BEDMINSTER, NEW JERSEY | As three parachutists drifted through the gray sky above Trump National Bedminster early Friday afternoon, signaling the start of the third LIV Golf event, a man with his phone pointed to the sky turned toward a friend and said, “This is so different from a PGA Tour event.”
Somewhere nearby Greg Norman probably felt a rush of warmth.
Say what you will about LIV Golf – and the passionate discussion is ongoing – but give the organization this: It is delivering professional golf in a new way.
A better way?
Depends on which side of the “money can’t buy you love” line that one stands.
Meanwhile, the dividing line in professional golf’s ugly war is widening.
While the PGA Tour’s Rocket Mortgage Classic was being played in Detroit last week, LIV Golf thumped to its own beat at the former president’s expansive retreat less than 40 miles from Manhattan. As this struggle for the soul and the stars of professional golf persists, there is a parallel-universe feel to the whole thing.
“I would never have thought it would have this momentum with it,” Bryson DeChambeau said. “I never thought there would be this much gusto … what do I say, appeal. The more time has gone on, the more I have felt comfortable, super comfortable with my decision.”
The PGA Tour still has 19 of the top 20 players in the world ranking, massive media deals that stretch through this decade and a legacy that even Saudi Arabia’s money can’t buy. The tour nevertheless finds itself in a defensive position as players, most of them past their prime but still familiar to fans, take the bounty being offered by LIV Golf.
Last week, Henrik Stenson, Charles Howell III, Paul Casey, Jason Kokrak and Bubba Watson joined LIV. The loss of none of them was a knee-wobbling punch to the tour, but collectively the momentum leaned toward LIV as it landed more players.
It’s about the money, we all know that, even if the players insist on reciting their talking points about growing the game, playing fewer events, yada, yada, yada.
Phil Mickelson went all in on it last week, saying: “The great thing about LIV is that it’s got the ability to adapt, make adjustments and change things and make it better instantaneously. I think that’s a big thing.”
Too bad LIV can’t do the same for Mickelson’s once-mighty golf game.
Mickelson mentioned what LIV can do outside the borders of the United States (where he and others are contractually bound to play future events through the duration of their agreements, undercutting their precious independent-contractor status), its emphasis on attracting younger fans and, of course, the team aspect of the new venture.
All of those are valid points, but it’s still about the money and that’s as inescapable with LIV as the public-relations battle it will forever fight regarding the Saudi government.
Meanwhile, it has created an unsettling, sport-splintering problem without a resolution in sight.
LIV doesn’t have all the answers, no matter how fresh it tries to be. The shotgun-start idea is a bad one because it kills the tournament’s ebb and flow.
Ask LIV officials whether they are open to discussions with the PGA Tour and DP World Tour and their answer hasn’t changed.
“We would love to figure out a joint path forward,” said Atul Khosla, LIV Golf’s chief operating officer. “We feel that players are independent contractors; they can absolutely play where they like. We also feel there is enough of a marketplace to have different products of golf, just like any other industry, and we are offering a vastly different product. There is a place in the marketplace for that to happen.
“I can’t control if someone would want to sit with us or not sit with us. We are very much open to it.”
Don’t hold your breath.
Did the PGA Tour screw up by not taking at least one meeting with LIV officials, just to say they listened?
Probably, but it probably wouldn’t have changed things. The tour isn’t interested in what LIV is selling, at least not on LIV’s terms.
LIV doesn’t have all the answers, no matter how fresh it tries to be. The shotgun-start idea is a bad one because it kills the tournament’s ebb and flow. They will tell you it’s better to condense all the golf into a 4½-hour window because no one watches all day.
They’re right about the all-day viewing, but they’re not right about the shotgun start. See Mickelson’s comments above: Adapt and adjust instantaneously.
LIV lives on being different and, given how little the PGA Tour model has changed over the years, it’s past time that someone pushed innovation.
There was a carnival feel (minus the cotton candy) to the LIV event last week. They had air guns shooting T-shirts into groups of spectators. The music pulsed through the golf course. Traditionalists shudder. Millennials went looking for another spiked seltzer.
“It was fun, the music playing,” said Howell, who has played 609 PGA Tour events without a steady soundtrack.
“Our thinking has been this is our arena,” Khosla said. “We understand it’s different and all the things that may work in a stadium or an NBA arena will not work here. But we’re going to try to take a few tried and tested concepts and bring them here.”
The PGA Tour may not have T-shirt guns and music on every hole, but it has embraced the concept of making a tournament visit about more than just the golf. Phoenix is an example in the extreme. There will be a Margaritaville pavilion near the first tee at the Wyndham Championship this week, and almost every event has its own distinctive entertainment element.
LIV hasn’t made golf tournaments cool. It’s just trying to cash in on that idea.
Now that LIV tournaments are being played, turning a concept into a reality, the narrative has shifted slightly, but the underlying issue of being funded by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund remains. It may not be front-burner for everyone, but it’s never far away.
That’s why a group of protesters gathered near the Trump Bedminster gates Friday morning, reminding the world of what happened on 9/11 and the Saudi ties to it.
It also raises a question about why some participants in the Thursday pro-am had their names omitted from the pairing sheet.
When Mickelson hit his opening tee shot in the first round, a fan shouted, “Do it for the Saudi royal family.”
Norman hasn’t helped. In interviews, he has made this sound personal, which it clearly is, and he likely stands in the way of any potential discussions between the rival organizations.
This is early in LIV Golf’s evolution. There is still no broadcasting deal. If you wanted to hear what David Feherty had to say, it meant finding it on YouTube or via the LIV Golf website. Khosla said discussions are underway with potential broadcast partners, but it remains one of the league’s unanswered questions.
If viewers have to go searching, LIV won’t get enough viewers.
They’re selling the team concept hard, and it will have a greater focus in 2023 when the 12 four-man teams are set for the full 14-event schedule. They dream of fans wearing their favorite team’s gear at events the way grown men wore orange Rickie Fowler outfits a few years ago.
The merchandise tent last week had a wall of team T-shirts, caps and more.
LIV Golf wants to be what it believes the PGA Tour is not. Not just an alternative but a better way.
So far, all it’s shown is a way to be different.
Top: Dustin Johnson gets close to the fans during the LIV Golf Invitational at Trump National Bedminster.
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