LIV Golf (Saudi PIF), "Mergers," and More

[klineka]

2 minutes ago, Vinsk said:

I don’t think so. Team USA is crazy deep. We even have more young talent since the last win.

It likely will hurt the Euro team a bit though, right? (Assuming the Euro team doesn't let players who are a part of LIV play)

[boogielicious]

14 minutes ago, Vinsk said:

I don’t think so. Team USA is crazy deep. We even have more young talent since the last win.

Without Taylor Gooch, we’re doomed.

[Friz]

6 minutes ago, klineka said:

It likely will hurt the Euro team a bit though, right? (Assuming the Euro team doesn't let players who are a part of LIV play)

Quick team of 12 based on current world ranking:

Jon Rahm

Rory McIlroy

Viktor Hovland

Matt Fitzpatrick

Tyrell Hatton

Paul Casey

Shane Lowry

Thomas Pieters

Seamus Power

Tommy Fleetwood

Sepp Straka

Alex Noren

 

Still a pretty decent team, and I didn't even get to guys like Justin Rose, any of the non-LIV DP World Tour guys of which a few would surely be included....there is still time for more guys to take the plunge in future LIV events but as of right now they should be just fine competitively 

[Vinsk]

23 minutes ago, klineka said:

It likely will hurt the Euro team a bit though, right? (Assuming the Euro team doesn't let players who are a part of LIV play)

True. But who cares? Lol.

[turtleback]

4 hours ago, Missouri Swede said:

Angel Cabrera is still in prison (for assault, among other things) as far as I know, but looks like his Masters, US Open and Greenbrier wins are still listed as wins. Jim Thorpe went to prison for tax crimes, but still has his wins listed.

So at least for US majors and for PGA Tour wins, looks like felony convictions aren't enough for retroactive loss of the win.

OJ Simpson wasn't stripped of his Heisman, his NFL Player of the Year awards, membership in both the college and pro Halls of Fame, or any other of his myriad football awards.  Just sayin'.

[DeadMan]

3 hours ago, klineka said:

It likely will hurt the Euro team a bit though, right? (Assuming the Euro team doesn't let players who are a part of LIV play)

I don't think it will hurt the actual team, but I think the captain's picks will be different. I would guess that Sergio, Kaymer, McDowell, Westwood, and Poulter were all candidates to be captains. 

The President's Cup might be a bigger deal. Oosthuizen is one of the best players for the international team. You would guess that 1 or 2 of the other South Africans would make the team, too.

[iacas]

[jbishop15]

3 minutes ago, iacas said:

I’ve always liked Kevin Na. I liked that he was a short hitter and a weirdo and still managed to win on the PGA Tour. It sucks that he’s jumping ship for more money. The man has made $35 million from the Tour, not including the endorsements. How much more money could he possibly need?

[Ty_Webb]

19 hours ago, DeadMan said:

I don't think it will hurt the actual team, but I think the captain's picks will be different. I would guess that Sergio, Kaymer, McDowell, Westwood, and Poulter were all candidates to be captains. 

The President's Cup might be a bigger deal. Oosthuizen is one of the best players for the international team. You would guess that 1 or 2 of the other South Africans would make the team, too.

The President's Cup international team isn't linked to any specific tour though is it? So why would they care which tour their players play on? For better or worse, the Ryder Cup is a contest between Euros on the European Tour (not calling it DP World Tour if I can avoid it) and Americans on the PGA Tour. The PC is internationals vs Americans on the PGA Tour. At least that's how I understand it. I may be wrong.

 

Side note - Lee Westwood posted a discount code on Twitter this morning. He has 1 million followers. First 100 to use the code get free tickets to the London event. As of several hours later, it looks like that's still available. That's gotta hurt. 

[DeadMan]

17 minutes ago, Ty_Webb said:

The President's Cup international team isn't linked to any specific tour though is it?

The event is put on by the PGA Tour, though. I would imagine they do not want someone who is under discipline playing the event. 

[Friz]

51 minutes ago, iacas said:

Piggybacking on this, he danced around it in this statement, but he confirmed in another quote he has fully resigned from the PGA Tour

“I am sad to share that I have chosen to resign from the PGA Tour. This has not been an easy decision and not one I take lightly. I hope the current policies change and I’ll be able to play on the PGA Tour again.”

 

Edited to add - its absolutely ridiculous to me that this is being spun as he is making the decision to "exercise his right to play wherever he wants."  His decision does the exact opposite of this, he now has the right as a free agent to play 8 tournaments a year.  I'd almost have more respect for one of these guys to just come out and say "look, I made tons of money already, but I just want more and don't care where it comes from."  Don't pretend like you now have more freedom by removing your own access to all PGA Tour events.

Edited June 4, 2022 by Friz

[Kingkat1954]

On 6/2/2022 at 7:17 PM, phillyk said:

I keep seeing a comment that banning or suspending these players wouldn’t be good for the game of golf. They didn’t join LIV for golf, they did it for money. They didn’t care about the game of golf or competition when they signed up, they saw a dollar sign and a few zeros. Don’t bring the game up now that people want to drop you. 

Agree. IF the players were about wanting more options to play,then give the signing bonus back, and go play. Fowler looks like he's going too. The PGA and the Tour will be fine. We will fewer, but better players. 

 

[mdl]

1 hour ago, Friz said:

I'd almost have more respect for one of these guys to just come out and say "look, I made tons of money already, but I just want more and don't care where it comes from."  Don't pretend like you now have more freedom by removing your own access to all PGA Tour events.

This. I think the tour's in the wrong as a monopsony trying to throttle any other tours from growing by trying to prevent any of it's players from also playing the LIV tour. But the players are also all in the wrong. Sure in modern late-capitalist America pretty much all of us live with some cognitive dissonance from the moral ambiguities of the US and global economies. But none of us have to take paydays directly from some of the most evil people on the planet. And especially none of us who are already filthy rich.

If you can't be happy with 10s of millions of dollars (and the likelihood you can make 10s of millions more), the least you can do is just own up to the fact that you're mindlessly greedy and don't care where the money comes from and are just ego obsessed with how many commas and zeros are in your net worth. Like Rory said, once you're filthy rich, more zeros in the bank account don't change anything. You still use the same six rooms in your house. His reaction to LIV has made me an even bigger fan of his (I've always loved his swing and watching him play).

[iacas]

2 hours ago, jbishop15 said:

How much more money could he possibly need?

This statement carries no weight with me. Virtually nobody is going to just turn down having more money, because even if it means your great-grandkids are now better off, instead of only your grandkids, that's better.

The argument about where the money comes from can carry some weight.

But "how much could you need" doesn't matter.

1 hour ago, DeadMan said:

The event is put on by the PGA Tour, though. I would imagine they do not want someone who is under discipline playing the event. 

Exactly.

1 hour ago, Friz said:

Piggybacking on this, he danced around it in this statement, but he confirmed in another quote he has fully resigned from the PGA Tour

No… that was the second page in the same post.

[Friz]

6 minutes ago, iacas said:

No… that was the second page in the same post.

And I just learned his message was longer and you can swipe to see more on Instagram 🤦‍♂️

[Missouri Swede]

3 hours ago, DeadMan said:

The event is put on by the PGA Tour, though. I would imagine they do not want someone who is under discipline playing the event. 

If they resign from the PGA Tour, as Na is doing, wouldn't that prevent disciplining action?

[DewSweeper09]

There are no suspensions on the 54 tour, only disappearances. People calling it “LIV” tour. It’s actually 54 tour, those are just Roman numerals. Kinda bummed so many pros going, but I guess money talks.

[turtleback]

6 hours ago, Friz said:

Piggybacking on this, he danced around it in this statement, but he confirmed in another quote he has fully resigned from the PGA Tour

“I am sad to share that I have chosen to resign from the PGA Tour. This has not been an easy decision and not one I take lightly. I hope the current policies change and I’ll be able to play on the PGA Tour again.”

Professional integrity combined with moral repulsiveness.