LIV defectors have money on their mind — and more
The defection of Brooks Koepka to the LIV Golf series — with another prominent name expected to soon follow — is yet another example of the Saudi-backed circuit targeting some of the PGA Tour’s most popular players. Or so it would appear.
The addition of Koepka, the only player in history to win two majors in back-to back years (U.S. Open, PGA), couldbe considered the biggest addition to the rival tour, certainly in terms of number of major titles. But it’s also themost stunning, especially given his change of heart from disparaging comments hehas made all along about the LIV series.
Money, of course, will do that to a person, especially lots of it.
Koepka, who is ranked 19thin the world, was joined onthe defection train by Abraham Ancer, who doesn’t carrythe cachet of some of theother PGA Tour abdicators but is nonetheless ranked 20th in the world. That gives the LIV tour eight ofthe top 50 players in the world ranking, headed by No. 16Dustin Johnson.
Expected to follow them is Rickie Fowler, whose game hasbeen lost somewhere amids this countless endorsement deals, though he remains one of the most popular players on the PGA Tour. It is not difficult to figure out Fowler will be given a financial deal that will more than makeup what he will lose fromthe sponsors who will abandon him.
Through it all, it is also not difficult to figure out what the LIV tour is trying to do: Build its own reputation by recruiting big-name players and, in the process, hurting the PGA Tour by eliminating someof its star power. For example, Phil Mickelson, the manat the center of all this, is ranked 83rd in the world. But, if he’s playing on the PGATour, the only time he won’t have the biggest gallery in the field is if Tiger Woodsis also playing.
The same is true for other PGATour defectors who are bignames on the European stage— Sergio Garcia, Lee West wood, Ian Poulter. None of them is ranked in the top 50 inthe world — Garcia, at 59, isthe highest — but they are infinitely more appealing to a tournament and its galleries than other international players who are ranked amongthe top 50, such as Thomas Pieters (35), Seamus Power(36), Mito Pereira (46) and Lucas Herbert (48).
Butis the LIV series really collecting some of golf’s biggest names to gain attention forits 54-hole team tournaments with massive cash payouts? Or is the upstart tour merely attracting a bunchof damaged goods, players who have come to the realization how difficult it is forthem to win again on the PGATour or those with injuries that could threaten their ability to win?
If there is a semblance of a commonthread among the defectors— beyond the desire for money, that is — it just might be their ability to compete against the best young players in the world has come into question. That would certainly apply to Mickelson, Westwood and Poulter, not to mention former major champions Martin Kaymer, Graeme Mc Dowelland Louis Oosthuizen. Toss Fowler into that group, if and when he jumps.
Koe pk a’ s inability to flash thegame that won him four majors in three years has been severely jeopardized by aknee injury that threatens his longevity. Same with Bryson De Chambeau, who is only28 but has been bothered bya wrist injury that recently needed surgery. It is difficult to place Johnson, a two-time major champion, in either category. But his seeming in difference to the game, rightly or wrongly, makes hima player not overly worried about his legacy, especiallywhen the Saudis made himan offer ($150 million) he couldn’t refuse. Whereis all this headed? Well, eventually to the courtroom, when the PGA Tour tries to lock out players whoare 1099 sub-contractors and deny their ability to makea living, though a hands omeone at that. That litigation will not go over well with players who remain with the PGA Tour, especially after commissioner Jay Monahan informed them last week they would have to pay the legal fees if the suspended Saudi-linked players decided to head to the courts, accordingto a story in Golfweek.
Meanwhile, the PGA Tour hast ried to assuage its members by introducing some changes to its scheduling format, which includes doing awaywith the wrap-around season (thank goodness) and introducing a series of no-cut tournaments with big payouts and team formats (sound familiar?). Optically speaking, this is a direct response to the LIV Golf threat.
Thewrap-around season —for example, the 2022 season began in October 2021 — is flawed in many respects, not the least of which is staging watered-down tournaments during football season when nobody is paying attention. On top of that, the players don’t like them because it means virtually no offseason.
Buthere is the bigger issue: While many of the top players were trying to enjoy some timeoff after the playoffs (or even a Ryder Cup or Presidents Cup ), other lesser known players piling the all-important FedEx Cup points in those fall tournaments.By the time the top players came out of hibernation in January, they were so fard own the FedEx Cup points list you needed GPS to find them.
It is difficult to determine which side is responsible for where professional golf now exists— the LIV Golf series fo rhanding out guaranteed gobs of Saudi-backed money as though it’s the NBA, or the PGA Tour for letting it get to themorass it is.
Just two days after Matt Fitzpatrick hit one of the alltime bunker shots to win the U.S. Open, all anybody was talking about was Koepka, a player who appeared to loath playing meaningless tournaments, defecting to the dark side. Money will do that to a person.
Bythe way, did you know the Open championship is at St.Andrews in a couple weeks?