IT'S HERE TO STAY. LIV with it!

I applaud #TaylorMade for not getting sucked into the hysteria and instead doing what's best for their stakeholders (shareholders, players, employees and customers) rather than what's best for the monopolistic #pgatour

Isn't it obvious by now? #livgolf & PGA TOUR need to talk. What's happening isn't good for either organization, their members or the image of golf.

Of course the question mark over the Saudis stems from the brutal murder and dismemberment of #JamalKhashoggi in the Saudi consulate in Turkey allegedly on the orders of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, head of state and head of PIF, the fund that owns and has interests in a wide range of legitimate businesses globally, including LIV, formerly Saudi Golf League (SLG), and some of the PGA Tour's main sponsors.

After the audio tapes of the murder were released there was rightly widespread condemnation but not a single sanction by any government on #saudiarabia, despite an investigation finding that the Saudi Crown Prince was likely to have been behind the murder. Even journalists around the world were weak in their short-lived condemnation of the murder of one of their own, so I find it a bit rich that they have the audacity to criticise players.

Trade continued, including supplying arms so that the Saudis can bomb the crap out of other Middle East states and all embassies remained open. #PresidentTrump met with the Crown Prince after the murder and recently #PresidentBiden visited Saudi Arabia and fist-pumped the Crown Prince.

There’s the Saudi Arabia Grand Prix in #formula1, Football through #fifa, ownership of a #premierleague team, wrestling through #WWE and of course they participate in several other sports and in the #Olympics.

Why therefore should #golfers be expected to be the moral arbiters when governments took no action?

The fact is that for the PGATour it was NEVER about the Saudis. It’s been about #gregnorman and the threat he and his backers (even if his backers had been Disney) poses to the monopoly held by the #pgatour. In my opinion the mistake the Tour made was thinking that this was going to be just like dealing with Norman in the 90s. But this time he didn’t just come along with an idea. Having learned last time that the Tour were unwilling to even talk, this time he came with a product, a plan and the financial muscle to be a significant disruptor.

But they should have known what was coming, because the European Tour met with the SLG in July 2021 in Malta. A meeting brokered by DPWorld, a company based in the United Arab Emirates and now the title sponsor of what was the European Tour. I don’t believe for one second that Mr Pelley would not have shared the wider points of that meeting with the commissioner of the PGA Tour.

?Through their uncompromising rebuttal, the PGA Tour will now find itself on the back foot in any negotiations that may take place. Finding, as if by magic, a further $160m for a series of events came across as a desperate last-ditch attempt to win back the defectors. It’s failed.

More players will follow the $$$. The current LIV format does nothing for me yet but they’ve only just got started. It will become more creative and competitive especially if the events secure world ranking points.

?As a fan of golf I’d like to see the manufacturers “own” teams in a similar way #F1 operates. Why? Because it will be interesting, different, competitive and exciting. Can you imagine TaylorMade v #callaway v PXG v Ping v Wilson v Titleist v Cobra v Mizuno v Honma etc… You just have to watch Netflix’s “F1-Drive to Survive” to feel the passion and the tension. It would also potentially be an opportunity for the smaller brands like TourEdge, Lynx or Robin Golf to make an entrance.

?If the US Department Of Justice investigation into the Tour’s practices goes ahead, I can certainly see restraint of trade and monopolisation being the two charges that could stick.

?Time to cut with the Saudi smokescreen and talk, before the Tour destroys itself.

?But what do you think?

?Tony Clark