he thinks he has a right to Saudi riches, just without those pesky moral considerations..... Yeah, good luck with that!

Here seems a similar disconnect. He wants to demand to be paid, he just expects all of us to avert our gaze and for the media to cover for him The problem is when you make all about the money, and then go out and stink up the joint as he did on Friday.

2. Ever since Rome, Ryder Cup compensation has been a huge conversation topic with multiple players and major champs weighing in. So, what say you? Should players get paid or compensated in any way (other than what they currently receive) if they make a Ryder Cup team? If so, what’s your idea to make it work for all parties?

Sens: I think the players should be compensated, but aren’t they already in the form of a tax-deductible charitable donation made in their name? If that charitable donation needs to be increased, based on some percentage of total Ryder Cup revenues, so be it. That seems like a fair arrangement. If a player doesn’t like that, the PGA of America should tell them, You don’t like the terms? No problem. Stay home. We’ll find someone else. There would be no shortage of takers. I’d like to hear the conversation between that player and his agent when the agent informs him how much he missed out on sponsorship opportunities by skipping the Ryder Cup–which is another way these guys profit from the event.

Zak: Players should absolutely be compensated for successful play, a la the rest of their schedule. If your team wins, you earn 1/12th cut of the $12,000,00 purse. If your team doesn’t win, you go home empty-handed.

Hirsh: No. This doesn’t seem to be a problem for the Europeans and they have won A LOT of Ryder Cups over the past 40 years. I agree with Sens. If the charitable donation isn’t enough for you, there are plenty of other interested candidates.

Melton: I am fully on board with players getting paid, but it’s not a hill I’ll die on. I will say it has gotten tiring talking about money in golf all the time. I suppose I need to watch more amateur golf to get away from that dialogue.

Hirsh: I’m on board with this Zephyr. The Walker Cup is a great time.

Others are making huge bank on this event, so the arguments about pay aren't frivolous, they're just unseemly at this moment in the game. there's also the optics that that other team, one whose players earn on average far less, never uses the M-word....Oh, and they win.

But I think the arguments for pay have deteriorated in the current environment. When David Duval and Tiger took some heat, they were only eating what they killed (we all ignore their Nike money, so let's not go there).

But the PIP program has changed all that, and these guys are no doubt garnering all sorts of Meltwater Mentions in their U.S.A. swag, so you've already been payed, Patrick. But the real answer is to leave the guys that only want to play if they get paid at home. Max Homa's dreams aren't available for sale, but Patrick's and Xander's are, so good luck to them.

But insanity is doing the same things over and over and expecting different results. To wit:

3. All eyes are now on who will captain the 2025 squad when the Ryder Cup comes to Bethpage Black in New York. Davis Love III recently said the first call should be made to Tiger Woods, to see if he’s interested. Who do you think should captain that team?

Sens: Woods should be the first choice. And the second. And the third.

Zak: Woods should definitely take on that role, because if not, when? He may not want to take on an international captaincy, given the added travel considerations. Really, the best scenario is Woods as a playing captain again — and before you rush to call me crazy — playing just the lone singles match on Sunday. That’s right, eliminate the hard sit-or-play decisions by making yourself a pick. Then save up your energy for one match and triumph out of pure intimidation alone. Who wants to go against Tiger Woods in singles in front of 50,000 fire-breathing New Yorkahs?

Hirsh: I like that idea, Sean, although, I’m not sure if a 49-year-old Tiger Woods with a fused right ankle will be able to walk Bethpage Black for even just 18 holes, let alone play a singles match. The best thing about being a captain is he can take a cart! Plus if there’s anyone who can rally the U.S. team to get their **** together, it’s the GOAT himself.

Melton: I think a Tiger captaincy would be amazing, but I don’t think it’s going to change the outcome at Bethpage. The Americans are going to win — and win big — no matter who the skipper is in two years. The home-field advantage will be unlike anything we’ve ever seen.

Yeah, that's the ticket. I'm old enough to remember when we needed a task force to inform us that future captains should serve as cart drivers in prior cups. remind me again, where was Tiger last week?

He's never cared much about the event, he's never played well in it and he couldn't be bothered being with the guys in Rome..... He's perfect for the gig!

And, more importantly, Tiger and Patrick are now two of the dominant voices on the Players' Advisory Counsel... Worrying about the Ryder Cup might be a luxury we no longer can afford.

Gonna leave you here. No clue as to the blogging schedule this week, but I'll be back as content requires and my schedule permits. Have a great week.