Stoneage Ramblings

By John R. Stone

Most of you probably haven’t been paying much attention to what is going on with professional golf but there have been some changes and more may be on the way. I’m not sure I like them.

The Professional Golf Association (PGA) has been the leading organization in professional golf for many years. Players earn membership by qualifying for the tour through their skills as golfers. It schedules tournaments and doles out prize money.

What I like about golf is that it is a true individual sport. You play well, you can make a living at it, in fact a pretty good living. If you don’t play well you need to find another way to earn a living.

There is no blaming teammates or team ownership or officials for wins or losses, you have to go out and play better than the other players to win. You play 72 holes of golf over four days. You walk the course but do have a caddy to carry your clubs, a caddy you pay.

Three years ago the Saudi Arabian public investment fund hired former pro golfer Greg Norman to set up a pro golf circuit named LIV Golf. I’m not sure what the LIV stands for but it came out with a slightly different format, teams of four players would compete over 54 holes, three 18 hole rounds instead of four, and three days of golf instead of four. Oh, and players can wear shorts rather than the long pants PGA golfers wear.

LIV golfers who have previously won some major PGA events have been allowed to play in the four PGA major events but not in other PGA events.

To get key players LIV offered millions of dollars in signing bonuses, some reportedly up to $100 million. Some PGA golfers jumped at the money and left, most did not.

When LIV couldn’t get all the golfers it wanted it threatened to sue the PGA and so negotiations are now underway for some kind of a merger or agreement. But nobody knows what is being discussed in terms of a merger.

So far LIV golf has not been a big draw. The team format doesn’t offer quite the drama of a single golfer shooting the best score. And there is drama in the single player scenario; someone back in the pack has a hot streak the last two days or the final day to pull ahead and win, a golfer leading all the way falters on the final day and ends up back in the pack, or sometimes two or three or more golfers will be tied and go into a “sudden death” playoff. There are a variety of potential screen plays for a tourney, all of them interesting.

PGA golf is carried on the Golf Channel, NBC and CBS while LIV golf just signed with CW. I can’t imagine what LIV is getting paid for TV rights by CW is anywhere near what the PGA gets from the Golf Channel, NBC and CBS.

LIV golf has created some changes in the PGA. There are designated events that have higher purses than others. There is a system where popular golfers who play in a certain number of events get bonuses because they help draw larger crowds.

Just about every PGA event has a charitable connection, money goes to a local charity.

It is still not clear to me what LIV golf was intended to do other than mess with the PGA. Now the PGA hasn’t always been a perfect organization but overall it has worked pretty well. And some of the changes driven by LIV competition are probably good.

But why someone would try so set up a competing league as a money making proposition does not really make any sense to me.

I enjoy sitting in front of the TV on a cold Sunday afternoon when the snow is on the ground looking at the folks walking on green grass, hitting great golf shots and then sometimes actually hitting some lousy shots just like I might.

I hope LIV golf doesn’t change that.