The heat is on GOLF DEAL WILL SHEIKH UP WORLD
GOOD WEEK BAD WEEK
IT’S hard to see what good can come out of the peace deal brokered in golf.
The Saudis have taken sports washing to a whole new level after flashing their cash to broker a truce we’re led to believe is acceptable to all parties.
In the space of just 12 months, the Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF), which bankrolls LIV Golf, has taken control of an entire sport. It will, quite literally, be a game changer.
The new regime, which will be a merger of the PGA and DP World Tours and LIV, will be headed by chairman Yasir Al-Rumayyan.
He also just happens to be chairman of Newcastle United, which also just happens to be owned by the Saudis. The same Saudis who appear hell-bent on hosting the 2030 World Cup.
And it would take a brave man to bet against FIFA president Gianni Infantino granting them their wish, too.
The Saudis host a Grand Prix, cricket is on the rise, while Karim Benzema is about to follow Cristiano Ronaldo and N’Golo Kante on the same gravy train to the Pro League. And who’s to say a Ryder Cup might not take place in Jeddah one day?
There is no escaping the fact the Middle East Kingdom now has its claws dug so deep into sport, that the grabbing of more power and control through it is becoming unstoppable.
And if the jaw-dropping announcement on the entire future of golf is anything to go by, it feels intimidating.
That’s because the PIF have simply used LIV Golf as a tool to turn a whole sport upside down, in return for them getting the most controlling seat at the table. The players have just been pawns.
Some have got filthy rich, while others haven’t – and the collateral damage has been immense.
PGA Tour commissioner Jay
Monahan should resign, because his position has become untenable.
Having spent 12 months convincing people his blood was boiling, he’s now jumped into bed with those same rebels he allowed superstars like Tiger Woods and “sacrificial lamb’ Rory McIlroy to criticise with such venom. But here’s the good news folks. And yes, there is some.
Aside from the fact all pending legal cases will now be dropped, it feels like the temperature and atmosphere at some of golf’s upcoming events will be hotter than a Saudi desert.
The Open takes place at Hoylake next month and the old band will be back together. What price a first-round pairing of McIlroy and LIV defector Sergio Garcia?
And what about future Ryder Cups? Forget the rivalry between Team Europe and USA, because there is now the potential of the most bitter rivalries of all coming from within each locker room! We all love a bit of ruckus. It’s what helps make sport so special. So golf promises to be more interesting – and right now it feels like we need to cling to any positives we can, before those Saudis take over the entire world.