This is one of those entries that should contribute mightily to my stated goal of offending as many as possible in the time I have left. The Saudi tour visited Portland this week, and the LIV lineup was more star-studded than the PGA's lineup for the John Deere Classic in Illinois.
The LIV tour has drawn slings and arrows from many of the usual woke-oriented sources. Golfers who committed to LIV have endured Rory McIlroy's public scolding. They've experienced a bombardment of media disapprobation, with sources ranging from Zach Johnson (he of Ryder Cup captaincy) to Jack Nicklaus. The PGA is banning LIV participants from PGA events. Sounds very much as if the PGA has decided it's a bulletproof monopoly. We will, however, see how its Kevlar holds up against the best bullets money can buy.
Call Me Cynical
Yes, the Saudis have a long and current history of civil rights abuses, a long and current history of oppression of women, and state agents were recently caught murdering and dismembering a journalist critical of them. Those condemning the LIV golfers say that the Saudis are "sportswashing" the Saudi public image.
Some PGA folks have no sense of history. Considering that the very-American PGA golfers are more than 90% diehard Republicans, one would think that they'd bond with the Saudis regarding civil rights issues and oppressing women. But that was in the fog-bound distant GOP past and the Saudis are now, so instead of being praised for emulating the PGA circa 1940, the Saudis are being lambasted for not trying to emulate the PGA circa 2020.
And while getting caught hacking an adversarial journalist to death carries its own inconvenient and visceral Q rating, does the PGA really want to argue that the American CIA hasn't murdered a soul recently? If the CIA has done such a thing, after all, it would render PGA golf a kind of sportswashing and would disqualify any U.S.-based agencies from running sporting events. On moral grounds, of course.
All of this moral superiority is a clumsy fit for PGA administrators, but they don't seem to realize it.
Nuts and Bolts
I'm not sure why people seemed surprised by Brooks Koepka defecting to LIV. I fully expected it. His brother signed up weeks ago. What were people thinking, Brooks wouldn't enjoy playing with his brother while making a helluva lot more money?
The LIVers will basically earn a multiple of their previous under-the-PGA income. Some will make double, some will make five times as much, some will make much more. Their number of events will be significantly reduced. At worst, they'll double their money while putting in a fraction of the time. What capitalist in the uber-capitalist U.S.A. wouldn't be on board with this?
McIlroy says the LIVers are retreating from the best competition. Who cares? Can you imagine McIlroy giving Joe Namath a harsh lecture on getting 400K for signing with the AFL Jets when Namath could have signed with the "better competition" NFL? Why would anyone concern themselves with what McIlroy spouts?
If the professional brand-name golfers all made about 50K a year for 25 weekends, and they had an opportunity to make 100K a year for eight weekends, could any American really criticize them? But because the income numbers are higher, righteous certitude rears its media head. The LIV golfers are "selfish," "over the hill," "evading competition," and so on.
American comedians take well-paying gigs to perform in Saudi Arabia. American thoroughbreds enter Saudi races. Why single out golfers as the morally bankrupt wicked?
Bob Dietz
July 3, 2022
