Links Corner Forum

I think it'll be interesting to see if (1) the Saudis don't get bored and LIV actually has long-term legs, and (2) how up-and coming golfers react to the chance to get their money right away and jump straight to LIV from, say, the Korn Ferry tour.

..and also, if LIV does do well, what the reaction will be from other PGA players. How many times does a player win in a whole career, on average? I recall years ago it was something like twice, and that factored in all the Mickelsons, Woods, Kites, Watsons, etc. It's going to be very tempting if they see players much like themselves earning big money. Then the PGA will have to decide what to do about it, if suddenly 30-40 guys want to play in the Saudi league.

This will make some eyeballs bigger and rounder:

https://www.sportscasting.com/liv-golf- ... -pga-tour/

"...Phil’s ridiculous contract with LIV Golf will pay him more than he made in three decades on the PGA Tour."

"We obviously don’t yet know how much the soon-to-be-52-year-old will make on the course with LIV Golf. But we do know Mickelson is getting $200 million just to show up."

Maybe I was too conservative estimating 30-40 leaving the PGA by next year, the number is already 20! The first tournament is over (and I think they play only three rounds); winner (Schwartzel) earned $4.75M, second place earned $2.9M.

https://www.foxnews.com/sports/pga-tour ... 1r_10,hp1r

Some of the American players that are leaving should make the PGA Tour a more "Drama-Free" zone.

Flame-retardant BVD's on.

GoBucks wrote: ↑June 12th, 2022, 2:08 pm Some of the American players that are leaving should make the PGA Tour a more "Drama-Free" zone.

Flame-retardant BVD's on.

Na, that can't be true

And now Koepka has joined the LIV. Monahan must be feeling the pressure by now. He's already changing the PGA Tour schedule with eight limited-field, no cut tournaments worth $160M total. I was surprised to see Koepka go, not so much DeChambeau, who's always been a somewhat "loose cannon". What Monahan should be doing is reinstating all those players he's kicked off the PGA, but maintaining the minimum requirement of 15 PGA tournaments a year rule to ensure their presence. That may lead to some players resigning from the PGA (some have already); guys like Mickelson won't care, his career is nearly finished anyway.

And now Monahan announces "significant changes", which merely shows us that the extra purse money was there all along, being held back so long as their members would continue to play for less without complaint. Competition is good for sports, at all levels. I predict he will walk back what he has done thus far, and allow them to play both tours, just as he allows the EuroTour players to do, so long as they play the minimum 15 tournaments per year on the PGA. If he doesn't, the PGA will quickly be relegated to the "Minor League of Golf", as more top-ranked players switch to LIV. As for McIlroy, his insides must be churning, even as he criticizes guys like Koepka. When was your last major win, Rory? You can bet the farm he has received a huge offer from the Saudis.

https://www.pgatour.com/news/2022/06/22 ... yoffs.html

LOL. Rory is obviously being paid to speak his mind

Duck Hook wrote: ↑June 25th, 2022, 10:31 am LOL. Rory is obviously being paid to speak his mind

I hadn't thought of that, good point. There must be a lot of scrambling going on behind the scenes right now. And then Monahan comes out with gems like: "I'm very excited about the future of the PGA Tour". What does the "DP" stand for in "DP World Tour, by the way? I haven't been keeping up, I'm still thinking "Eurotour".