All Things About Golf

The USGA has announced for the 2022 US Open any of the LIVers already eligible will not lose their spot. Makes sense given that "OPEN" is literally in the name of the Tournament. Not to say there won't be changes going forward in 2023 and beyond:

 

The Majors are there own entity, they set their own rules and will set their field as they see fit. I don't anticipate any of the LIVers being banned from any of them. They could be persuaded by the PGA and Euro Tour to take some action, but I doubt it.

Any Major winner gets a 5 Year exemption to the other 3, so both DJ (2020 Masters) & Phil (2021 PGA) will be eligible for the next few years. For Phil that really only matters for the US Open. He's won the other 3 so as former Champion he's eligible for the Open until age 60 and the PGA and Masters for life. DJ won the US Open in 2016 which gets him a 10 year exemption through 2026 for that event.

Any non-Major winner could have difficulty though. For example the Majors usually save spots for the Top 30 of the PGA Tour from the previous year. If the players are no longer in good standing, they could cancel their invitation.

If they are not Major winners, starting next year, I suspect they will have to rely on the spots reserved based on World Ranking or for the US Open and Open, have to go the local/regional qualifying route.

Another impact to be seen is Ryder Cup eligibility. The Ryder Cup is not affiliated with the PGA Tour, but it uses results from those events to determine the squads. Could still be eligible as Captains picks though.

Thanks for the overview. Will be interesting to see what happens if LIV manages to siphon off a decent number of PGA stars.
 

Bryson DeChambeau and Patrick Reed have been shown the money and are now joining the LIVers.

 

Reed sucks. I like Bryson, but lots of people don't.

I get why Phil is doing it. The guy needs money to gamble, and at his age he only cares about Majors and money.

LIV won't go anywhere, but that blood money sure looks pretty.
 



Reed sucks. I like Bryson, but lots of people don't.

I get why Phil is doing it. The guy needs money to gamble, and at his age he only cares about Majors and money.

LIV won't go anywhere, but that blood money sure looks pretty.
I'm not discounting the LIV Tour's ability to stick around. Deep pockets.
 

The PGA Tour has suspended the 17 members who teed it up for the LIV. Also clarified that none of them will be permitted to play via sponsor's exemption. All will be removed from the FedEx Cup standings after the Canadian Open concludes.


I suspect lawsuits will be filed pretty soon.
 

The PGA Tour has suspended the 17 members who teed it up for the LIV. Also clarified that none of them will be permitted to play via sponsor's exemption. All will be removed from the FedEx Cup standings after the Canadian Open concludes.


I suspect lawsuits will be filed pretty soon.
PGA Tour shitting bricks at the moment, pretty much what this means. Say what you want about Phil, but as he said, he earned his lifetime exemption on the PGA Tour, why on earth should he resign that?

PGA Tour looks bad every time they open their mouth right now, whether you like the LIV events or not.
 

3 thoughts of mine right now:

- Team aspect. Who gives a rip about that?
- If they are sticking to the shotgun format, does that mean fields will be limited 54 players?
- If nobody can watch it on TV except for streams, how does that impact the players sponsorship deals? For example Adidas, pays Sergio big bucks to wear their brand. If nobody is seeing him, they aren't really getting much from this. I suppose if they drop him, LIV has paid him way more that he's still ahead in the game.
 




Basically the rub here. Even with the LIV Tour paying outrageous amounts to coax over golfers....the PGA is still going to have a far better and deeper roster week in and week out. So I don't seem them really grabbing a significant viewership.

I'm not discounting the LIV Tour's ability to stick around. Deep pockets.

I get that there is an ungodly amount of blood money being pumped into this....but what exactly is the goal here? They aren't going to recoup the massive amounts of $$$ being shelled out and this isn't ever going to develop into a (truly) competing golf tour.
 

I get that there is an ungodly amount of blood money being pumped into this....but what exactly is the goal here? They aren't going to recoup the massive amounts of $$$ being shelled out and this isn't ever going to develop into a (truly) competing golf tour.
From listening to the Dan Patrick Show yesterday, the goal is to bring "good will" to Saudi Arabia. They have zero intention of recouping their losses. Basically they are going to spend all the dough as long as they are interested.

I have heard from a few different outlets the rumor, Tiger was offered $1 Billion to join up.
 

From listening to the Dan Patrick Show yesterday, the goal is to bring "good will" to Saudi Arabia. They have zero intention of recouping their losses. Basically they are going to spend all the dough as long as they are interested.

I have heard from a few different outlets the rumor, Tiger was offered $1 Billion to join up.

lol. Good will? So many opportunities to use their money in ways that would buy them good will. Making multi millionaires even richer isn't one of them.
 

From listening to the Dan Patrick Show yesterday, the goal is to bring "good will" to Saudi Arabia. They have zero intention of recouping their losses. Basically they are going to spend all the dough as long as they are interested.

I have heard from a few different outlets the rumor, Tiger was offered $1 Billion to join up.
It's already been a success for LIV with who they've already gotten. Even with just a handful more players with ANY name recognition will just be a bonus. Fowler is supposed to be close to signing as well; hasn't won much, but a huge name and popular player.

There will be more, no doubt. Who in the world would not want to get paid 10 or 20 times what they are making now to actually work LESS? Not that hard of a decision. The only current hangup I can see is the earning of FedEx Cup points; that would be largely the only downside for a lot of these players.
 



lol. Good will? So many opportunities to use their money in ways that would buy them good will. Making multi millionaires even richer isn't one of them.
"Good will" was the commentators word. Basically to hate the Saudis less is the goal. There is also supposed to be substantial charity donations as part of this.

Not completely outlandish I guess, US-China relationships were thawed in part because of a ping pong competition.

In the end, not sure I really see the end game happening.

It's already been a success for LIV with who they've already gotten. Even with just a handful more players with ANY name recognition will just be a bonus. Fowler is supposed to be close to signing as well; hasn't won much, but a huge name and popular player.

There will be more, no doubt. Who in the world would not want to get paid 10 or 20 times what they are making now to actually work LESS? Not that hard of a decision. The only current hangup I can see is the earning of FedEx Cup points; that would be largely the only downside for a lot of these players.

I do not think it can really be called a success yet, until they get some TV partners (& sponsors) to go in on the deal. So far all they have done is just gotten a bunch of golfers, the vast majority past their prime, to jump the PGA Tour ship. Right now I am having trouble even finding the scores for the day.

As for the FedEx Cup points, I think that's really only a concern for those not exempt into Majors beyond 2022. The dough they are getting far exceeds what they were going to potentially earn in the FedEx itself.

What the LIV needs to accomplish is getting the Majors on board to recognize their events so they can be included in the World Golf Rankings. The PGA Tour and Euro Tour also have some say, as far as I can tell. Without that, the LIV events are nothing more than glorified exhibitions. All very convoluted.


 
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lol. Good will? So many opportunities to use their money in ways that would buy them good will. Making multi millionaires even richer isn't one of them.
Thanks to wiki, this is probably the best way to explain the Saudi's desire for "good will". The term is "Sportswashing".

 

Thanks to wiki, this is probably the best way to explain the Saudi's desire for "good will". The term is "Sportswashing".


Diluting the PGA by haphazardly throwing together a new golf league....which is going to be directly competing with the PGA. Can't see this working out. Maybe put that money towards charitable endeavors if improving their reputation is the main goal.
 

Diluting the PGA by haphazardly throwing together a new golf league....which is going to be directly competing with the PGA. Can't see this working out. Maybe put that money towards charitable endeavors if improving their reputation is the main goal.
That seems like it would be the more sensible route to go, IMO.
 


After winning the RBC Canadian Open Rory McIlroy was asked the significance of 21st PGA victory. "I'm one more than Norman."

Boom.

That's a Shark attack, who ended up at 20. Next on the list, DJ who has 24.
 

Lefty is not going to have to worry about playing more than 54 holes or any more awkward press conferences this weekend.

+8
T144
 

LIV Tour Player scores:

Dustin Johnson -2
James Piot -1
Patrick Reed E
Richard Bland E
Bryson DeChambeau +1
Talor Gooch +4
Sergio Garcia +4
Kevin Na +5
Branden Grace +6
Louis Ooostuizen +7
Phil Mickelson +8
 







Today at the US Open

7 out of 64 players under par
3 more shot par

Every player except for Zalatoris had at least 2 bogies. Zalatoris had 1.
 

Is it the sportswashing or lack of TV?
I have no idea what “sport washing” is but I’m not a fan of the LIV and what it represents. I’d prefer to see all of the greatest players on the planet playing in the same tournament to maximize coverage. I sure as heck don’t have time, or desire, to watch both.
 

I have no idea what “sport washing” is but I’m not a fan of the LIV and what it represents. I’d prefer to see all of the greatest players on the planet playing in the same tournament to maximize coverage. I sure as heck don’t have time, or desire, to watch both.
See post #75.
 




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