Phil marks return at Southern Hills and commits to the LIV golf league

[GolfSpy_TCU 709]

Phil officially announces that he has registered to defend at Southern Hills in May and has requested a release to play in the first LIV golf tournament in London in June. Just when you think that the Saudi league is on it's last breath, they're coming back. Anyone have any takes on how Phil plays at Southern Hills? He'll obviously be the media focus of the entire week.

 

[fixyurdivot 17,495]

I'm glad to see him back and really hope he does well.  The odds of a repeat are next to nothing but I'm a Phil fan and will be rooting for him.  The PGA should pair him with Rory and Tiger on Thursday... the remaining 14 patrons not following that group will have the entire place to themselves .  As for the Shark Tour, it is not going away anytime soon, IMO, and he isn't the only one that will be requesting a LWOP.  I personally think this tour is going to stir up the stuff before it dies down, if it ever does.  I also suspect a lot more players are remaining silent but seriously considering that tour in a wait and see mode.  

[RickyBobby_PR 9,645]

PGA commish denied all exemptions to play London. Now to see if the players have the marbles to play in it

[GaDawg 1,634]

11 minutes ago, RickyBobby_PR said:

PGA commish denied all exemptions to play London. Now to see if the players have the marbles to play in it

Phil has the marbles!

[PMookie 17,338]

Phil needs $40 million to get back to even on some old betting losses. I don’t think I’ll be pulling for him much going forward. Kind of disappointed.

[Kenny B 33,459]

37 minutes ago, PMookie said:

Phil needs $40 million to get back to even on some old betting losses. I don’t think I’ll be pulling for him much going forward. Kind of disappointed.

I pull for anyone that has arthritis as bad or worse than I do.

[PMookie 17,338]

49 minutes ago, Kenny B said:

I pull for anyone that has arthritis as bad or worse than I do.

Awesome! Then you’ll be pulling for me too!!!!  

[fixyurdivot 17,495]

2 hours ago, RickyBobby_PR said:

PGA commish denied all exemptions to play London. Now to see if the players have the marbles to play in it

Oh boy, here we go.  You're "free agents" but not really. I see a boat load of billable hours by a fleet of attorneys in my fuzzy crystal ball.  As this sabre rattling ensues we're likely going to get a peek into contract specifics that we'd otherwise never know about.  I'll take the refillable tub but pass on the butter .  

Line in the sand: PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan has denied players permission to play on LIV Golf tour (yahoo.com)

And, if that weren't enough of a kick in the willy, Jay sent Greg another shot across the bow.  

Greg Norman denied special exemption to play 2022 Open Championship (golf.com)

[Thin2win 3,821]

Denying the release will be hard to justify, only because the tour so often grants releases to play in DP for events. 

So the precedent has been set and the tour isn't following that. 

But the argument that the players are free agents isn't exactly true. The players are members of the PGA tour and enjoy the rights/privileges that come with it. I. E. Automatic entry into events if they are in the top 125. If any player wants to give up their pga tour status then they would be a free agent. They could play all the LIV events they could get into, and try to Monday qualify for pga events, or get entry in via an alternate means. 

The PGA tour isn't backed by a state government, but mostly by the TV contracts it negotiates. The value of those contracts could be drastically adjusted if much of the top talent switched tours. 

Jay /the tour have decided that playing hardball is the best option for them. I think they are in a no win situation. 

[GolfSpy_APH 7,991]

Without getting into the social politics I simply just think it's bad for the game. It isn't growing the game, as for me, that is done at a grass roots level. Not paying millions more to millionaires.

For those who want to go, great go ahead. I don't have interest in this new league. The extra money they play for doesn't get me excited or make me want to tune in to watch.

[RickyBobby_PR 9,645]

9 hours ago, fixyurdivot said:

Oh boy, here we go.  You're "free agents" but not really. I see a boat load of billable hours by a fleet of attorneys in my fuzzy crystal ball.  As this sabre rattling ensues we're likely going to get a peek into contract specifics that we'd otherwise never know about.  I'll take the refillable tub but pass on the butter .  

Line in the sand: PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan has denied players permission to play on LIV Golf tour (yahoo.com)

And, if that weren't enough of a kick in the willy, Jay sent Greg another shot across the bow.  

Greg Norman denied special exemption to play 2022 Open Championship (golf.com)

only legal action I can see is from the LIV tour. The players are members of the tour and have to abide by the rules which they did. The tour has the right to deny any request for exception. There’s no criteria that I’m aware of that limits when or why an exception has to be granted.

[Middler 3,589]

6 hours ago, GolfSpy_APH said:

Without getting into the social politics I simply just think it's bad for the game. It isn't growing the game, as for me, that is done at a grass roots level. Not paying millions more to millionaires.

For those who want to go, great go ahead. I don't have interest in this new league. The extra money they play for doesn't get me excited or make me want to tune in to watch.

+1. I couldn’t care less if I see Phil (or Sergio) play again, but I realize he still has fans. I have no interest in players who defect to a tour backed by “scary mother….”

[GolfSpy_APH 7,991]

The PGA Tour has been consistent in what they have said about members going to actually play in the LIV events. 

Their stance have changed and it isn't a surprise they denied the requests. Members are also not punished for asking release. Added to that anyone can go and play LIV, just don't expect a welcome return. If the grass is really greener and the money is that good then there will be several players that do just go. 

The PGA Tour isn't saying they can't play in LIV at all, they are saying they can't play both at the same time, which I see as being fair. 

NHL players aren't going to play in the KHL at the same time. I know slightly different being teams, but the point remains in my opinion. 

[fixyurdivot 17,495]

It seems LIV's (and PGA players) best chance at breaking Monahan's choke-hold is winning the antitrust argument. Now that Monahan has formally exercised his (as some are pointing out) inconsistent decision on exemption requests, I suspect we will soon hear that a lawsuit has been filed... presuming that the courts agree it has sufficient basis.

Greg Norman LIV Golf PGA Tour Legal Implications Antitrust Law – Sportico.com

[berkeleybob 261]

Apart from the bigger payout, what’s the attraction of LIV for pro golfers? 

[GolfSpy_BOS 15,505]

7 hours ago, GolfSpy_APH said:

Without getting into the social politics I simply just think it's bad for the game. It isn't growing the game, as for me, that is done at a grass roots level. Not paying millions more to millionaires.

For those who want to go, great go ahead. I don't have interest in this new league. The extra money they play for doesn't get me excited or make me want to tune in to watch.

Yeah I'm not sure what the draw will be to watch some past their prime golfers (speculation based on what I've heard for guys joining) playing in events that don't have the history and allure of many of the PGA events.  

I'd honestly probably throw on an LPGA or College event before I tuned into this one.  I'm sure those who love to bet on sports would be happy to have more events to bet on, but golf probably isn't the instant gratification most betters are going for compared to games that take a few hours to play vs a whole weekend.

100% agree with your comments on growing the game.  My local muni that only charges $24/$36 for weekend 9/18 hole rounds walking is doing more than more professional level events to grow the game.  

 

[fixyurdivot 17,495]

I've heard of any such rumblings, but what about Euro and Asian Tour players who might find this league attractive?  

[TBS 692]

7 minutes ago, GolfSpy_BOS said:

Yeah I'm not sure what the draw will be to watch some past their prime golfers (speculation based on what I've heard for guys joining) playing in events that don't have the history and allure of many of the PGA events.  

I'd honestly probably throw on an LPGA or College event before I tuned into this one.  I'm sure those who love to bet on sports would be happy to have more events to bet on, but golf probably isn't the instant gratification most betters are going for compared to games that take a few hours to play vs a whole weekend.

100% agree with your comments on growing the game.  My local muni that only charges $24/$36 for weekend 9/18 hole rounds walking is doing more than more professional level events to grow the game.  

 

I agree 100% - if growing the professional game is priority, check out what Billy Ho does sponsoring an APGA event. I also heard that Billy goes above and beyond even flying out a player who didn't qualify to play in the pro am and get them in front of sponsors. Make an APGA show for Golf Channel or Netflix that follows these players and the ups and downs of trying to get on tour. Would be way more interesting than seeing 15 players ranked as the 50-100th players in golf battle it out on boring, sub-par courses, for guaranteed millions. Oh, and also, is there even a broadcast deal yet? We might not even get to watch it.

[RickyBobby_PR 9,645]

7 minutes ago, GolfSpy_BOS said:

Yeah I'm not sure what the draw will be to watch some past their prime golfers (speculation based on what I've heard for guys joining) playing in events that don't have the history and allure of many of the PGA events.  

I'd honestly probably throw on an LPGA or College event before I tuned into this one.  I'm sure those who love to bet on sports would be happy to have more events to bet on, but golf probably isn't the instant gratification most betters are going for compared to games that take a few hours to play vs a whole weekend.

100% agree with your comments on growing the game.  My local muni that only charges $24/$36 for weekend 9/18 hole rounds walking is doing more than more professional level events to grow the game.  

 

The hope was that guys like DJ, Bryson and some other big name relevant golfers would jump ship and that would of course bring the fans. But whether you believe Norman or not that Phil’s ranting cost them the big names, what they have now with Phil, Sergio, Westwood and the other rumored names are guys who aren’t contending anymore on tour or tried their luck and haven’t had the same success stateside they did on euro tour. Not really a draw for the masses to watch.

Just now, fixyurdivot said:

I've heard of any such rumblings, but what about Euro and Asian Tour players who might find this league attractive?  

The names that would go there from those tours aren’t attracting an audience. Most of the rumored names are pst their prime members like poulter, Westwood and Garcia. Then there’s others who have had some euro success and no pga tour success and aren’t exactly household names that are going to attract the viewing audience away from the pga tour.

So you end up with guys who are chains the dollars and have a better chance at winning an event than they do on their current tours. 
 

There’s basically no draw for the LIV tour at this point from a viewer perspective. If the audience isn’t there products don’t last long or at least don’t operate profitably. Look at the WNBA, without NBA support that league would have collapsed like many of the womens soccer leagues. 

[Thin2win 3,821]

31 minutes ago, berkeleybob said:

Apart from the bigger payout, what’s the attraction of LIV for pro golfers? 

3 days of golf instead of 4, and the money.  That's about it.  Maybe there are other perks. But at this stage those are unknown.