Simple scheduling remedy
Regarding the PGA Tour signature events (“Truist and LIV events offer contrasting vibes,” May 8, GGP+): As a baseball fan I have always complained about how MLB sets up their early-season schedule. My complaint is with domed stadiums and warm-weather cities, why are they playing early April games in Boston or New York or other cold-weather cities?
The same goes for the PGA Tour and their signature events. They have had Doral and Quail Hollow back to back and then the PGA Championship. How do you expect all the best players to gather three weeks in a row? Would it not be better to space them out so that the top guys will show up for them? Perfect example, Scottie Scheffler doesn’t show for Quail Hollow as he doesn’t want to play the week before a major. This seems to be an easy remedy.
Rich Maddalena
Port St. Lucie, Florida
Graceful LIV ending would benefit golf
Being right is not always the best outcome in life, but the announcement concerning LIV Golf does give me a certain bit of satisfaction (“Tour Talk: Saudi PIF confirms LIV funding will cease,” May 4, GGP). For the entirety of this debacle I have held to the mantra of “leave them to their own demise, they will go away.” Everyone knows all of the things that aren’t good about the LIV model. No use beating a dead horse.
At the end of the day, I feel pretty certain that Phil Mickelson and Greg Norman will claim victory, and on many fronts they may be correct, as they raised purses all over the world for professional golfers. I have no problem with that, but the way it was done wasn’t great for the game, but we will get over it eventually. I have been a fan of both of these fellows for a long time, so I was sorry to see their part in all of this.
It’s not lost on me that there isn’t one player on the LIV circuit that did not make more money over there than they would have playing on whatever tour they could find anywhere in the world. I am truly happy for all of them. You knew the rules going in, so take your money and go home, but no whining. Start over or retire, life is good!
LIV never caught on to the fact that the PGA Tour just keeps on attracting new talent, players who play for trophies and legacy, not just cash. There’s plenty of money out there for young players to survive until they either figure it out or decide they are in the wrong business.
There will be a lot of scrambling over the next year to see where everyone falls in place going forward, but in the end, the cream will rise to the top just as it always has in the past.
Most of the players who left the PGA Tour will find themselves in no-man’s land for a year and will seek out other options and tours around the world. Some might qualify for a return from the DP World Tour top 10, some will go to Q-School and hope to make a return that way, even if it’s through Korn Ferry or another worldwide tour. You took the money, take the penalty.
I think Mickelson should be penalized much more than a year for his role in the formation of LIV. It wouldn’t hurt to have a larger penalty for all players who, like Mickelson, attached their names to the antitrust lawsuit against the tour; that might help some of the healing for the guys that stayed on and didn’t take the money – those kind of memories won’t go away easily.
As for Jon Rahm, I’m not sure a majority of people really want to see him as much as he thinks. I fall in that class at the moment. I’ve gone hot and cold on him for several years, but his case of Sergio-itis seems to have the best of him for now. His off-the-course ego rivals Norman’s. Hopefully, now that he has negotiated his way back to the DP World Tour, he will get back in good graces with the fans who have left him.
There will certainly be a lot of moving parts going forward. Hopefully, there will be no litigation because I’m betting that’s a dead-end street. Time will tell on all of this, but it’s my hope it ends nicely and everyone goes on about their business and gets along. Golf would sure be better for it.
Mike Nixon
Nashville, Tennessee
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