BROOKLINE, Massachusetts – Since last week, when a number of top golfers revealed a rift in the men’s professional game, rejecting the established PGA Tour to join the startup, the Saudi-backed LIV Golf chain, the sport is waiting for its powerful brokers to weigh in.
The biggest prizes in golf, events that shape heritage, generate the best sponsorship dollars and are marked on each player’s calendar are the main championships: Masters Tournament, US Open, British Open and PGA Championship. But none of these four events are run by a professional tour, be it old or new. They are watched by four separate subjects, sometimes described as the four families of golf (insert here a joke about organized crime).
These organizations are now the fulcrums in the battle for the future of professional men’s golf. When the PGA Tour took revenge last week, removing 17 players who joined LIV Golf, the question was whether the leaders of the major championships of the National Golf Club Augusta (Masters), the Golf Association of the United States (US Open), R&A The British Open and the PGA Championship will choose a country. Since they have long been in alliance with recognized tours in the United States and Europe, would they reject the alternative LIV Golf Invitational series and exclude its players from their events?
There was a partial response on Wednesday, and it could not comfort famous players such as Phil Mickelson, Bryson DeChambo and Dustin Johnson, who insisted they could still play in the big tournaments while accepting the hundreds of millions of dollars handed out by LIV Golf, whose the main shareholder is the Private Investment Fund, the sovereign wealth fund of Saudi Arabia.
While all LIV Golf-related players who had already qualified for the US Open this week at the Country Club outside of Boston were welcome, Mike One, USGA’s chief executive, said Wednesday that his organization would consider ways to could make it difficult for LIV Golf Players to compete in the event in the future.
One was asked if he could see a situation in which LIV Golf players would find it “increasingly difficult” to enter the US Open.
“Yes,” he replied.
Asked for details, Wang said, “Can I predict a day? Yes, I could have predicted a day. “
Wang warned that the USGA would not act hastily, but would undoubtedly “re-evaluate” its eligibility criteria.
“The question was, would you imagine a day when some people who do different things would find it harder to get into the US Open?” He said. “I could.”
There were other statements from Whan that did not sound like approval of the LIV Golf Invitational series, which held its first tournament last weekend outside London and still lacks the support of most of the best and regular players on the PGA Tour. But the breakaway chain has surprisingly attracted some of the leading players, most of whom have shown loyalty to the US-based PGA Tour just weeks or days earlier.
“I’m sad about what’s happening in the professional game,” Wang said. He continued: “I’ve heard it’s good for the game. At least from my point of view at the moment, it seems good for a few people who play the game, but I’m struggling with how good it is for the game. “
Wang, who was a longtime LPGA commissioner until he took over USGA last summer, also stressed that it is essential for each of the golf leaders to work together when considering the role LIV Golf will play.
“We need to see what happens – is it an exhibition or a tour?” He said. “I’ve said this many times, I’ve seen a lot of things start in the game, maybe nothing with this amount of noise or this amount of funding behind it, but I’ve also seen many of these things that you won’t be with us a few years later. .
“An event doesn’t change the way I think about the future of the sport.”
Importantly, when Wang was asked if the suspensions imposed by the PGA Tour would attract his attention when the USGA re-evaluated its criteria for future US Opens, Whan was quick to respond: “They have already done so. That caught our attention for this championship. “
Wang’s comments come a month after Seth Woo, America’s PGA chief executive, stood firmly behind the PGA Tour, calling it part of what he called the golf ecosystem.
“Our rules say you have to be a recognized member of a recognized tour to be a PGA member somewhere and therefore have the right to play,” Waugh said of the PGA Championship.
A short guide to the LIV Golf Series
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New series. The new Saudi-funded, controversial LIV Golf series held its first event in June. But what is it? Who plays it? What is all the noise and how can you watch it? Here’s what you need to know:
What is LIV Golf? The series is a new professional golf chain funded by the Sovereign Wealth Fund of Saudi Arabia. Its organizers hope to position it as a player-focused alternative to the PGA Tour, the highest level of professional golf in nearly a century.
Who plays it? The 48 players in the original LIV Golf event were not exactly who’s in golf, and many of the biggest names in the sport, such as Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy, stayed away. But there were big names and former big champions, including Phil Mickelson, Dustin Johnson and Sergio Garcia.
What attracts players? LIV Golf events are the richest tournaments in the history of golf. The total amount of the first tournament was $ 25 million, and the winner’s share was $ 4 million. Lastly, $ 120,000 was guaranteed in each event. This is in addition to the entry fees and nine-figure entry fees that some players have accepted.
How can I watch the new tour? Despite its high-ranking golfers and big money support, LIV Golf has not yet entered into a broadcasting rights agreement in the United States and will be featured in less-watched streaming services around much of the world. In the United States, this week’s tournament will be available live on LIVGolf.com, YouTube and Facebook.
Addressing the LIV Golf tour, Woo said: “I don’t know if it’s a league, it’s not a league at the moment – but the structure of the league is somewhat wrong.
So where are the other two big championships and their likely answers to the LIV Golf tour, which will play five events in the United States this year, starting June 30 at the Pumpkin Ridge Golf Club, outside of Portland, Aura.
As with the US Open this week, British Open leaders may find it difficult to ban players who have already qualified for this year’s event, which starts on July 14 in St. Andrews, Scotland, and will include Mickelson and Johnson. This means that the next and potentially first major championship forced to enter the PGA Tour-LIV Golf clash will be the Masters.
In April, Augusta National President Fred Ridley was asked if players joining a rival PGA Tour would be invited to play in the Masters. Ridley said: “Our mission is always to act in the best interests of the game in any form. I think golf is in a good place right now. ”
Over the years, Augusta National has revered highly traditional values and is reluctant to change. And Ridley no doubt heard what Wang had to say on Wednesday if the two hadn’t already discussed it over the phone.
On the eve of the 122nd US Open, will Whan’s statements delay the expulsion of PGA Tour players, especially after the British Open?
It’s hard to say. It will continue to be particularly attractive to the demographics that have been most receptive to LIV Golf’s cash lures: aging players have passed their best positions.
But if there was a message in Wang’s answers to the 13 questions he faced on Wednesday about the introduction or interference of LIV Golf in his sport, it is that he does not see it as business as usual. He could be unobtrusive about the new tour and wait his turn. Importantly, instead, he assumed it was not good for golf.
This was a telling observation from one of the most influential bosses of the great champion families of golf.
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