When you come to think of it that is the secret of most of the great holes all over the world. They all have some kind of a twist. C.B. MACDONALD
Based on inflation adjusted earnings and some guestimating about endorsement income, Tiger Woods, Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus landed in the top 4 of Sportico’s list of highest paid athletes of all time.
Phil Mickelson landed 11th and Greg Norman 15th. Not bad for a niche sport.
Remember ladies, you can eat at restaurants now according to Greg Norman so whatever discomfort you suffer adhering to the Saudi dress code is a small price to pay for the privilege of eating out.
“We have to cover our legs so we don’t show too much skin so it just feels like we’re in like body suits in really hot heat.
“(Dress) below the knees for women. No sleeveless (tops), no shoulders showing.
“It’s just a respect thing but it does feel hot.”
Competing by the Red Sea in King Abdullah Economic City, Lee suspects the unique challenge will be as much psychological as physical.
“Mentally, because you’re always sweating and you never really cool down, that will be the main challenge,” the world No. 5 said.
“I just played nine holes and I was cooked. But 18 holes, I mean, it’s going to take, what, five hours to go around this golf course?
“So it will be testing all parts of your mental strength, I think.”
Nice scoops by Rex Hoggard to report on the updated CDC policy for players entering the U.S. in the coming months and hoping to play—vaccination and a negative test will be needed.
Plus, he reports the PGA Tour spokesperson said they are up to 83% vaccination for the combo of players, caddies and essential staff.
McKellar’s podcast is back and Lawrence Donegan and Mark Cannizzaro included yours truly in a discussion about Golf Saudi’s infusion of cash into the Asian Tour. We explore the possibility of anarchy should top players take some huge cash offers, plus the flaw in the concept and some of the people who’ve signed on to support the effort to remake professional golf.
Listening options: Apple, Spotify or wherever you get your pods.
Just a reminder to American audiences that the 12th Asia-Pacific Amateur kicks off Wednesday after a one year hiatus. It’s also the first playing since Hideki Matsuyama, a former two-time winner of the event captured the Masters.
They’re playing the Dubai Creek Golf and Yacht Club, which is most famous for its clubhouse and a floating tee. No one in the field cares where they’re playing with the winner earning and invitation to the Masters and The Open at St Andrews.
You can follow the scoring here.
Coverage times:
Sports Business Journal's shocking reveal suggests the end is near for Arnold Palmer's bold vision.
**And the press release…
Premier League, NASCAR, INDYCAR, USGA and The R&A Golf Championships, and College and Olympic Sports Among Premium Properties and Events Moving to USA Network
USA Network to Feature Premier League Tripleheader on January 1, 2022
USA Network Was #1 Sports and Entertainment Cable Network Throughout the Recent Tokyo Olympics
NBC Sports Content Also Moving to CNBC, Peacock and Other NBCUniversal Platforms
NBCSN to Conclude Programming on Dec. 31, 2021
LOS ANGELES, Calif. and STAMFORD, Conn. – November 2, 2021 – Beginning Jan. 1, 2022, USA Network broadens its slate with the addition of premium NBC Sports events, including coverage from the Premier League, NASCAR, INDYCAR, the Olympic Games, USGA and The R&A Golf Championships, college and Olympic sports, horse racing, cycling and more. In addition, CNBC, Peacock, and other linear platforms will also host a wide variety of live sports.
USA Network will kick off the 2022 sports calendar on Saturday, Jan. 1 at 7 a.m. ET with a New Year’s Day Premier League tripleheader, beginning with Arsenal hosting defending champion Manchester City.
“We are excited to transition the cable coverage of many of our premium sports events to USA Network, Peacock, and other widely-distributed NBCUniversal platforms, which will give us a significant boost in television homes and will put us in an even stronger position as we grow our business,” said Pete Bevacqua, Chairman, NBC Sports.
“USA has always been home to big, iconic characters - on reality shows like ‘Chrisley Knows Best,’ premium scripted dramas like ‘Chucky’ and ‘The Sinner,’ and of course the high-octane energy of our WWE personalities – and larger-than-life pro athletes will fit right in,” said Frances Berwick, Entertainment Networks, NBCUniversal Television & Streaming. “We expect this expansion of our live sports offering will both engage existing fans and bring in new communities to USA, further cementing the network as a top destination for the best and broadest entertainment in all of its many forms.”
During the recent Tokyo Olympics, USA Network televised live coverage of track & field, men’s and women’s beach volleyball, indoor volleyball and softball, and ranked as the #1 sports and entertainment cable network in primetime with an average of 1.6 million viewers. In September, the Manchester United-Newcastle match featuring the return of Cristiano Ronaldo ranked as the most-watched Premier League game on USA Network.
NBC Sports Programming on USA Network in 2022
Atlantic 10 basketball
Horse Racing
IMSA
INDYCAR: Two races
NASCAR: Cup and Xfinity Series races
Olympic sports
Premier League
The R&A – The Open, AIG Women’s Open: Early round and weekend lead-in coverage
The Winter Olympics
Tour de France
USGA – U.S. Open, U.S. Women’s Open: Early round and weekend lead-in coverage
Note: Many of these sports will continue to have programming on the NBC broadcast network. In addition, all linear coverage can be streamed via authentication on NBCSports.com and the NBC Sports app. (*All PGA TOUR events remain exclusively on NBC or GOLF Channel.)
PGA Tour Memo To Players
This one is a little embarrassing for the USGA and R&A, who tried to limit green reading books by reducing their size and only prompted players to the silly cheat sheets closer to their face. But in a rare and welcomed moment of product introspection, the PGA Tour Advisory Council took bold action to all but limit their use in PGA Tour events.
Brian Wacker first Tweeted the message sent to players:
Changes coming to PGA Tour yardage and greens books starting January 1, 2022. pic.twitter.com/GhgsXReUC3
— Brian Wacker (@brianwacker1) November 1, 2021
Enforcement of this should be interesting as players tuck books into leather covers and spotting “Committee Approved Book” may be tricky. But otherwise, it’s a welcome change and one that should have happened sooner in the name of protecting skill as well as pace of play.
Presumably the USGA and R&A will follow suit since they provide players yardage and green reading books at their majors.
The Masters does not allow surveying of their surfaces and therefore green reading materials have not been an option. The PGA of America will presumably follow suit but given their tendency to play an outlier role, there are no guarantees.
As the cash-rich Saudis forge ahead using the Premier Golf League's concept, the original disruptors believe they have a "better model" for the PGA Tour. But will the Tour listen?
My exclusive Quadrilateral for all to read with exclusive details.
As Commissioner Greg Norman tries to sell the Saudi golf move into the Asian Tour and an elite global tour inspired by the Premier Golf League, the Shark is out spinning his role. Speaking to GolfDigest.com’s Daniel Rapaport, Norman made clear there is nothing to see here when it comes to the home of 9/11 hijackers, public beheadings and women’s rights.
I’ve been going to Saudi Arabia now for three years. I was invited to do a golf course design project there. Unless you actually go there and see and understand exactly what’s happening there, you [can’t] sit back and make judgmental calls. I made the journey there to look at what was happening in Saudi Arabia before I made any decision on anything because I’m not a person who makes judgement calls. I make sound decisions on sound facts and information that is presented to you. So when the PIF wanted to become a majority investor, I knew what was happening in the country.
Women’s right issues—the women there now, I’ve been so impressed. You walk into a restaurant and there are women. They’re not wearing burkas. They’re out playing golf.
That last comment earned this from the Golf Digest editors:
Editor’s note: Saudi Arabia ranked 147th out of 153 nations in the World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Index for 2021. And according to Human Rights watch, despite women’s rights reforms in recent years, “Saudi women still must obtain a male guardian’s approval to get married, leave prison, or obtain certain healthcare. Women also continue to face discrimination in relation to marriage, family, divorce, and decisions relating to children, including child custody.”
Goodnight from @DubaiCreekGolf 🌅 #AAC2021 pic.twitter.com/afG7clNgPJ
— Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship (@AAC_Golf) October 31, 2021
There are a couple of ways to think about this week’s Asia-Pacific Amateur turning up in Dubai with a Masters invitation going to the winner.
It’s a fine opportunity to pull out a globe and see how the Asia-Pacific region you (thought you) knew is now incorporating the Middle East. This was news to me even if the venue, Dubai Creek Golf and Yacht Club, is technically in Asia. Th course was only announced in late July and presumably selected due to COVID restrictions in much of the Asia-Pacific region, including Australia.
But more importantly, this selection puts some of golf’s leaders within a very short flight of Riyadh. It’s home to the Public Investment Fund of Saudia Arabia, now proud benefactors of some Asian Tour events and, as we presumably will find out soon, a global golf tour for superstars headed by Greg Norman.
The only bummer with this glorious coincidence of scheduling as the Five Families mull the ramifications of a disruptor golf tour? The fund’s head, Yasir bin Othman Al-Rumayyan, had to sit out last week’s conference celebrating all thing public investment under mysterious circumstances. But the Crown Prince turned up, so they’ve got that going for them. Both Reuters and the New York Times say it was a COVID positive test for Al Rumayyan and not unabashed excitement over landing Norman as Commish.
So no meetings with the possible head of a new Family in golf. This week anyway. .
For more on the Asia-Pacific Amateur, check out the official website. I’ll post official broadcast times when made available.
Your first instalment of #AAC2021 information 👇 pic.twitter.com/EoYaRrAQw7
— Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship (@AAC_Golf) October 31, 2021
Just an FYI in case you were wondering, almost perennial captain Davis Love will be just 66 when Bellerive hosts the 2030 Presidents Cup. Definitely a favorite for the job.
Anyway, Stu Durando had the news first for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, saying a full announcement will come this week. The club last hosted the 2018 PGA Championship.
Until 2030, the Cup goes to Quail Hollow in 2022, Royal Montreal 2024 and Medinah in 2026.
We’re coming up on the two-year anniversary of Patrick Reed’s excursion in the sands of Albany and for reasons only clear to his devout Twitter supporter at useGolfFacts, also widely believed to be a family account, there is no time like the middle of the night to dredge up Reed’s suspicious behavior en route to winning the 2019 Hero World Challenge.
In reply to a January 30th—yes January 30th—Tweet by European Tour player Eddie Pepperell, useGolfFACTS randomly decided on October 26th to offer a robust set of screen shots and analysis questioning the “accuracy of the digital integrity verification testing” conducted by rules officials who ultimately penalized Reed.
It’s wild and wacky stuff:
The account also responded regarding Reed’s college days at Georgia.
Glad we clarified that last part about the free putters.
GolfDigest.com’s Joel Beall reviewed the account history of zaniness and bashing Reed’s peers, while offering this HOF Non-denial Denial from Reed’s attorney:
But to those who believe Reed’s tweet on Saturday is the smoking gun, Reed’s attorneys say that’s not necessarily the case. In response to a Golf Digest email about Reed’s Saturday night Tweet and his connection with “useGolfFACTS,” Reed’s lawyer, Phillip B. Costa, replied “Please be advised that the person who manages Patrick Reed’s Twitter and Instagram accounts does not run the @ use GolfFACTS account.” As of writing, a direct message to the “useGolfFACTS” account from Golf Digest has not been returned.
Of course this cookie and pop-up free read would already be in your inbox if you’d subscribed…and as always, thank you to those who have subscribed. I believe you’ll confirm that joining the Quadrilateral doesn’t get you added to any unwanted mailing lists (or any) and might even be worth a few bucks to keep the coverage coming.
The Guardian’s Ewan Murray says we are due to learn any day now about Golf Saudi’s plans for tournaments with their new partners at the Asian Tour.
At an extremely select media briefing in New York in the coming days, the Saudis will break with anything that has come before and expand – albeit to hand-picked outlets, of course – on their plans for the professional game’s ultimate disruption plan. Industry insiders believe Greg Norman will be confirmed as the public face of a series – possibly involving a dream of 10 events on the Asian Tour – as obvious, direct competition to the European and PGA Tours. Saudi Golf and the Asian Tour are already in alliance for the Saudi International in February. Norman is understood to have been busy on behalf of the Saudis in the corporate world.
Geoff Shackelford is a Senior Writer for Golfweek magazine, a weekly contributor to Golf Channel's Morning
Copyright © 2022, Geoff Shackelford. All rights reserved.
