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
Golf In Scotland (In The Black & White Era): Q&A With Steve Finan
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The Amazon US link.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Golf-Scotland-Black-White-Era/dp/1845359003/geoffshacke07-20
https://www.dcthomsonshop.co.uk/gifts/golf-gifts
Quadrilateral: Major(s) News & Notes, June 30th, 2022
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The Open nears and a key prognosticating angle surfaces. Details at 11!
In case you aren’t aware, The Quadrilateral is a year-round place for coverage of the events that matter and free of Strategic Alliances or dirty dictator money. It’s going to be an exciting month or so with links season and everything else in the game.
Former PGA Tour Players Try To Explain Why They Took Saudi Cash And Remind Us Why They Won't Be Missed
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I should just post that photo and end the post there.
But you have to soak some of the wisdom shared by PGA Tour defectors and genuinely-hard-to-care-one-iota-about individuals.
From Bob Harig’s account of this LIV Portland prick conference.
Asked if there was something the PGA Tour could have done to thwart the LIV Golf effort or improve, Reed said: “Listen to the players for once.’’
For once! Maybe he didn’t know about Justine’s direct line to the Global Home.
This was nice from Perez:
“I don't think I did anything wrong,’’ Perez said. “Plus, I want the money that I earned from this year. I played 20 events. So I'm still entitled to my FedEx money and whatever this other money that we're talking about. I'm not resigning from anything.”
Another one who forgot his disdain for the whole Saudi thing until he didn’t.
And Koepka, the four-time major winner going from finding the whole thing shady, growing angry about questions during the U.S. Open, to signing on the dotted line.
“My opinion changed; that was it,’’ he said. “You guys will never believe me, but we didn’t have the conversation 'til everything was done at the U.S. Open and figured it out and just said I was going to go one way or the other. Here I am.
“Like I said, opinions changed. And I feel very comfortable with the decision I made. I’m happy, and I did what’s best for me.’’
In the just plain pitiful division, Matthew Wolff spoke repeatedly of missing college golf, 54 hole tournaments and the best years of his life, suggesting he’s been converted by the team aspect where he’ll join the Hy Flyers: Phil Mickelson, Bernd Wiesberger and Itthipa Buranatanyarat. The team van trips to mediocre courses will be just like the old Cowboy days!
I think, you know, it's hard when you're out there struggling and you've gotta play three, four weeks in a row, and you feel like you're in a rut. You feel like you just can't get out of it. And, you know, here, being able to really prepare, have more time. I mean, also, I know this is my job, but it's like on your off weeks, too, I mean sometimes when you're traveling for three weeks in a row and you got one week off, my coach, he lives in California. So it's like do I want to spend time with my girlfriend and my dog at home and enjoy my time off and sleep in my own bed or do I want to go travel again across the country and go work with my swing coach and then not have time for that.
The folks at LIV did seek to refute Brandel Chamblee’s suggestion players will be earning on-course money against their advances. Without seeing contracts we won’t know if the folks here are telling the truth.
The Alliance Strikes Back! PGA Tour And DP World Tour Announce Enhanced Partnership
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After rumors of a possible deal with Saudi Arabia’s LIV Golf, the DP World Tour has leveraged the perceptions—all the media’s fault—to get a better deal with the PGA Tour. Namely, ten cards, several hundred million dollars and more joint events promised through 2035.
The situation remains bizarre that so much boilerplate language is thrown about with so few details after nearly two years of disruptive possibilities. Nor do the sides seem to be addressing the oversaturation of their products and market forces indicating a desire to tighten things up. The market may address that in time. For now, and For Immediate Release with interruptions:
DP WORLD TOUR, PGA TOUR EXPAND AND STRENGTHEN ALLIANCE
* Move is a significant boost to a global pathway for competitive golf
*PGA TOUR to provide operational support and additional investment to the DP World Tour
* DP World Tour prize fund levels set to grow annually
The DP World Tour and the PGA TOUR have moved to significantly strengthen not only their existing alliance but also help develop players to compete at the pinnacle of men’s professional golf, by unveiling a ground-breaking new 13-year operational joint venture partnership.
The partnership, through to 2035, builds on the success of the existing Strategic Alliance between the two Tours that was unveiled in November 2020 and which has already seen tangible benefits for members of both Tours, not least the co-sanctioning of the Genesis Scottish Open on the DP World Tour, alongside access for both memberships into the Barbasol Championship and the Barracuda Championship on the PGA TOUR.
Such benefits that only a bunch guys departed for LIV Golf. But go on…
Collaboration has already borne fruit for the DP World Tour with the introduction of new tournament title sponsors such as Genesis and Horizon and new Tour partners such as Fortinet and Velocity Global.
Life changing stuff…for the people who got bonuses inking those deals.
In addition, working together to drive prize funds and commercial revenue will not only benefit the entire range of both memberships immediately, but also develop immense strategic opportunities for all members of both Tours for the future.
But will it be more interesting to watch? Bring more top players together on great courses?
As part of the new joint venture, the PGA TOUR will increase its existing stake in European Tour Productions from 15 percent to 40 percent, while utilising the DP World Tour’s recognised international credentials and global footprint to continue to coordinate a worldwide schedule.
Gobbledygook alert! Glad they found more millions found in the cushions! The PGA Tour spent $85 million for 15% so…
The DP World Tour will guarantee growth in annual prize funds to its membership for the next five years, all above the record 2022 levels unveiled as part of the DP World Tour title partnership arrangement announced last November.
The new joint venture will provide additional competitive opportunities for professional golfers of both Tours and also establish a clearly defined pathway for top players around the world. Players from the Sunshine Tour and ISPS Handa PGA Tour of Australasia, with whom the DP World Tour already has existing Strategic Alliances, now enjoy a formal pathway to the DP World Tour.
Now that’s a positive for developing players from other parts of the world.
With today’s announcement, DP World Tour members will now have direct and formal access to the very pinnacle of the men’s professional game on the PGA TOUR.
To achieve that, from 2023, the leading ten players on the end of season DP World Tour Rankings [in addition to those already exempt] will earn PGA TOUR cards for the following season.
Another positive. Key language: in addition to. So this is not some top 10 who already would have a PGA Tour card.
Furthermore, the DP World Tour will work closely on the development and implementation of the new international events announced by PGA TOUR Commissioner Jay Monahan last week at the Travelers Championship in Connecticut, and DP World members will gain access to those events.
Keith Pelley, Chief Executive Officer of the DP World Tour said: “Building on the success of the existing Strategic Alliance between ourselves and the PGA TOUR, this move will significantly enhance the meritocracy that has successfully served the professional game on both sides of the Atlantic for more than 50 years.
“It is a natural extension and progression of what we have been doing over the past few years and I passionately believe that this move is the right thing for our players, our Tour, our fans, and the game of golf in general.
“Our two tours have undoubtedly drawn closer over the past few years and today’s announcement strengthens both Tours for the betterment of both memberships.”
And Jay, who did not include Pelley in last week’s scripted opening remarks, talks like he won this match on the 22nd hole:
Jay Monahan, Commissioner of the PGA TOUR, said, “It was clear from the outset that our Strategic Partnership with the European Tour Group was a powerful agreement for both sides, and we are thrilled with today’s announcement of this expanded partnership.
“We will continue to collaborate on a global schedule and key commercial areas as we draw our organizations and memberships even closer together while innovating to provide the most entertaining and compelling golf possible to fans around the world. On behalf of the PGA TOUR, I want to credit and commend Keith Pelley and his team at the European Tour Group for their incredible commitment to this effort.”
It may be a tiny semantics deal, but it’s curious he keeps referring to the European Tour group and avoids DP World Tour.
As always, we’ll see what the two sides come up with. That they already had a partnership and yet no fall schedule plan suggests one side was distracted instead of pinning down details for Fall events. Which side? We don’t know.
"LIV Golf faces hurdles in applying for world ranking points"
/In his weekly notes column, AP’s Doug Ferguson details the issues facing the LIV golf quest to get world ranking points for players, vital for its younger stars to earn access to major championships.
While there are currently conflicting reports on whether an application has been submitted by LIV and received by the OWGR, Ferguson notes all of the ways the 54-hole, limited field size schedule will not qualify.
One is that every tournament be contested over at least 54 holes with a 36-hole cut or be in line with eligible formats. LIV Golf has no cut.
The OWGR guidelines indicate a standard format of 72 holes, with 54 holes acceptable “for those tournaments earnings fewer than 12 minimum first-place points.” In other words, a steady diet of 54-hole events is typically for developmental tours or offseason series, such as the Vodacom Origins of Golf in South Africa.
Guidelines also state that tournaments must average a 75-man field over the course of the season.
Other than that…
LIV can expand and tweak if this is of importance to its players. Given how many still have major exemptions or are simply taking the easy money, perhaps OWGR status will never matter to the league.
"The Saudis and Fallon Smart"
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The backstory:
Abdulrahman Sameer Noorah, a Saudi national, swerved around the cars that had stopped so Fallon could cross the street at its intersection with 43rd Avenue.
Noorah had already racked up 17 parking tickets and a suspended drivers’ license in his two years at Portland Community College. Near graduation, he didn’t think the bills would ever come due.
The Saudis proved him right, spiriting him out of the country before he could stand trial on charges of manslaughter, felony hit-and-run and reckless driving.
He hopped into a black GMC Yukon XL two weeks before his June 2017 trial. He cut off his tracking monitor at a sand-and-gravel yard, then vanished. Inside a week, he was back in the kingdom, the Saudis would quietly inform Homeland Security … 13 months later.
The LIV Golf event backed by the Kingdom tees off Friday in Portland.
This AP piece by Anne Peterson looks at some of the backlash expected. Though as the story notes, event organizers have banned any kind of “political” signage. That is not stopping several local mayors and a U.S. Senator from criticizing the event.
Cabot Group Purchases Castle Stuart, To Add Second Course By Tom Doak
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Erik Matuszewski reports on Ben Cowan-Dewar and Mike Keiser’s Cabot operation has taken on Castle Stuart. Already home to Hanse Design’s incredible design that hosted two Scottish Opens, the late Mark Parsinen’s development will now get a second course by Tom Doak.
“It’s building on the foundation we started years ago,” says Cabot CEO Ben Cowan-Dewar, who partnered with Bandon Dunes owner Mike Keiser in establishing the Cabot brand. “These things, they take time. But the chance to build in an amazing location and continue to get to work with amazing people is what it’s all about.”
While Castle Stuart checks the Cabot boxes for world class golf and phenomenal surrounds, more is on the way. Cowan-Dewar and the Cabot team have brought in architect Tom Doak to build a second 18-hole championship course on a property that spans almost 500 acres. The new course, which will begin construction later this year and has a planned 2024 opening, will play around Castle Stuart’s 400-year-old castle, weaving through hillsides and expansive open land. There are also several holes dramatically set on the water further southwest of the current course.
With rumblings of a revived Coul Links and so many other greats in the greater (and stunning) Highlands area, the future as a destination is looking bright.
Pelley Vents About "What is transpiring right now across all media platforms"
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Now, even though he’s largely been in hiding, only denied one small part of a recent Golf Digest story via a DP World Tour statement, was the proud instigator of golf getting in bed with Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman, and was not mentioned in Jay Monahan’s prepared opening remarks last week, it still appears DP World Tour chief Keith Pelley is blaming media for speculation about a possible Saudi deal.
From Andrew Wright’s report on an in-house video message to his players and partners includes this:
"There's been a lot of speculation, a lot of rumours swirling," Pelley said. "There’s been very little fact and lots of fiction. Factually, I can tell you we're partners with the PGA Tour in our strategic alliance that has been very beneficial since we signed that back in November 2020.
"There is a tremendous amount of fiction and you have to be careful with what is transpiring right now across all media platforms and I encourage everyone to again deal with the fact.
"The one fact is that we will always concentrate on doing the best for our membership, our sponsors, and our stakeholders, and for our players and our members that is prize fund and playing opportunities."
Perhaps a little more transparency and a lot less hiding would help squelch these rumors? Just a thought!
The Quadrilateral: Wrapping A Wacky Weekend In Golf
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Oh, and how cool did Congressional look? A word not normally associated with what used to be a big, soulless mess! I have before/after pics to prove the point. One of NBC’s aerials:
Cookie Jar On Royal St. George's And The 1922 Open Championship
/To help build our excitement for the 150th Open and cleanse those of us muddied by reading all about modern player greed and ignorance, the guys at Cookie Jar Golf have come along with a fantastic look at Walter Hagen’s 1922 Open win.
It’s a reminder of the days when players made huge sacrifices to travel for the chance to win an Open. He also broke the Great Triumvirate stranglehold on the Open and ushered in a new era of American dominance. Using Tom Clavin's Sir Walter, The flamboyant life of Walter Hagen, they give us a much needed excuse to revisit last year’s host and its place in the game. Then it’s off to St Andrews!
Parents: Greg Norman Wants Your Kids Cell Number And That's Not A Good Idea When The Saudis Are Involved
/The LIV proposal included a multi-million dollar signing bonus in exchange for a two-year commitment, Coody said. Also included, Coody said, were all travel expenses to tournaments this year and next, plus guaranteed prize money regardless of where he finished in any event.
Coody said he was given 12 days to decide on the offer.
Norman also requested Coody’s cell-phone number so he could pitch Coody personally.
“I shut that down in a hurry,” said Kyle, who also played golf for the University of Texas before testing his game in the pro ranks.
Kyle being Parker and Pierceson’s dad. And a smart man.
Backed by the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia, LIV Golf players defecting should know that upon giving up their cell phone number there is always the distinct possibility that the Kingdom is watching them.
As documented in multiple stories, Saudi Arabia is a user of the Pegasus software developed by Israeli firm NSO Group. And may continue to be despite a cancelled contract, as Ronen Bergman and Mark Mazzetti reported last year.
After the murder of Mr. Khashoggi in 2018, one of the firms, NSO Group, canceled its contracts with Saudi Arabia amid accusations that its hacking tools were being misused to abet heinous crimes.
But the Israeli government encouraged NSO and two other companies to continue working with Saudi Arabia, and issued a new license for a fourth to do similar work, overriding any concerns about human rights abuses, according to one senior Israeli official and three people affiliated with the companies.
Since then, Saudi Arabia has continued to use the spyware to monitor dissidents and political opponents.
The Strategic Alliance Is Alive! DP World Tour Gets Around To Sanctioning Defectors
/The PGA Tour’s “strategic alliance” with the DP World Tour seemed on thin ice after Wednesday’s presser where Jay Monahan did not include them in his opening remarks.
But a day after it was expected, the Tour formerly known as European fined defectors to LIV Golf and will not allow them to play in three upcoming co-sanctioned events with the PGA Tour, including the prestigious Genesis Scottish Open.
A Press Association piece noted this distinction between the Tours (on top of announcing fine amounts), which could suggest the Europeans are buying time while negotiating with LIV’s Saudi sugar daddies.
While the PGA Tour immediately indefinitely banned all their members within minutes of the players teeing off at Centurion Club a fortnight ago the DP World Tour delayed making a decision until now.
Pelley consulted the organisation’s wider membership before the decision was taken to sanction the involved players, who in addition to the Scottish Open - traditionally used as a warmup for the Open Championship the following week - have also been banned from PGA Tour co-sanctioned Barbasol Championship and the Barracuda Championship next month.
The full release:
DP WORLD TOUR CONFIRMS MEMBER SANCTIONS
The DP World Tour today confirmed the sanctions to be taken against members who breached Tour regulations and participated in a LIV Golf event at Centurion Club from June 9-11, despite not having received releases to allow them to do so.
Such actions contravened the conflicting event Regulation laid down in the Members’ General Regulations Handbook as well as the Code of Behaviour Regulation, of which the members have been reminded on a number of recent occasions, and has led the Tour to take the following steps, which have been notified to all members concerned.
They will be fined £100,000*
They have been advised that they are suspended from participating in the following DP World Tour tournaments - the Genesis Scottish Open and Barbasol Championship (July 7-10) and the Barracuda Championship (July 14-17) and have been removed from the entry lists of these events where applicable.
It is important to note that participation in a further conflicting tournament or tournaments without the required release may incur further sanctions.
*Money raised from the fines will be shared equally in two distinct ways; (i) it will be added to prize funds of upcoming tournaments on the DP World Tour, to the benefit of Members of the DP World Tour who have complied with the Release rules and (ii) it will be distributed through the Tour’s Golf for Good programme to deserving charitable causes in the communities that the DP World Tour plays.
Keith Pelley, Chief Executive of the DP World Tour, said: “Every action anyone takes in life comes with a consequence and it is no different in professional sport, especially if a person chooses to break the rules. That is what has occurred here with several of our members.
“Many members I have spoken to in recent weeks expressed the viewpoint that those who have chosen this route have not only disrespected them and our Tour, but also the meritocratic ecosystem of professional golf that has been the bedrock of our game for the past half a century and which will also be the foundation upon which we build the next 50 years.
“Their actions are not fair to the majority of our membership and undermine the Tour, which is why we are taking the action we have announced today.”
