ST. ALBANS, ENGLAND | If there had been reports of Samuel Ryder, buried on the other side of St Albans to the Centurion Club, turning in his grave, you would have half-believed it on the first day of the LIV Golf Invitational London.
The biennial match named after him has been uniting the golfing world for nearly 100 years and now a new team event had torn that world asunder. True, the team element of LIV Golf remains something of a mystery, but the threat of this new world order is very real and was suddenly all too clear.
Shortly after the shotgun start of the first round, news broke of the PGA Tour’s official response to the participation of members who had been denied releases to compete on the rival circuit.
“These players have made their choice for their own financial-based reasons,” PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan stated in a letter to members. “But they can’t demand the same PGA Tour membership benefits, considerations, opportunities and platform as you. That expectation disrespects you, our fans and our partners.”
The 17 PGA Tour members were suspended immediately. The potential get-out clause – that the rebels could use sponsor’s exemptions – had been pre-empted by Monahan and shut down.
LIV Golf CEO Greg Norman wasted no time describing the move as “vindictive.” He added the announcement “deepens the divide between the tour and its members. It’s troubling that the tour, an organisation dedicated to creating opportunities for golfers to play the game, is the entity blocking golfers from playing. This certainly is not the last word on this topic. The era of free agency is beginning as we are proud to have a full field of players joining us in London and beyond.”
Debate raged across social media, abated a little, and then the flames were fanned by the arrival of the rebels to the scoring area at the conclusion of play. If they had been oblivious to their fate – and it appeared that they had been – they discovered it within seconds of signing their cards.
Phil Mickelson passed on the opportunity to comment. “Anything regarding PGA Tour matters, I’m not ready to discuss publicly at this time,” he said.
Nine of the 17 already had resigned their membership, including Dustin Johnson, Louis Oosthuizen, Kevin Na, Sergio García, Lee Westwood and Graeme McDowell.
The latter looked rattled as he explained that his resignation had come a mere 30 minutes before his tee time. “It was a very difficult decision,” said McDowell, a 42-year-old Northern Irishman whose 14 victories on the U.S. and European tours include the 2010 U.S. Open. “I kind of resigned out of an abundance of caution, honestly, because I feel like it puts me in a less litigious situation regards getting drawn into anything unnecessarily.
“But like I say, I didn't want to resign. I love the PGA Tour. It's been great to me. This is not about ‘the PGA Tour is a bad tour.’ This is about being able to add on additional opportunities to my golf career. Really hard.
“I don’t think it’s healthy for the sport. We're here because we believe we're independent contractors and we should be allowed to compete and play where we want to all over the world.
“As players, we're here understanding the consequences of what may lay ahead of us, and you know, obviously we're trying to operate best we can, and the team at LIV have done a great job helping us navigate those potential consequences, and have said they will stand by us as we go through these processes.”
“There’s nothing I can do. If that’s the way he (Monahan) wants to go, that’s the way he wants to go. That’s one of the reasons why I resigned, because I didn't want to get into any legal battles."
Sergio García
García claimed indifference. “It doesn’t bother me,” said the 42-year-old Spaniard, whose 26 victories in the U.S. and Europe include the 2017 Masters. “There’s nothing I can do. If that’s the way he (Monahan) wants to go, that’s the way he wants to go. That’s one of the reasons why I resigned, because I didn't want to get into any legal battles. I’m very happy to be here for many reasons. It’s going to allow me to do what I love, which is playing golf. It’s going to allow me to see my family more. For me, it’s a win-win.”
In stark contrast, Ian Poulter was full of fighting talk. “I will appeal for sure,” said England’s Poulter, 46, a 12-time winner on the U.S. and European tours. “It makes no sense, given how I have played the game of golf for all this time. I didn’t resign my membership because I don’t feel I have done anything wrong.
“I have played all over the world for 25 years. This is no different. I am committed to playing around the world like I have done for so many years, so it is a shame if they view this as different. Of course, it’s going to be sad, when you feel you haven’t done anything wrong and want to promote the game of golf. It’s a power struggle, and it’s just disappointing.”
Across the Atlantic, in Toronto at the PGA Tour’s RBC Canadian Open, a fissure between players, as well as circuits, was revealed.
American Justin Thomas was unequivocal in his support of Monahan’s stance. “I’m pleased,” he said of the suspensions. “I think anybody that’s shocked clearly hasn’t been listening to the message that Jay and everybody’s been putting out.
“They (the rebels) took that risk going into it, whether they thought it was a risk or not. Like I’ve said the whole time, I have great belief and great confidence in the PGA Tour and where we’re going and continuing to grow to, and those guys just aren’t going to be a part of it.”
Northern Ireland’s Rory McIlroy, speaking from the same event, concurred. “Jay’s been pretty transparent in terms of he’s just going to act within the tournament regulations and the rules that are set for a PGA Tour member,” he said.
“All he's doing is basically going by the book. So, I think he's done the right thing because these guys have broken rules and done things outside of the tournament regulations, and because of that, there are going to be consequences, I guess.”
Twenty-four hours later, American Dustin Johnson seemed unconcerned by developments. He’d had time to consider legal action, but was not planning any.
“At this point, my plan is to play the LIV events and a few majors and that’s it,” he said from the LIV event near London. “The whole reason I started playing on LIV is to play less golf, not more.”
Asked what he will do with the remaining 40 weeks of every year he replied: “I can do whatever I want to.”
The long-term consequences for the PGA Tour remain unclear, as they do for the Ryder Cup. The DP World Tour made no immediate response last week, but it increasingly looks likely that the lineups at the 2023 Ryder Cup will be affected by LIV Golf.
Ryder would be devastated – and appalled that his adopted town witnessed the fracturing of the game he held so dear.
Matt Cooper