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2023 General Discussions

limpalong

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Anyone watch the LIV event? Seems like a grade 2 "off season" exhibition event. Not sure it is really threatening the PGA events at all.
Nope! And, I ain't gonna watch one second of it! Between Greg Norman and Saudi blood money... I'd rather watch Oprah reruns!!!
 

IrishGolfer

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I sort of get LIV. It was inevitable, it's been happening across lots of sports. It's being driven by money, social media and a desire to mix things up. If I'm GMAC or Lee Westwood, at the swansong of my career and someone offers me a bunch of money to play golf in a new league, I'm going to take it. You get $120K for coming last! How could you turn that sort of money down?

Loyalty to the PGA Tour or DP World Tours? These guys are contractors. Poulter has played all over the planet; in Russia, China etc. He has played on US, European, Asian, African tours for almost three decades. He plays to earn money and has never questioned the ethics / morals of his paymasters. None of them have until now.

As a player the traditional route has been to start on mini-tours, progress to bigger tours and ultimately you have aimed for PGA Tour. We have seen a lot of the Euros go this route as the purses are better, the fields are stronger. But they still want to play in Europe, Asia, Africa for the bigger events, where they have chances of getting world ranking points.

Saudi blood money is a bit extreme. Any of the PGA Tour sponsors, if you dig deep enough, you will find nefarious connections to revenue sources, supply chains, questionable deals etc. Agreed Norman has been a douchbag as to how he has handled this. He has been touting a World Golf League as far back as the 1980s. But if it wasn't him, it would be another figurehead that would be taking the heat. Michelson has not exactly covered himself in glory.

This has happened in other sports such as darts, wrestling, boxing where new leagues come into play. They co-exist, players choose one or the other. My only issue is that you cannot identify the best players. The only way to do that is to let them play in "Open events" where you have to pre-qualify. My worry is that Majors will be won where some of the best players are excluded. Imagine Cameron smith, the current Open Champion, being excluded from the Masters??

I have an issue with LIV players wanting the best of both worlds and bringing in lawyers to justify their rights as players. They all went in with their eyes open. You sign the dotted line, you go off to another world and have to leave your current world. Be happy with your lot!

LIV is not a bottomless pit. I think they have the next 2 years to sink or swim. I like that they are trying out new formats. 54 holes, teams, etc. But it feels nothing more than exhibition golf. But right now it is badly organised and executed. We are starting to see cracks, rumours that Koepka is not happy. Contracts being tightened, players having to pay for their own travel, play in a greater number of tournaments. I tried to find out what the scores were this week, gave up after trying to search for about 5 mins and I was still no wiser. Some of the media channels are going out of their way to negate any publicity.

In fact the PGA and DP tours have been fuelling a massive negative PR campaign against LIV to retain their own strangleholds. But it's sad seeing the level of personal bickering. Sad to see Garcia wine on about how he is being treated. Slanderous sideswipes between former friends. These guys used to be very close.

So let's see where it goes. I think in the next few years things will be interesting. I'm a golf fan, I like watching golf, I like seeing excellence. I don't really care about the brand, stage, venue etc.
 
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Grumpy Gilmore
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Just because other sports do/have done something, and even if other tournaments have gotten dark money, that doesn't make it right. That doesn't give anyone a pass. Especially when it is blatantly obvious where LIV money comes from. Could I say "Well people have been murdering people for millennia, so I should be allowed to murder someone."? No, because it's not right.

It's just not right.
 
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Grumpy Gilmore
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At the Arnold Palmer Invitational, 7 of the top-ten guys (right now) have bogeyed the 9th hole. 492 yard par 4.
 

ualtim

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At the Arnold Palmer Invitational, 7 of the top-ten guys (right now) have bogeyed the 9th hole. 492 yard par 4.
Yeah, that’s not right, 492 yard par 4? Clown town.
 

IrishGolfer

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I'd prefer that LIV didn't exist, but the horse has left the stable, so it is what it is. Personally I don't think it is a viable model and it will run out of money. I'm happy to watch from the sidelines and see how it develops. There is no doubt that it will change the golf landscape moving forward.
 
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Grumpy Gilmore
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Jon Rahm after posting 76 today: "What do you think I'm gonna say? Pardon my language but it's fuking hard!"
 
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Grumpy Gilmore
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Weird part about living on the west coast is that these guys will be finished before I even have breakfast.

1678324618678.png
 
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Grumpy Gilmore
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Man, watching Michael Block is anxiety inducing. Just the most bizarrely bad shots imaginable. Dude somehow came up 40 yards short on a par three and still made par.
 
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Grumpy Gilmore
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They just said that no Canadian has won the Canadian Open since the 1950s. WHAT!
 

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