Rickie Sure Seems To Be Leaning Toward A LIV Future

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While the World No. 146 ranking would suggest he’s not exactly dream LIV Golf material, Rickie Fowler likability and assumed devotion to all things PGA Tour may provide an intriguing turn in the effort of Saudi Arabia to make us forget about gas prices, human rights violations and sword-wielding men lopping heads off in public after sham trials.

As Bob Harig at SI.com says in the understatment of the week, Fowler would be a “great get” for Greg Norman’s upstart Tour despite the fall off in Fowler’s game. He’s the first legit fan favorite in some time to suggest he’d like to cash him some Crown Prince cash.

His full answer Monday at Tulsa where he’s playing the PGA Championship on an exemption thanks to 2021’s T8 finish.

Q. Have you been approached at all by the LIV Tour and if so, what's your stance on that?

RICKIE FOWLER: Yeah, I have. To be straightforward with you guys, I haven't necessarily made a decision one

way or the other. I've mentioned in the past, do I currently think that the PGA Tour is the best place to play? I do. Do I think it can be better? Yes. So I think it's an interesting position. Obviously there's the LIV and Premiere, as well. These tours or leagues or whatever -- however you want to classify or call them, they

wouldn't really be coming up if they didn't see that there was more opportunity out there. I've always looked at competition being a good thing. It's the driving force of our game. You know, being able to have games with guys at

home, that's how I always grew up is competing. I think competition ultimately makes people better, whether it's business, sport. So it's interesting, that's for sure.

Nicklaus On PGA Championship Move From Trump Bedminster: "This move is cancel culture."

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Actually Jack, it was just business.

In his debut piece for The Fire Pit Collective, Michael Bamberger reviews the PGA of America decision to abandon Trump Bedminster for Southern Hills following the January 6th insurrection. The piece also weaves in Phil Mickelson’s absence this week and Jack Nicklaus’ claim he was offered $100 million by Saudi Arabia to handle the role currently occupied by Greg Norman attempting to overthrow the PGA Tour.

Besides getting PGA of America CEO Seth Waugh’s side of how the change occurred—and the lucrative and safe landing spot provided by Tulsa and Southern Hills—Bamberger interviewed Nicklaus about the move.

“I like Seth Waugh,” Nicklaus said. “Seth didn’t need this job. He took the job because he thought he could give the PGA of America some good guidance. And I think he’s doing that. But this move is cancel culture. Donald Trump may be a lot of things, but he loves golf and he loves this country. He’s a student of the game and a formidable figure in the game. What he does in the future in golf will depend on what the cancel culture will allow him to do.”

Just so you have it, here’s the first sentence from the Wikipedia entry for cancel culture: “Cancel culture or call-out culture is a contemporary phrase used to refer to a form of ostracism in which someone is thrust out of social or professional circles — whether it be online, on social media or in person.”

Some would say Trump tried to cancel the result of the 2020 election, setting in motion the wheels that ultimately moved the 2022 PGA Championship from Bedminster to Tulsa. Some would dismiss that idea. These are polarizing times.

Outside of Nicklaus, there has not been a single protest or sign that anyone with influence is questioning the move, nor have the fans or corporate dollars that make these things go shown any sign of agreeing with the “cancel culture” claim.

It's Best That Phil WD'd And A Southern Hills First Look

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125 Years Ago: America's First Collegiate Championships Were Played

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With the NCAA men’s and women’s championships upon us, it’s been 125 years since the original college golf championships.

From May 12-14, 1897, Louis P Bayard Jr. won the first day individual title at Ardsley Casino in Dobbs Ferry, New York.

Day two consisted of semi-final team matches between Yale and Princeton and Harvard and Columbia.

Yale beat Harvard for its first of 21 championships by a score of 24 to 4.

Thanks to Yale’s Colin Sheehan for providing these cool clips looking back when they wore real joggers and played the ball down!

Euro Tour Player On Playing For Saudi Arabia: "It’s time to stand up" And Boycott

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Journeyman Mike Lorenzo-Vera spoke out to Tom Kershaw about the question of taking Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia money. (Thanks to reader B for sending.)

His views were shaped after watching a BBC documentary on the war in Yemen.

“If you go to the players’ lounge at any time, at least one table is speaking about [the LIV Series],” he tells The Independent. “Even me, I’d love to play for that amount of money as well for my family, my passions, but there is a time when you need to stand up a little bit and be a human being. I know there are players who are uncomfortable with it but it feels like they are staying quiet just in case there’s a piece of the cake coming to them one day. Some players will speak but the crowd needs to boycott it as well, don’t go there.”

Lorenzo-Vera also mocked the format:

Until such a rival league is properly established, though, Lorenzo-Vera likens the invitational events, which will be played over 54 holes without a cut, to a “comedy show”.

“If you play like s***, you still take a hundred grand,” he says. “The guys at the top will be fighting but for the rest, it’s like a paid holiday. The format is not golf. It’s just a show.”

Peak Norman Narcissism: "I’m not sure whether I even have any gay friends, to be honest with you.”

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Following a series of interviews to promote the upcoming LIV Golf event outside London, the entity has sought to clarify Commissioner Greg Norman’s various idiotic and ignorant remarks regarding murder. Their statement:

"The killing of Jamal Khashoggi was reprehensible. Everyone agrees on that, including Greg, as he has said as such previously on many occasions. Greg also knows that golf is a force for good around the world and can help make inroads toward positive change. That is why he is so excited about LIV and that was the point he was making."

Clean-up on aisle 4 still needs cleaning up.

Norman was condemned by the widow of Jamal Khashoggi following his wave of interviews. You may recall that the journalist was at the Saudi consulate to get a marriage license when U.S. intelligence believe a team of Crown Prince bin Salman’s detail murdered Khashoggi, dismembered him with a bonesaw and disposed of his remains. From The Telegraph:

"Would you say that if it was your loved one? How can we go forward when those who ordered the murder are still unpunished, and continue to try to buy back their legitimacy?" Ms Cengiz said.

"We should not fall for their wealth and lies, and lose our morals and common humanity.

"We should all be insisting on the truth and justice; only then can we look forward with hope and dignity."

Ms Cengiz's statement was released by her lawyer, Rodney Dixon, the British newspaper reported.

The hits keep on coming, with more of Norman’s comments to a group of journalists getting their chance to settle in. Apparently, Saudi Arabia’s horrendous record on gay rights is not an issue for the Shark because, well, who could imagine this answer.

"I’m not sure whether I even have any gay friends, to be honest with you.”

Next he’ll be saying doesn’t have any friends who were chopped up by a bonesaw so, really, could it have even happened?

The New York Times’ Bill Pennington sums it all up and to the surprise of no one who has followed Norman’s late life buffoonery, he’s dragging the LIV effort down.

He’s now lost Australia’s greatest female golfer:

Quadrilateral: Major(s) News & Notes, May 12, 2022

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Greg Norman On Murder And Beheading Prone Saudi Arabia: "We've all made mistakes" And "I heard about it and just kept moving on"

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Apparently LIV Golf Commish Greg Norman hasn’t sat down to read the details of Jamal Khashoggi’s killing lately. But according to Rick Broadbent of The Times, he continued is case for murder as politics and committed his latest gaffe with regard to the LIV Golf tour/league’s financing.

Norman, the frontman for the series, said: “Everybody has owned up to it, right? It has been spoken about, from what I’ve read, going on what you guys reported. Take ownership, no matter what it is. Look, we’ve all made mistakes and you just want to learn from those mistakes and how you can correct them going forward.”

Hard to correct when the body has never been found and was dismembered with a bonesaw.

This answer was also stupendously bad even by the standards of someone who called himself the living brand.

The two-times Open champion, who said he had never met Bin Salman, was also asked how he felt when he heard about the execution of 81 men in Saudi Arabia on March 12. “I got a lot of messages but quite honestly I look forward,” he said.

Messages? Oh?

“I don’t look back. I don’t look into the politics of things. I’m not going to get into the quagmire of whatever else happens in someone else’s world. I heard about it and just kept moving on.”

Q&A With Southern Hills Historian Clyde Chrisman

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The Southern Hills historian tells us how the course has changed and what binds the many champions there. Plus, he explains the Clock Tower and why the clubhouse is pink.

Combined with yesterday’s Q&A with superintendent Russ Myers, you realize the place is in good hands and should be just that much more excited about next week’s PGA Championship.

Let The Legal Wrangling Begin! PGA Tour Denies Waivers For LIV Events

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The expected showdown over LIV Golf’s Portland stop ended before it began.

Instead, the PGA Tour expedited the inevitable showdown with the Saudi Arabia-backed LIV Golf by denying player waivers to the upcoming LIV Invitational outside London. While many expected the Tour to allow their players that lucrativeplaying opportunity, a memo sent to players—and plenty of media who’ve apparently joined the player email list—explained the Tour’s position. The statement to players was sent at 6:30 p.m. ET and it’s tight! From GolfDigest.com’s Dan Rapaport story:

"We have notified those who have applied that their request has been declined in accordance with the PGA TOUR Tournament Regulations. As such, TOUR members are not authorized to participate in the Saudi Golf League’s London event under our Regulations," PGA Tour Senior Vice President Tyler Dennis wrote to players in the memo. "As a membership organization, we believe this decision is in the best interest of the PGA TOUR and its players."

The key words seem to be Tournament Regulations and “membership organization.”

LIV Commish Greg Norman found time after a busy daydigging new landmines while promoting the London stop to issue a lawyerly response. Bob Harig at MorningRead.com has it:

“Sadly, the PGA Tour seems intent on denying professional golfers their right to play golf, unless it’s exclusively in a PGA Tour tournament. This is particularly disappointing in light of the Tour’s non-profit status, where its mission is purportedly ‘to promote the common interests of professional tournament golfers.’ Instead, the Tour is intent on perpetuating its illegal monopoly of what should be a free and open market," Norman said.

"The Tour’s action is anti-golfer, anti-fan, and anti-competitive. But no matter what obstacles the PGA Tour puts in our way, we will not be stopped. We will continue to give players options that promote the great game of golf globally.”

We can tell Greg didn’t write this because it was devoid of mindless “grow the game” references and contradictions from one sentence to the next.

So where does this leave the showdown?

Lawyers making money!

GolfDigest.com’s Joel Beall talked to a few legal types regarding the PGA Tour’s right to block players and, well, it’s complicated.

More curious about all of this in the short term? Consider:

  • The DP World Tour is more immediately threatened by the upcoming London event and likely to see some of its better players wanting to play. But thanks to the PGA Tour they did not have to act first.

  • The PGA Championship is next week and perhaps the PGA Tour felt it would be better for their partners in Frisco to get these headlines out of the way now instead of having players get asked for an update on their release? AT&T is crapped on all the time so why not once more?

  • The 6:30 p.m. ET memo to players came after Norman admitted earlier in the day that the rival tour is a rival tour with long range commitments, not just some alternative opportunity for independent contractors who’ve long dreamed of shotgun starts. Perhaps the Tour’s lawyers had their reason to green light the release denial?

Norman revealed eight days ago that players were still under contract to play LIV Golf’s events. Presumably the contracts are not telling them what to wear.

"To this day, we still have players under contract and signed," Norman said. "The ones who wanted to get out because of the pressure of the PGA Tour gave back their money and got out. Guys had money in their pockets."

Presumably the contracts outline what exactly is required to see Saudi Arabia’s money in their accounts. We can only presume this means mandated appearances to play golf tournaments, not deliver readings of their favorite philosophy books. A cynic might even think these contracts serve as an advance for committing to an exclusive Saudi league with a binding franchise commitment that Norman made official in multiple interviews Tuesday.

Norman told the BBC these are “baiter” events coming up. Generally one uses bait to catch things?

Norman explained that his initial Invitational Series is just a beginning. "Twenty-two and 23 are our baiter years. We are a start up, basically," he said.

"I think people will realise the platform we have out there, the ability of the fans to get a better experience for the players, the stakeholders. Our production budget is mind-blowingly impressive."

A baiting start-up and better experience. Sure sounds like a rival league, one that might allow the PGA Tour to enforce its regulations.

Time and lot of lawyers will tell us who has the right to do what. But it sure sounds like the LIV folks were eager to assure players that their Saudi sugar daddies were in this for the long haul, freeing up Jared Kushner-level money and said a little too much too soon?

Saudis Commit Another $2 Billion Into LIV, Names Not Revealed For First Event To Air On YouTube

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The LIV Golf folks admirably opened their Commissioner to questioning following news of a staggering infusion of more money and to roll out world ranking numbers hoping to play the June 2-9 event outside London. One huge catch: Commissioner Greg Norman is a terrible interview and continues to do his best to sink this ambitious ship. Assuming you expect consistency, clarity, vision, non-B speak or a sense this is something to be taken seriously.

And the grow the game references are almost a nervous tick at this point. Another sign no one has been able to tell him the phrase is a way of announcing to the world, “I’m a stooge with no one around me to say stop using that inane, phony, shallow phrase.”

The latest rollout’s details.

  • According to Bob Harig at Morning Read, “LIV Golf Investments received 170 entries for the June 9-11 event at the Centurion Golf Club outside of London, with 36 ranked among the top 150 in the Official World Golf Ranking. Several amateurs, who have apparently worked out NIL (name, image and likeness) deals, will also be part of the 48-player field.”

  • Not a single player name was released. Norman said 19 of the top 100, and six of the top 50 are committed. Again, before releases were granted.

  • These field numbers, cited by Norman in multiple interviews, have been made before all releases from the PGA Tour and DP World Tour have been granted. With the DP potentially saying no to as many as 40, the numbers may take a hit.

  • Norman announced a new “infusion of $2 billion from the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia that will help launch its eight-tournament schedule this year, a 10-tournament slate in 2023 and the league, which in 2024 and 2025 will have 14 tournaments that include 12 four-man teams. Norman is in London for a promotional event tied to the first tournament.”

  • This is new money on top of the initial investment that appears appears meant to show a commitment beyond this year and next but also comes with players needing to commit to a league concept starting in ‘24.

  • A league concept sure goes against any kind of independent contractor situation, potentially undermining LIV’s legal case when coupled with previous Norman admissions that players are under contract.

Norman gave interviews to Sky Sports and BBC where, at best, he was all over the map.

Facing tough questions from Jamie Weir, Norman was wildly inconsistent spinning the the funding sources track record.

Norman said that he understood people's concerns about the source of the money funding the tour and the human rights violations in Saudi Arabia, but added that the country was making a "cultural change from within" and that he specifically has no ties to the government.

"100 per cent [I understand]," Norman said. "And it's reprehensible what happened with [Jamal] Khashoggi. Own up to it, talk about it.

"But if you go back into Saudi Arabia, they're making a cultural change from within to change that. They don't want to have that stigma sitting over there.

"The generation of kids that I see today on the driving range, they don't want that stigma going on into generations and their kids. They want to change that culture and they are changing it.

"And you know how they're doing it? Golf."

I believe that’s what they call sportwashing, as Weir noted. Greg said no.

Norman added: "I'm not going to get into politics, I don't know what the Saudi government does. I don't want to get into that. Every country has a cross to bear.

"They're not my bosses. We're independent. I do not answer to Saudi Arabia. I do not answer to their government or MBS [Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud].

"I answer to my board of directors, and MBS is not on that. Simple as that. So that narrative is untrue."

Wonder who he thinks the board reports to?

Maybe the Crown Prince got a standing O at the last PIFSA annual meeting for his choice of sandal?

The full interview is a wild mess of contradictions:

"The generation of kids that I see today on the driving range, they don't want that stigma going on into generations and their kids. They want to change that culture and they are changing it.

"And you know how they're doing it? Golf."

Norman added: "I'm not going to get into politics, I don't know what the Saudi government does. I don't want to get into that. Every country has a cross to bear.

"They're not my bosses. We're independent. I do not answer to Saudi Arabia. I do not answer to their government or MBS [Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud].

"I answer to my board of directors, and MBS is not on that. Simple as that. So that narrative is untrue."

"Their commitment to the league when it gets to 2024 is because they will own part of a franchise. They'll be able to go: Okay, I want to be traded for 'X'. They will be creating value within that team. The value today that doesn't exist for any player, anywhere in the world.

"It's up to them to make that decision. Personally, I wish I had this opportunity.

"We are not trying to destroy the Tour. 100 per cent not. I will fight to my death on that one. I'm still a lifetime member of the PGA Tour."

Speaking to BBC’s Iain Carter, Norman is backing off the use of disruptor or disruption and now calling 2022 and 2023 as LIV’s “baiter” years. “We are a start up, basically," he said.

With seed money from a regime that loves to cut people’s heads off after a not-fair trial.

Carter asked about television and high ticket prices for the initial events.

"I think people will realise the platform we have out there, the ability of the fans to get a better experience for the players, the stakeholders. Our production budget is mind-blowingly impressive."

He then revealed the opening event in Hertfordshire will be shown on YouTube. "Centurion will be streamed live," he said. "We have a lot of linear and OTT [over the top] people wanting to come in with us. We are under NDAs with nine of them."

NDA’s…except with YouTube!

Throughout the interview he insisted the primary objective is to "grow the game" and deferred to ticketing agencies for ground pass prices that start at £69.22 per day and £52 for students. By way of comparison, ticket prices for last week's British Masters at The Belfry started at £40.

"Ticket people make those decisions," he said.

Ah that’s the hands on, take all responsibility type of leadership you love to see!

More Details On PGA Manningcast: Buck And Collins Host, Guests To Include Aikman, Allen, Couples And The Mannings

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First reported last week by the New York Post and confirmed by Joe Buck on Twitter, the minds behind ESPN’s successful Monday Night Football “Manningcast” are bringing the concept to the 2022 PGA Championship.

The details of an aggressive effort—four hours a day—now include confirmed guests. The full release:

Joe Buck, Michael Collins To Host First of Its Kind PGA Championship Alternative Telecast for ESPN 

Celebrity Guests Joining Telecast Include Troy Aikman, Josh Allen, Charles Barkley, Doris Burke, Fred Couples, Jon Hamm, Peyton & Eli Manning 

Peyton Manning’s Omaha Productions, Production Company Behind Monday Night Football With Peyton and Eli, to Produce Telecast in Conjunction with ESPN  

ESPN is bringing a new additional viewing option to golf for the first time in its coverage of the upcoming PGA Championship with an alternate telecast - PGA Championship with Joe Buck & Michael Collins - that will complement the event’s traditional television production. 

The new telecast, produced by ESPN in collaboration with Peyton Manning’s Omaha Productions, follows the success of the innovative and critically acclaimed Monday Night Football with Peyton and Eli alternate telecast this past NFL season.

The alternate telecast will be hosted by Joe Buck, who recently joined ESPN to anchor Monday Night Football next season, and ESPN senior golf analyst Michael Collins, the host of the ESPN+ program America’s Caddie. Buck will be making the first ESPN appearance of his new deal.

PGA Championship with Joe Buck & Michael Collins will air during all four days of competition in the May 19-22 tournament and feature an array of guests to offer running commentary and conversation as live play in golf’s second major of the season unfolds at Southern Hills Country Club in Tulsa, Okla. 

Peyton and Eli Manning will be among the guests on the telecast during the tournament. Other guests who will appear across the four days of coverage will include Troy Aikman, Josh Allen, Charles Barkley, Fred Couples, Jon Hamm and ESPN’s Doris Burke with more guests to be announced later.

“Working with Omaha Productions, we are producing a telecast that is designed to reach a new and different audience and elevate the appeal of the PGA Championship even more,” said Lee Fitting, ESPN senior vice president, production. “We feel that this will ultimately help grow our viewership and provide fans with another fun and creative way that they can enjoy sports.”

“We loved doing Monday Night Football with ESPN and the entire Omaha team has been looking forward to producing alternate telecasts that celebrate other sports,” said Peyton Manning. “As one of golf’s majors, the PGA Championship is a perfect place to do our first one for golf and we look forward to working with Joe, Michael and everyone in ESPN’s golf team.”

The telecast will air for four hours each day. During the first and second rounds on Thursday and Friday, May 19-20, the telecast will air on ESPN from 1-2 p.m. ET during the final hour of live tournament coverage on ESPN+ and then move to ESPN2 from 2-5 p.m. while tournament play is airing on ESPN.

During the third and final rounds on Saturday and Sunday, May 21-22, the telecast will air on ESPN from 9-10 a.m. while live play is airing on ESPN+ and then it will switch to ESPN+ from 10 a.m. – 1 p.m. while live play is airing on ESPN.  

Earlier this year, ESPN and The Walt Disney Company announced an expanded agreement with Peyton Manning and his Omaha Productions company, a relationship that launched Monday Night Football with Peyton and Eli. The extension added a fourth year (through 2024 season) for Monday Night Football with Peyton and Eli, featuring a 10-game annual slate of alternative productions to ESPN’s traditional Monday Night Football telecast. Additionally, the agreement calls for alternative presentations (with other hosts) for UFC, college football and golf to be produced by Omaha Productions in collaboration with ESPN.

In the third year of an 11-year deal with the PGA of America, ESPN and ESPN+ will present more some 230 hours of live coverage of the PGA Championship including traditional coverage as well as Featured Holes and Featured Groups.

"Coore & Crenshaw: The cornerstones of success"

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They are the undisputed best in the business and I’m not sure it’s close, so it’s great to read Shaun Tolson’s profile of Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw who are still going strong but also working the same way they always have: with the utmost care for the details.

It’s hard to believe this many years later but they struggled to get their design firm off the ground.

Looking back on those early years, when the duo had no pipeline of work and no completed projects upon which they could hang their proverbial hats, both men legitimately wondered if anyone was going to hire them. What they did know was that they shared the same philosophical approach to designing courses. Equally significant, they both shared the same philosophy of how they wanted their business of designing courses to operate. “We knew it had to be run like a business to survive,” Coore explains, “but at the same time, philosophically, we were trying to say that we were going to treat it like a hobby.

“When I say hobby, I mean, ‘let’s have fun doing this.’ Don’t make this such a business that we’re not involved and can’t have fun. If you have this dream to actually create a golf course, but you structure a business deal that takes that dream away, now you’re just a businessman.”

Ultimately, Coore and Crenshaw agreed from the beginning that their No. 1 goal was to design a few interesting golf courses, to be significantly involved in the work and development of those courses as they moved through the conception and construction phases, and to have some fun while doing it all. “Back then, no matter how we progressed, we knew we weren’t going to be prolific,” Crenshaw says. “Our goal was to build a few good golf courses. And that’s never changed. It doesn’t change now.”