LIV is showing golfers the money
Is the LIV Golf series a longterm threat? Without a bona fide broadcast partner, that seems unlikely. But the PGA Tour better realize it’s for sure a short-term threat.
Consider that on Friday morning, the LIV highlights were shown first on ESPN, followed by the RBC Canadian Open highlights. Is that because of the debut? Maybe, but which field has bigger names with Phil Mickelson and Dustin Johnson in London and Rory McIlroy and Scottie Scheffler in Canada?
And gang, my gone-too-soon buddy Dr. B used a classic term to those of us who listened: “money-whip.” He liked to use it in describing the coach hiring process. Well, the Saudis are money-whipping everything in every direction.
Charl Schwartzel will have the distinction of cashing the biggest individual prize check in the sport’s history at $4 million after completing a wire-towire, one-stroke win Saturday at Centurion Club. That’s right at what Miguel Angel Jimenez earned in his PGA Tour career and way more than the $2.747 million that World Golf Hall of Famer Johnny Miller earned on the course.
And the money-whipping is not just at the top. The LIV is playing 54-hole tournaments without a cut, and each of the 48 players in the LIV London event made at least $120,000. To make that much in the RBC Canadian Open, you will have to finish in the top 20.
Yes, we all giggle that Phil and DJ and even Schwartzel are names we know while the rest feel like the third flight of the Kiwanis Four Ball at Moc Bend. But matched up against a random June tournament, it’s not like the PGA Tour is crushing you with star power either.
Wyndham Clark was your first-round leader at the RBC, and while Wyndham Clark is an almost perfect golfer name and is on the short list with Stetson Bennett as accomplished athletes who also easily have a name of the guy in your chemistry class junior year at McCallie, could you pick Wyndham Clark out of a lineup?
Or, in terms of star power, if I told you after 18 holes Scott Vincent was tied for third at one tournament and Doug Gihm was tied for third at the other, would you know which was on the LIV and which was on the PGA Tour?
And that money must be making the rank-and-file players wonder what’s the best thing to do to make generational money for their families.
We frequently mention the quartet of Baylor School graduates currently competing on the PGA Tour.
Harris English is 79th in career on-course earnings at $22.2 million. He also is a guy chasing potential Hall of Fame status, Ryder Cup spots and major championships. He may not be tempted by the LIV.
Luke List has made more than $11.5 million on the course, which is 192nd all-time. His success in recent years has cemented his spot on tour.
Keith Mitchell has made a whisper less than $9 million on the course ($8,987,644, to be precise), which ranks 248th alltime. And then there’s Stephan Jaeger and his $1.865 million. Both of those guys have name recognition compared to the bottom half of the LIV field, and that has value.
Simple math tells you that if there are 14 LIV events planned and you entered them all — with no cuts, remember — and pocketed the $120K from each, well, that’s $1.68 million in prize money, and that’s not counting whatever signing bonus/appearance money the LIV could pony up.
Yes, it comes with sacrifice. The PGA Tour suspended all 17 card-carrying members who entered the LIV London event. (Whether that stands in court, well, that’s for the people who went to college as long as I did but got multiple diplomas for that time and money.)
Yes it comes with the conversation and questions about playing for a Saudi crown prince believed to be a murderer.
(Side note: Countries and cultures trying to “sportswash” their histories of atrocities is not limited to this instance or these golfers. Heck, the NBA is desperate to work with UAE and China, which lured the Olympics in a much more global “sportswash” attempt. And don’t even look at the World Cup, which is headed to Qatar this fall, which brings up two side questions: First, if you think the Saudis are scary, well, the Qatar folks would like a word. Second, how are we pronouncing that Qatar country these days? Is it “cutter” or more like “guitar” maybe? Because as the war in Ukraine has proved with our total whiff on the spelling and pronunciation of Kyiv, well, anything is possible, right?)
But now that the LIV is here — and with reinforcements of Bryson DeChambeau and Patrick Reed coming to the next LIV event in Portland, Oregon — if the PGA Tour is not taking this thing seriously and not looking for ways to answer back in terms of money and purses, well, that’s a colossal mistake.