When Greg Norman sought to shake up the golf establishment with the introduction of the Saudi-funded LIV Golf Invitational Series, the two-time Open champion promised to attract the best golfers in the world.
Well, just two weeks before the upstart circuit debuts, one touring professional has disclosed that he will ignore the warnings from the established tours and compete.
England’s Richard Bland became the first golfer to acknowledge that he will play in the inaugural LIV Golf Invitational Series tournament on June 9-11 at Centurion Club near London. Bland, 49, who was ranked No. 58 in the world, acknowledged to BBC Radio Solent that he will compete despite being denied a release by the DP World Tour to play on the rival tour.
"I am going to play. If I get banned, I get banned," Bland said.
Last year, in his 478th career start on the European Tour, a 48-year-old Bland became a first-time winner, claiming the British Masters.
"Most of my career is behind me now as regards playing at the very highest level,” he said. “I'm 50 years old in six months. I'm a realist. Mother Nature does tend to catch up on you. I have an opportunity to play these events and secure my future, and I'd be pretty foolish to turn that down.”
Other players from golf’s establishment – notably Sergio García, Martin Kaymer, Ian Poulter and Lee Westwood – reportedly have been linked to LIV Golf, but the tour has yet to release the competitors for its inaugural event (READ MORE).
In other LIV Golf-related news:
The LPGA Tour and the Ladies European Tour “rejected” overtures from LIV Golf, Greg Norman said on a recent episode of the podcast “5 Live Sport: All About …” Norman said that his Saudi backers offered the women’s tours “a substantial investment,” without elaborating. However, the LPGA and LET, in similarly worded statements issued to Global Golf Post, denied Norman’s claim, with each tour stating that it “has not received an offer from LIV Golf.” The LET plays five team events – one of which is in Saudi Arabia – that are sponsored by the Saudi Arabian Oil Company, known as Aramco, and also visits the kingdom for the Aramco Saudi Ladies International, with the Saudis’ Public Investment Fund as presenting sponsor.
Sean Bratches, LIV Golf’s chief commercial officer, resigned after only six months as the Saudi-funded upstart tour’s top business official, according to a report by John Ourand in Sports Business Journal, which cited anonymous sources. Bratches quit just days after Greg Norman’s volatile comments about slain journalist Jamal Khashoggi. In commentary last month, Global Golf Post Publisher Jim Nugent called for LIV Golf to replace Norman with Bratches, contending that he “could get a meeting with anyone in golf and find ways to mesh Golf Saudi’s long-term vision with the game’s existing ecosystem.”
Padraig Harrington said “time will pass” and the outrage against players who jump to the Saudi-funded LIV Golf tour will dissipate, Brian Keogh reported in the Irish Independent (READ MORE).
UPS dropped Lee Westwood as a paid endorser after the Englishman was denied a release by the PGA Tour and DP World Tour to compete in LIV Golf’s inaugural event, Alex Miceli reported for SI.com. South Africa’s Louis Oosthuizen also reportedly has been dropped by UPS because of his interest in the Saudi-funded tour.
Golf’s greatest mystery this spring isn’t the health and future of Tiger Woods but rather why Jack Nicklaus would be taking Jack Nicklaus to court.
It’s only “Nicklaus vs. Nicklaus” on paper. Jack Nicklaus Companies filed suit May 13 in the Supreme Court of New York against GBI Investors and Jack Nicklaus, alleging breach of contract, tortious interference and a breach of fiduciary duty. The plaintiff is the company formerly owned by Nicklaus and controlled now by Howard Milstein, a New York businessman and banker who owns Golf Magazine and Golf.com. Milstein’s Jack Nicklaus Companies claims that Nicklaus, the 18-time major champion, and his GBI Investors failed to live up to their agreement from a $145 million deal struck in 2017.
In a statement released to Alex Miceli of SI.com, Nicklaus acknowledges that his relationship with Milstein “has been a difficult one, at best,” but adds that the allegations “are untrue.”
The complaint, posted by the Golf Dispute Resolution blog, can be found here.
Regulated legal betting on professional golf has grown to a $5 billion business in the U.S., according to Golf Datatech.
In its inaugural “Gambling & Golf Study,” the research company estimated that pro golf attracted nearly 10 percent of the $53 billion wagered on legalized sports betting in 2021, according to figures from the American Gaming Association. Sports gambling is legal in 30 states and the District of Columbia, and five more states have legalized the activity but are not yet operational. Twenty states allow online sports gambling.
With an eye on the habits of recreational golfers, Golf Datatech partner John Krzynowek said in a news release, “There is no participation sport in the United States that is as closely connected with wagering than the game of golf.” He pointed to the growth in legalized sports gambling and the betting odds being prominently displayed on televised golf tournaments as transforming the industry.
“Betting on professional golf provides some degree of comfort to the gambler, because they know tour players are performing every week for a paycheck, versus a professional athlete with a guaranteed contract who can have an off day and still get paid or choose not to play,” Krzynowek said. “A golfer’s professional life depends upon performance, making it far less likely for anyone to question the result of any tournament.”
The data were compiled from a survey of 1,000 respondents regarded as “serious golfers” (READ MORE).
The PGA Tour is facing a lawsuit, and it has nothing to do with the Saudis and Greg Norman.
1440 Sports Management Limited, a London-based sports-management company, alleges that it was cut out of a verbal agreement for a $2 million fee for its role in helping the PGA Tour secure a six-year sponsorship of the Fortinet Championship in Napa, California, when supermarket chain Safeway pulled out as title sponsor after the 2020 tournament.
The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Northern California, lists the PGA Tour, cybersecurity company Fortinet and tour executive Jay Voelker as defendants (READ MORE).
TAP-INS
Birmingham, Alabama-area golf clubs Shoal Creek and Bent Brook will host the 2023 PGA Works Collegiate Championship, the PGA of America announced. The tournament features players and teams from historically Black colleges and universities and other minority-serving schools. The dates will be May 8-10 (READ MORE).
Alex Fourie, a one-armed PGA professional from Knoxville, Tennessee, will be among the 96 participants in the inaugural U.S. Adaptive Open, the USGA announced. The tournament is set for July 18-20 at Pinehurst Resort’s No. 6 course in North Carolina. Fourie, who spent his early years in Ukrainian orphanages before being adopted by an American couple, was featured in a recent Global Golf Post report by Sean Fairholm (READ MORE).
The LPGA’s Amundi Evian Championship increased its prize fund by $2 million, to $6.5 million, with $1 million to go to the winner, the LPGA announced. The tournament, one of the women’s tour’s five major championships, is scheduled for July 21-24 at Evian Resort in Evian-les-Bains, France (READ MORE).
American Sihwan Kim, who leads the Asian Tour’s Order of Merit, will be among the top players entered in the tour’s inaugural visit to the United Kingdom, the International Series England. The $2 million event will be played June 2-5 at Slaley Hall Spa and Golf Resort (READ MORE).
Cobra Puma Golf will serve as the title sponsor of the State Cup Series, the American Junior Golf Association announced (READ MORE).
Staff and Wire Reports