Sometime Monday, the veil of secrecy surrounding exactly who is going to tee it up in the first LIV Golf Invitational Series event near London is expected to be lifted.
Maybe not with a trumpet fanfare.
Maybe just a simple social-media post, listing the golfers who see the new venture as something worth pursuing, the money being too much to ignore.
To be fair, the already delayed announcement was expected last Thursday and subsequent days thereafter.
The waiting continues, but hopefully just for hours, not days.
There is a chance it will be underwhelming, a far cry from the earlier suggestions that many of the top 20 players in the world were on the cusp of signing with the Saudi-backed, Greg Norman-led league that is intent on reshaping professional golf.
But maybe not. My guess is there will be some names that surprise us.
To this point, all we know for sure is that Richard Bland and amateur sensation Ratchanon “TK” Chantananuwat have committed to play at the Centurion Club on June 9-11, filling two of the 48 available spots in the three-day, 54-hole tournament.
More than any other announcement the group has made, this is the big one. From the start, back when the LIV initiative was gathering momentum last fall, talking about the millions being offered and a new concept intended to streamline the competition for players and fans, the first question always has been, “Who’s playing?”
If the field is weak, it could do lasting damage from a perception standpoint, and LIV Golf already is swimming upstream. If a few young stars sign on, the perception changes. The threat to the PGA Tour and DP World Tour becomes more pronounced.
The question becomes, what happens once LIV Golf becomes more than a concept, when it becomes a tees-in-the-ground, pencils-in-hand reality?
Norman has done his best to adjust the narrative, trying to position the new series – with $2 billion promised over four years – as a start-up business, one that is designed to grow in scale and scope and star power. He was forced into that position after things spun out of control in February following Phil Mickelson’s comments and the subsequent statements of allegiance to the PGA Tour by many top players.
Rory McIlroy may have misjudged the situation when he proclaimed the LIV Golf initiative “dead in the water” at the Genesis Invitational, but it was taking on water.
Eventually, the group scheduled eight events this year, 12 next year and 14 events in 2024 and 2025, with $500 million being offered in each of the last two years. Do the math and it’s easy to see why some players will be swayed by the opportunity to play for guaranteed money – and a lot of it.
That, of course, is at the root of the discomforting disruption being provoked by LIV Golf. The offer is for money, not history or legacy, which it can’t provide. It’s about stacking the cash up and saying, “Come and get it.”
There is, of course, the other heavy-handed factor in this: the financial backing of the Saudi government, which is using sports – in this case, golf – to try and scrub its abominable human-rights policies clean.
It can’t be done, but it may not matter.
From the outset, this has seemed destined for a showdown between the powers that be – the PGA Tour and the DP World Tour – and LIV Golf. Norman has said the intention from the start was for the LIV Golf events to be additive, not competitive, to the current structure in the pro game.
It hasn’t felt that way. One high-ranking official in the game said it feels like a hostile-takeover attempt. What if the LIV group – knowing there already are Saudi-backed tournaments on various schedules – had proposed three big-money off-season events, out of the way of the main season, and tried to work its way into the ecosystem that way?
The PGA Tour has made clear that it will discipline any of its members who elect to play in London or any of the other LIV events. The tour denied all player requests for waivers to play in the London event earlier this month. Tour members who choose to play anyway likely will face suspensions and possible fines.
Commissioner Jay Monahan is holding the hammer, and he likely will swing it hard.
The DP World Tour has not made clear its policy about members who choose to play in the LIV events. Bland told Golf Channel last week that he was denied a release from the DP World Tour and, after talking with CEO Keith Pelley, isn’t sure what potential ramifications he could face.
There is also the question of what, if any, effect it will have on player eligibility for major championships. Words have been parsed carefully by the game’s ruling bodies, leaving another element of uncertainty to the situation.
It’s time – finally – to see what’s behind the curtain.
Top: Greg Norman
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