![]() In nearly every case the most recognizable defectors were either inching toward or well past past their prime (Bubba Watson, Sergio Garcia, Dustin Johnson), head cases (Bryson DeChambeau, Patrick Reed) or both (Watson). Go down the line of former tour players who switched leagues. When Koepka joined LIV, his on-course woes were another public relations escape for the tour. But money also got help from Koepka, who won four major championships when he played on tour before his game turned to dust, largely due to injuries that sapped his confidence. The tour relishes the idea of the Saudis, and not just tournament sponsors, helping pay the freight for increased purses. And with more than $600 billion in their Public Investment Fund, the Saudi sultans knew their eyes, like their bank account, would never dry up. Their sole objective was to wait out Monahan and see who blinks first. Our cash reserves rise so high to the sky we know we eventually will win.”Īnd make no mistake, winning is what the Saudis wanted all along. “Go ahead and ridicule us all you want,” LIV said with a laugh. ![]() LIV lived for the drip, drip, drip of players such as Jordan Spieth or Justin Thomas eventually giving in to the temptation of earning easy money by playing easy golf. And they made sure everyone else knew it, including tour players. In the end, Monahan’s straight was trumped by a league flush with more money. So he opted to stop the bleeding on his own tour instead, a decision that gets to the core of the merger. Privately, the commish knew whatever he said would not stop the beheadings. But he kept the majority of his criticism on the golf side, knocking the lack of legitimate high-pressure competition presented by LIV, where the no-cut events were finished in 54 holes. He did publicly sympathize with the families of 9/11 victims (which explains why those families feel betrayed by him today). PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan mostly stayed in his lane, choosing not to dig too deeply into politicizing LIV’s connection to mass killings. A kind of nothing-to-see-here sleight of hand. The Saudi plan was to create a legitimate golf tour that made people forget what was happening to dissidents behind closed doors. Unofficially, the tour knew it looked good in comparison to the thugs who established LIV as a means of sportwashing the stain of their atrocities. Officially, the tour cautiously steered clear of directly using Khashoggi’s gruesome murder as proof the Saudis were hot on LIV, cool on live and let live. Jamal Khashoggi was a reporter for The Washington Post who allegedly, ahem, was eliminated by bone saw at the behest of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. I wish that was fake news, but a dismembered body says otherwise. Those things included legacy, competing against the best players in the world in a legitimate 72-hole event, and stiff-arming a breakaway league backed by money men who find sport in sawing body parts off journalists. “I would like to be on the right side of history with this one,” unofficial tour spokesman Rory McIlroy said in 2020, explaining how he valued “other things” more than money. But the tour still had tradition, Tiger Woods and most of the best players in its corner. Brooks Koepka joined Dustin Johnson, Bryson DeChambeau and Phil “Hi, my name is Phil and I have a Twitter addiction problem” Mickelson, among others, on the LIV circuit. Sure, a handful of big names opted out of the tour loyalty program by jumping to LIV. Not long ago, the tour seemed to hold most of the best cards. Oller: LIV Golf traitors deserve to hear from boo birds at tourneysĬall it a reversal of misfortune. ![]() In the end, the Filthy Rich Billionaires caved in to the Ridiculously Filthy Rich Billionaires. In agreeing to join LIV’ers around the country club campfire, singing "Kumbaya" between sips of Dom Perignon and bites of gold-plated graham cracker and Godiva chocolate s’mores, the PGA Tour handed the trophy to the Saudis. After two years of painting LIV Golf as morally bankrupt and deserving of a triple-bogey on human rights issues, the tour has done a hypocritical about-face by embracing the startup tour in a warm, if not overly sincere, man hug.
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