All about Golf

Sylvia

TBD
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79,992
Today's big story - PGA Tour drops hammer, suspending current and future LIV players:
Just minutes after the inaugural round of the LIV Golf tour teed off, the PGA Tour fired a shot of its own: a suspension of any players who compete on the LIV tour, now and in the future. Seventeen players are affected by the ban as it stands, with more potentially to come in the future. [...]
Affected active PGA Tour players listed by name include Phil Mickelson and Ian Poulter. Many others, including Dustin Johnson, Sergio Garcia, Kevin Na, Lee Westwood and Graeme McDowell have resigned their membership from the PGA Tour. Bryson DeChambeau and Patrick Reed will reportedly jump to the LIV tour when it arrives in the United States for its second event in early July.
"These players have made their choice for their own financial-based reasons," the Tour said. "But they can't demand the same PGA Tour membership benefits, considerations, opportunities and platform as [Tour players who didn't make the leap]."
Mickelson, Johnson and others made the leap to the LIV Golf tour over the last few weeks. The LIV tour, backed by Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund, promises massive paychecks to all players who compete in its tournaments. The winner of this weekend's tournament at Centurion Golf Club, for instance, will receive $4 million.
 

TanithandBenFan

Author of the Ice and Edge Series
Messages
9,279
Many of the players that went over to LIV are ones I couldn’t stand so good riddance! I was disappointed in a few of the guys who left like Talor Gooch, who is young and was steadily on the rise on the PGA Tour.
 

Aceon6

Wrangling the duvet into the cover
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29,789
Many of the players that went over to LIV are ones I couldn’t stand so good riddance! I was disappointed in a few of the guys who left like Talor Gooch, who is young and was steadily on the rise on the PGA Tour.
Golf Channel has done a really good job with the reporting on this. The consensus seems to be that the some of the younger players who have gone to LIV may not be all that committed to playing golf for the next 20 years and see LIV as an opportunity to get a lot of $$$ in a short amount of time before deciding what’s next. Others, like Piot, see it as a possible way to get ranking points without having to deal with Q school. The older guys are just cashing out, or, in Phil’s case, replenishing bank accounts after years of bad financial decisions.

Reviews of the YouTube broadcast have been really favorable. For me, I can’t deal with where the money is coming from, so I chose not to stream it.
 

Susan1

Well-Known Member
Messages
12,006
I can't read what is on the red hats of the protesters, but trump will see red hats and think they are maga hats. They should have picked a different color.
 

Sylvia

TBD
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79,992
Play was suspended a second, and final, time Friday during the second round of the 2023 Masters Tournament after three pine trees fell near the 17th hole at Augusta National Golf Club.
Multiple patrons on site said that no one was injured, and the club later confirmed that report. Storms were approaching the area and wind gusts had picked up before the incident.
Martin, Streff and others at the scene credited Deshey Thomas, a patron from Fuquay-Varina, North Carolina, with alerting people as the trees were about to fall and getting people out of harm's way. USA TODAY Network photographers said Martin and Streff became emotional when seeing Thomas afterward.
"Pinecones were hitting us in the back, we turned around and looked up and heard a huge cracking noise and the tree basically crushed 10 chairs that were sitting there," Thomas said. "Luckily we got everyone out of there. We were blessed."
...
The second round will resume Saturday at 8 a.m. with 39 golfers yet to complete their round. Brooks Koepka is the leader at 12 under after finishing his second round before inclement weather upended Friday's action. A thunderstorm halted play for 20 minutes earlier in the afternoon before the trees fell on 17.
 

4rkidz

plotting, planning and travelling
Messages
14,675
That was an exciting Masters, we watched it at a cottage all weekend. This is the year I have signed up for golf lessons! I wasnt expecting much pushback by the crowds at this setting, but glad to hear Mickelson was ostracized at the social events for his greed.
 

4rkidz

plotting, planning and travelling
Messages
14,675
@4rkidz Golf nerd here. PM me if you need to vent. Golf is hard!
oh thanks - too bad you don't live close to me as i need someone to play with? My daughter was down from where she lives and went on the golf and she is a beginner like me and got an even an eagle on her golf game this week as the courses opened with our nice weather (but snow is back next week). But she was a national athlete and has good hand eye coordination. She also got a double birdie on the next hole!
 

Frau Muller

From Puerto Rico…With Love! Not LatinX!
Messages
22,098
For Saudi Arabia, positive p.r. In the USA? For the PGA, money? A lot of PGA golfers don’t like to be associated with a conservative country.
 

easilydistracte

Geezette
Messages
527
I don't understand what LIV got out of this.
From my point of view, LIV has won. And Saudi Arabia has won. And the PGA [organization] looks like a bunch of greedy fools. I would imagine that some of the PGA players are feeling betrayed right now, while the LIV players are claiming bragging rights.

So much for principles. PGA caved for the sake of money. Guess this is another sport I'll stop watching. Too bad, just when I was developing an understanding and appreciation of the game. Oh, well.
 

sk9tingfan

Well-Known Member
Messages
7,657
Sportswriter Mike Lupica just tweeted this one. I took him to task and asked that he provide some clarification. Feel free to do the same.



Mike Lupica
@MikeLupica

Maybe not today. But Jay Monahan is through. No matter how much money is about to change hands. He just turned into everything he said he hated. Someday they’ll name a figure skating move after him.
 
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allezfred

In A Fake Snowball Fight
Messages
65,407
Saudi Arabia’s stance on gay people.
I don’t know a lot about the PGA, but has it ever been a particularly progressive organisation? Trying to link Pride month, the PGA and Saudi Arabia is pretty weird, but then I guess you have posted weirder things on this forum. :shuffle:
 

Frau Muller

From Puerto Rico…With Love! Not LatinX!
Messages
22,098
I don’t know a lot about the PGA, but has it ever been a particularly progressive organisation? Trying to link Pride month, the PGA and Saudi Arabia is pretty weird, but then I guess you have posted weirder things on this forum. :shuffle:

It’s not skating, but there’s nothing to say that there are no gay people or other progressives in golf. It’s been in the news…that many PGA golfers are against the Saudi stance on gays. Hence, the link to PRIDE.
 

Aceon6

Wrangling the duvet into the cover
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29,789
A lot of what Monaghan et al have said against LIV had to do with the Saudi role in global terrorism, not their stance on homosexuality.

I’ve been watching Golf Channel off and on since the news broke. The consensus seems to be that the PGA Tour wasn’t in that strong of a position, despite the bravado. The Saudis have plenty of money to buy more players, and the lawsuits were eating into the PGA Tour reserves.
 

Aceon6

Wrangling the duvet into the cover
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29,789
Did the Saudi $ backed LIV just buy the PGA rather than merge with them?
I believe the strategy all along was to crack both the European and US tours. The Euro tour felt it almost immediately and sought $$$ from the US to keep their tour afloat, but it wasn’t enough. The term “merger” is a stretch here, likely a face saving move.
 

Aceon6

Wrangling the duvet into the cover
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Learning more today from interviews with Jay Monahan (PGATour commissioner) and Rory McIlroy who is a player director on the Tour’s advisory council.

First, this isn’t a merger. It’s a proposal to created a for profit LLC that would coordinate the efforts of the PGA Tour, Euro/DP tour, and any golf efforts of the Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF for short). The PIF would fund the LLC and Monahan would be the operations manager for the tours. From what people in the know can infer, LIV goes away.

Rory’s interview was interesting. He struggled to separate his feelings about anything LIV/PIF and the need to make all the litigation go away. Rory is for having one governing body and one source of player rankings that are used to determine who gets automatic invitations to the biggest events and decide who is eligible to compete in the Ryder Cup. Rory still HATES LIV and is isn’t too happy with Norman, Mickelson, and many of the other people who left the tour.

Standing in the way are the various government entities that need to approve this even existing. The next few months should be interesting.
 
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Allskate

Well-Known Member
Messages
12,804
Monahan is a hypocrite and a phony. So much for the moral high ground. Tiger Woods and the others who turned down the huge Saudi/LIV money and went to bat for the PGA (and Monahan) must be furious. They should be.

Monahan didn't even have the decency to tell Woods and other loyal PGA players himself.



 
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Aceon6

Wrangling the duvet into the cover
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29,789
I woke up around 2:30 Eastern and couldn’t fall back asleep. Thank goodness for The Open coverage on Peacock. Hoylake is one tough golf course!
 

Aceon6

Wrangling the duvet into the cover
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29,789
I’m glad I didn’t bother getting up for the Ryder Cup. The US lost the morning session 4-0 and didn’t win anything in the afternoon either. The afternoon was 3 ties and a loss. If Euro plays similarly tomorrow, they might have this locked up.
 

TanithandBenFan

Author of the Ice and Edge Series
Messages
9,279
I’m glad I didn’t bother getting up for the Ryder Cup. The US lost the morning session 4-0 and didn’t win anything in the afternoon either. The afternoon was 3 ties and a loss. If Euro plays similarly tomorrow, they might have this locked up.
Sounds like they’re trying to use illness as an excuse now. Wouldn’t be surprised if it’s Covid that’s ripping through the team.
 

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