Ron Garland’s comments last week are spot on (“It's Your Honor,” March 25 GGP).
Having watched ad nauseam the controversy surrounding the tours, LIV and PIF, I can tell you as a very avid golfer and fan I’m tired of it all.
True fans are dropping by the wayside because of all the angst surrounding the current state of golf. Just look at the viewing numbers for the Players Championship (“Tour Talk,” March 25 GGP). I watch probably 50 percent less golf and spend far less on golf than I did a year ago.
The PGA Tour and DP World Tour need to stop being reactionary and present golf as it should be played without changing something every week and catering to a select few golfers.
LIV and PIF need to consider whether they want to or should now invest in what they’ve created for the overall golf landscape. Would I want to park a huge investment in the current “golf product?” My answer would be a solid, “No.” There’s too much volatility and uncertainty. It seems as if the sponsors are beginning to ask that question, too.
What LIV and PIF need to understand is that they’ve created the current situation. If they were savvy, they’d back up and figure out how to help right the ship without being so in-your-face.
A closing thought to the tours, LIV and PIF: Listen to the people who drive the industry from the neighborhood up. Continue to alienate my demographic and, in my opinion, golf will not prosper.
Bruce Wireman
The Woodlands, Texas
The headline in last week’s “It’s Your Honor” section made me immediately think the headline should be “Advice to professional golf: Pay attention to the fans.”
The whole LIV situation has turned me off of golf, especially professional golf. I used to watch it almost every week, and this time of year I would get pretty excited about the approaching of the Masters. I have been fortunate to attend the Masters many times and find the course beautiful and its history and traditions interesting. In my younger years I was very active in a mini-tour event, eventually chairing it a couple times. I got to meet a lot of the young professionals trying to work their way up to the PGA Tour as gypsy golfers traipsing across the country. It was fun to go to events and root for them and see a few of them make it on the PGA Tour. It was a thrill to see Iowa’s own Zach Johnson win the Masters in 2007 and to actually be there in-person when he played an amazing round of golf in horrible conditions in the third round that year. I first met Zach when he played in the Waterloo Open. He might have still been a student at Drake.
I used to view golf as a noble sport. The beauty of the game and the way a golfer has to play with integrity since the game truly polices itself. Unfortunately, with what has happened with LIV and the PGA Tour, that is no longer the case for me. I am sure some of this is due to the times we now live in. All humans are selfish; it’s human nature. It just feels like professional golf is hell bent on destroying itself because it has become even more selfish. Decline is inevitable, whether as an individual, organization or country. It is just painful to see. I am sure I will watch some of the Masters this year, but it will not be "must-see TV" for me.
Drew Conrad
Waterloo, Iowa
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