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

[Elmer]

3 minutes ago, StuM said:

  Just this week Jack said LIV Players are not part of the game.  Now he may need to shake their hand behind #18 next year.  

Jack Nicklaus on LIV Golfers: I don’t really consider those guys part of the game

---

The other guys made a choice to go where they went. We don’t really talk about it.

 

 

So now those loyal to the PGA will have to suck it up and shake hands with those who  took blood money to play less (for family reasons) and yet want to grow the game.

I agree with the article, if LIV guys want to come back, they got to pay a hefty fine, which can be distributed to the players!

[saevel25]

55 minutes ago, DeadMan said:

That said, the DOJ may get more involved, because this looks like more of a monopoly now than it was a year ago.

It looks like a Cartel type of system. Where these guys are banding together to unify a market to eliminate competition. 

 

 

[Elmer]

Damn.....

 

 

[The Flush]

 

[saevel25]

You can compare the two statements by Jay, 10 months apart. 

 

[Zeph]

Maybe this will end the debate over a fifth major. “Saudi Heroes”, to be played on a Trump course in Saudi Arabia.

[mcanadiens]

7 minutes ago, saevel25 said:

You can compare the two statements by Jay, 10 months apart. 

 

It is truly jaw-dropping. 

Fella was also quoted this way about a year ago:

"And I would ask any player that has left or any player that would consider leaving, have you ever had to apologize for being a member of the PGA Tour?"

[DeadMan]

 

[saevel25]

Another question is, did Jay Monahan have authorization or the power to make a unilateral decision? Could this all fall apart? 

[eich41]

27 minutes ago, Elmer said:

 

I agree with the article, if LIV guys want to come back, they got to pay a hefty fine, which can be distributed to the players!

Ha, good luck with that.  Why should they pay a fine?  The two (three actually) entities are now one and the same.  They aren't "coming back" any more than the PGA/DP Tour players are "going to" LIV.  Even if in a moment of complete brain loss they tried to "fine" these guys it would never hold up in a court.  

 

That said, I wouldn't be surprised if they figure out a way to compensate all players, or at the very least the top players that stayed on the PGA Tour and passed on the big paydays.  It won't, however, be coming from the pockets of the guys who left for LIV.

 

Honestly I think this was inevitable.  At some point this was going to happen, or at the very least the PGA Tour was going to be forced to evolve and the end result would be a better set up overall.  I also believe that the performance of the LIV guys in the first couple of majors this year certainly played a factor in the speed of this move.  Rahm won the masters but the top of the leaderboard was littered with LIV guys, then Koepka won the PGA.  DJ wins the US Open and that's a pretty bad look for the PGA Tour who was adamant that it had the vastly superior talent. 

Reality is LIV was the best thing that ever happened to these players.  The guys who took the money got generational money for their families, and the guys that stuck around got large pay increases via the PIP money and the elevated events.  Not to mention that the fields were watered down with the LIV guys gone.  It's not a coincidence that there were 5 guys who had won multiple tourneys before the calendar turned to May this year.  Every one of these players should be grateful that the LIV tour was created, as they're all vastly wealthier for it.  

Edited June 6, 2023 by eich41

[boogielicious]

20 minutes ago, saevel25 said:

Another question is, did Jay Monahan have authorization or the power to make a unilateral decision? Could this all fall apart? 

We can only hope.

[eich41]

3 minutes ago, boogielicious said:

We can only hope.

Meh, you're hoping that we continue to have two watered down versions of professional golf, with only 4 true tournaments a year?  There is no denying that the PGA Tour in 2021 was far more compelling than LIV or PGA Tour in 2022 and beyond. 

[saevel25]

11 minutes ago, eich41 said:

Meh, you're hoping that we continue to have two watered down versions of professional golf, with only 4 true tournaments a year?  There is no denying that the PGA Tour in 2021 was far more compelling than LIV or PGA Tour in 2022 and beyond. 

You know what might be compelling, bring back the gladiator arena from ancient Rome. Let's really morally bankrupt ourselves for the sake of entertainment. 

I do not care if PGA Tour in 2021 is less of a compelling product than in 2023 and beyond. That isn't the point. 

Also, this... 

 

[Elmer]

14 minutes ago, eich41 said:

Meh, you're hoping that we continue to have two watered down versions of professional golf, with only 4 true tournaments a year?  There is no denying that the PGA Tour in 2021 was far more compelling than LIV or PGA Tour in 2022 and beyond. 

The PGA has continued to be compelling. It is anyone's week. Anyone can step up and play well. 
From what I have seen with LIV, it is not compelling.
It is like watching paint dry.
LIV to me, had the competitive attitude of a bunch of Frat dudes crushing MGDs while trying to up one another. 

 

 

[jxdama]

It will be a fun US Open. Glad the family  is  back together.

[eich41]

14 minutes ago, saevel25 said:

You know what might be compelling, bring back the gladiator arena from ancient Rome. Let's really morally bankrupt ourselves for the sake of entertainment. 

I do not care if PGA Tour in 2021 is less of a compelling product than in 2023 and beyond. That isn't the point. 

Also, this... 

 

I'm fine if that's your stance.  Here is the problem with that.... You can't have selective virtue.  You can't condemn SA and anyone who associates with SA, then turn a blind eye to the PGA Tour pushing partnerships with China, who certainly has plenty of their own human rights issues.  So if you're going to go down that road, go all the way down that road.  You should have bailed on the PGA Tour 5 years ago and this LIV situation wouldn't even matter.  

[klineka]

3 minutes ago, jxdama said:

It will be a fun US Open. 

Only if the winning score is over par, right!!??

2 minutes ago, eich41 said:

I'm fine if that's your stance.  Here is the problem with that.... You can't have selective virtue.  You can't condemn SA and anyone who associates with SA, then turn a blind eye to the PGA Tour pushing partnerships with China, who certainly has plenty of their own human rights issues.  So if you're going to go down that road, go all the way down that road.  You should have bailed on the PGA Tour 5 years ago and this LIV situation wouldn't even matter.  

I don't think it's your place to gatekeep what someone does/doesn't care about though.

Maybe someone has a personal reason to condemn SA so that means more to them than what is happening in China. Maybe someone already disliked the PGA tour because of their ties with China but the SA connection became the final straw. 

That's not up for you to decide for someone else.

AFAIK China didn't fund a massive terrorist attack against the US on our own soil. 

You're saying to go all the way down that road, where does that road end? It would literally never end if you truly went "all the way down that road" Just because China is doing bad shit doesn't mean what SA is doing is acceptable. You can find bad shit in just about every single large company, organization, and country that exists.

[eich41]

23 minutes ago, Elmer said:

The PGA has continued to be compelling. It is anyone's week. Anyone can step up and play well. 
From what I have seen with LIV, it is not compelling.
It is like watching paint dry.
LIV to me, had the competitive attitude of a bunch of Frat dudes crushing MGDs while trying to up one another. 

 

 

It may still be compelling.  It's certainly not as good as it was pre-LIV.  The fields simply aren't as good, and there's really no argument to make there. My first post simply said that the PGA Tour was a far better product in 2021 than either the PGA or LIV have been since.  Would you argue otherwise?