San Diego Union-Tribune (Sunday)
Golf on par with other Saudi partners
Sez Me … Has golf become a good walk soiled?
I don’t think so. But some hate this merger and see it as the latest among sportdom’s revolting developments, that the game’s not laying up, but strictly going for the green — regardless of politics and human rights violations. Some probably don’t give a damn, which is OK.
As we become engulfed in the hypocritical avalanche created by the sudden golf shot heard ‘round the world by the PGA/ Liv/european Tour merger, please tell me what the following American corporate giants have in common.
Amazon, Tesla, JP Morgan Chase, Boeing, Facebook, Disney, Marriott International, Cisco, Bank of America, and who knows what else.
Saudi Arabia has billions invested in them. That’s what.
Oh, and guess from which country the U.S. imports the most oil? It ain’t Lebanon.
So, do you drive? Use electricity? Buy online? Fly? Stay in hotels? Bank? Use social media?
And yet you are more bothered by a golfing betrothal?
If you do, and are opposed to this alliance strictly because of the Saudis and their human rights rap sheet, then you are a hypocrite. You may be able to get by without golf. Maybe you’ll never watch it again. But you can’t get along without what they have their oily hands in.
If you have investments in those companies, or use their stuff, you are a partner.
The Saudis have thrown billions into LIV, because, sitting on an enormous oil can, they can. And, while I do not hate telling you so, I told you so. This was inevitable.
Greg Norman, who runs LIV, is golf ’s Al Davis. It was Al, as AFL commissioner, who squeezed the NFL and Pete Rozelle to force the merger. Davis went after NFL quarterbacks, such as Roman Gabriel and John Brodie, and Pete cried uncle.
So Greg went after names, and with bottomless Saudi money, wooed the likes of Phil Mickelson (who has made no effort to cover his disdain for the PGA), Brooks Koepka, Bryson Dechambeau and Dustin Johnson, et al. Names.
How much longer was it going to be before others would pursue hundreds of millions of dollars for basically NIL money — fame, image and likeness, with the actual playing of golf an afterthought?
Mickelson reportedly received $200 million. If you played and were over 50, what would you do? Phil made a wise decision and still plays in majors (he had a chance to back into a Masters win).
Guaranteed, there are pros out there — including Tiger, who turned down much more than Phil — who now may wish they would have taken what essentially was show-up dough.
How much is this going to change things, anyway? PGA commissioner Jay Monahan, as did Rozelle, still will be running things, and he apparently believed he didn’t have the purse to win this fight. Some Tour players may not like it, but that may change when they see how much more dough they’re going to bake.
If you consider me a fan of Saudi Arabia, forget it. I’m just pointing out the hypocrisy among the naysayers. I don’t like dealing with Saudi Arabia any more than China, and yet half the time I buy something it’s made there.
But they love money and really enjoy us minting more of it for them. Why do we continue to do business with people who don’t like anything we do except print it?
And let’s not forget the merger may violate antitrust laws. Speaking of hypocrites, many D.C. politicians are against it, but we’ll see if there’s more oil money to be poured into their reserves.
The most incredible thing about this is that it was a Manhattan Project. No leaks. In 2023?
Anyway, I am bothered only by the hypocrisy. I don’t play golf. But I like golf. And this will be golf. …
Great to finally see the U.S. Open at the Los Angeles Country Club. How exclusive is it? A late, wise friend, who was a member, told me that if Santa tried to get in on Christmas Eve, he would face anti-aircraft fire. …
The Padres have had yet another closed-door meeting, tying them with the Pentagon during Vietnam. …
Our Tom Krasovic makes a great point. As with pitchers and catchers, allow plate umps to know what pitch is coming. It could help, although I doubt it. …
Jacob degrom will make $40 million from the Rangers for sitting out at least a year after Tommy John surgery — and many, many millions more after that, healthy or not. I’m all for players making all they can, but there’s no chance I ever would pay a pitcher, terribly important as they are, that kind of guaranteed dough. …
Wondering what Luis Arraez’s batting average would be if he were a Padre? He’d probably be doing well — in El Paso. …
The Jacksonville Jaguars are working on gutting their dump and creating a domed stadium. Ham & Eggers ,as Rick Blaine might have told Ilsa Lund: “We’ll always have soccer.” …
Lionel Messi on going to Miami: “I wanted to get out of the spotlight a bit.” Well, that ringing MLS endorsement has lost its clapper. …
Saw this hilarious note the other day. The Cowboys haven’t been to an NFC championship game in more than 10,000 days. But, they are an everyday staple on ESPN, which has reduced the NFL to one team. …
Upon joining the Big Ten, USC and UCLA, along with new conference mates, will have to travel cross-country multiple times per year. You mean like the other professional leagues? …
Fifty years ago I was in a White Front store’s TV department watching the single most dominant individual performance in athletic history. Secretariat in the Belmont. Google it up, complete with Chic Anderson’s great call. “Secretariat is widening now. He is moving like a tremendous machine.” Chills. …
From the hilarious Art Donovan, who died in 2013: “The only weight I ever lifted was a 24-ounce can of Schlitz.” …
If every batter can slump at once, why can’t they all hit at once? …
Fort Bragg, N.C., where I went to basic training, is being renamed Fort Liberty. Not exactly the Amalfi Coast, but why a fort was named after a lousy Confederate general — and a bad guy — escapes me, anyway. …
RIP, Astrud Gilberto, The Girl From Ipanema. Astrud, Stan Getz and João Gilberto invented the bossa nova, and I am forever grateful. …
HBO is canceling “Perry Mason.” And that’s a damn shame. Figures, though. It actually was very good. …
Happy birthday, Judy Garland, who would have turned 101 today. She was an over-therainbow talent, as great an entertainer as we’ve had, who deserved so much better than an existence destroyed by the unholy hell of Hollywood’s star system. I wish I knew Judy. …
I’m so tired of this. Unless you’re made of Kryptonite, Superman is kicking your butt into wherever Kingdom Come is located. …
Just read that a busy Uganda man with 12 wives has 102 children. That he knows about. …
New dad Al Pacino angrily calls the Ugandan “an amateur.” …
With the judicial events surrounding a former president, we find ourselves living in extraordinary times. But it is possible, that in some states, it won’t be mentioned in history textbooks.