Graeme McDowell, one of two major winners in the Asian Tour’s International Series England tournament at Slaley Hall last week, said that nothing had made his decision to join Greg Norman’s LIV Golf Invitational Series tougher than the implications surrounding the Ryder Cup. “For the moment,” he said, “those of us who have taken the step don’t know whether we’re going to be banned from our tours or not.” (Tour hierarchy reportedly were struggling to decide.)
“Some of my greatest memories in sport have to do with the match,” said Northern Ireland’s McDowell, who compiled an 8-5-2 record in four Ryder Cups for Europe, notably on winning teams in 2010, ’12 and ’14. “I would love to have been involved in some capacity or another over the next few years, and, yes, I would have loved to have been a Ryder Cup captain. So, if players like Sergio (Garcia), Ian (Poulter), Lee (Westwood) and myself are lost to the occasion, it’s hardly the best news, not just for us as individuals but for the match itself and the fans.”
“To my mind, I’ve paid my dues, and I feel I deserve to play where I want. My job is not to put the geopolitical state of the world to rights but to be as good a role model as I can be for the next generation.”
GRAEME McDOWELL
McDowell cannot, for the life of him, understand why the DP World Tour and the PGA Tour are interfering with the careers of a set of golfers who see themselves as independent contractors. “I was turned down for a release by the PGA Tour for both this week and next week, and that though I feel I’ve done a pretty good job for them in my 15 years in the States. To my mind, I’ve paid my dues, and I feel I deserve to play where I want. My job is not to put the geopolitical state of the world to rights but to be as good a role model as I can be for the next generation.”
He had no hesitation in saying that the 2018 killing of Jamal Khashoggi, the U.S.-based Saudi journalist whose death was linked by American intelligence investigators to Saudi authorities, was horrific. Terrible situation though that was, he was not inclined to tie it into LIV Golf’s ambitions. “They genuinely love the game and see it as a force for the good. It’s understandable that they would want to share in the game's growth. The problem is that others look at their plans and see them as nothing more than a hostile takeover.”
McDowell also points to how LIV Golf’s new format for the International Series – 54-hole, no-cut, three-day events with a team component – is what the next generation wants. “It’s going to be quicker, and it’s going to have its team format, two things which could appeal just as much to players as the youngsters.”
And then, of course, there’s the money and a guarantee thereof which doesn’t apply on the PGA Tour or the DP World Tour. Everyone talks about the good pension scheme on the U.S. tour, but, as McDowell emphasised, “it’s related to performance.”
He and his colleagues have been amazed at the polarising nature of LIV Golf’s arrival. “People are either in one camp or the other. For some of them, it’s just a fear of the unknown, while for others, it smacks of greed. I’ve listened to so many different voices, but in the end, it’s all about me and my family (the McDowells have three children, aged 13, 7 and 3), and my wider family.”
McDowell agrees with those who argue that the money in golf, however ridiculous observers might think it is, does not begin to compare with that on offer in the NBA, NFL and NHL.
As things stand at the moment, there are eight LIV golf events, with each boasting a prize pot of $25 million. McDowell and Michael Campbell, who were sitting together at a press conference, agreed that all 48 of the players teeing up at the Centurion Club this week are hoping against hope that when the golf starts, the arguments will end and conversations can return to golf.
For that to happen, of course, the game needs officialdom on the PGA and DP World tours to come to a decision on what’s going to work best from their point of view. To ban or not to ban.
Lewine Mair