The controversy surrounding the LIV golf tour: Lieser

LIV golf tour is sponsored by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and its $620 billion Public Investment Fund fund. It seems that every golfer and fan has an opinion on whether this rival 2022 eight event exhibition versus the PGA Tour has credibility and remains viable.

If money is the sole criterion, this 48-field exhibition will able to be sustained as long as the Saudi government and its crown prince Mohammed bin Salman keep pumping (pardon the pun) in petro money.

Recently I received some emails from readers asking me to address my thoughts on this upstart tour. Usually I stay away from polemical issues but this discussion has been on the minds of the golf world constantly since the first shot was struck in London in early June. Here are my biased thoughts.

First, why was this rival tour needed and why was Greg Norman, 67, selected to be its first commissioner? Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods both nixed the offer after being offered millions. Norman is a two-time Open champion, the world’s No. 1 player for 331 weeks and is purported to be the fifth-richest golfer of all time with a net worth of $400 million, according to Celebrity Net Worth.

To me it’s a calculated ploy by Norman to pay back the PGA Tour for alleged slap downs years ago when he wanted to start a rival world tour and was shot down by the PGA. His view is the PGA professionals are independent contractors who should be able to play wherever and whenever they want. Now he has a king-sized $250 million fund sponsored by Saudi Arabia. My question, if these professionals are true independent contractors, what commitments/restraints does the LIV Exhibition require of its 48 players when they have personal conflicts? Are they now Saudi employees?

Second, from all my reading on these eight LIV Exhibitions, what is the Saudi’s end game? The avowed purpose of the exhibitions is to grow the game of golf. My response is this: the 2022 sites of the eight events are in seven cities — London, Portland, Bedminster, Boston, Chicago, Bangkok, Jeddah and Miami. Isn’t golf already quite popular in these cities? To me, growing the game would include events in India, Europe, Africa, China and even Russia. For me, the real purpose of LIV is not to grow the game but a way for the Saudi’s to burnish their image (sports washing)..

Third, the contemporary buzz words today are honesty, transparency and accountability. When I hear Dustin Johnson, whose net worth is $50 million, go on record saying he joined LIV to provide for “this is something that was best for me and my family.” Is that true? Is he trying to ensure financial security for succeeding generations of Johnsons? Couldn’t his father-in-law, Edmonton Oilers hockey great Wayne Gretzky, who has a net worth of $250 million, help a tad? My question is this — honestly, how much money does Johnson need to secure his family’s future? He has earned $74 million on the PGA Tour, and has earned more than $100 million in endorsements according to Sportico estimates. Now he received $125 million to join the LIV group. How much is enough?

Phil Mickelson, who has been on the PGA Tour for 30 years, received $200 million to join LIV, has earned $95 million on the PGA Tour, plus $800 million in endorsements, plus another $27 million in FedEx bonus checks according to Forbes. His net worth is $300 million.

The other big name to exit the PGA Tour is Bryson “The Scientist” DeChambeau who was handed $100 million to join. He’s no pauper pro either. His net worth is around $10 million and has earned $23 million so far on the PGA Tour. He at least gave a semi-honest answer when asked why he left the PGA Tour. He didn’t want to play that much golf in the future as he was concerned about other entrepreneurial pursuits besides playing golf.

My take on this new 54-hole exhibition event is that Norman is getting his revenge at the PGA Tour; these aging independent contractors who bolted the tour have just hitched themselves to the Saudis as their new puppet master for blood money as legendary announcer Bob Costas concluded. Now the autocratic Saudis will dictate in the future where these professionals play for their lucre. The adage “avarice is the root of all evil” is alive and well as personified by the score of PGA players who left the Tour. As Gordon Gekko (aka Michael Douglas) in his sagacious speech in the 1987 movie “Wall Street” concluded: “Greed… is good.” That is LIV in a nutshell!

Golf Notes

The next LIV event starts Thursday at Pumpkin Ridge Golf Club in Portland, Oregon. If you watched the U.S. Open earlier this month in Boston, that finish was riveting. It’s hard for me fathom that LIV’s (Roman numeral for 54) second event with only 54 holes and a shotgun start will match the U.S. Open finish. That triumph meant something to winner Matthew Fitzpatrick.

Kimball Area junior Luke Ashbrook was the low area finisher at the recently concluded Minnesota State High School League Class AA state tournament held at Ridges at Sand Creek located in Jordan on June 14-15. Ashbrook fired rounds of 77-71 to finish in solo fifth. He and Blackberry’s Ridges Bryan Fleegel qualified for the Minnesota PGA State Open at Bunker Hills GC in Coon Rapids on July 5-7. Andy and Mike Cleland blitzed the field in the Father-Son tournament held at the Albany Golf Club on June 19. The duo shot 58 (-14). The duo has won three of the last four events at the club and raved about the condition of the golf course despite the course being inundated earlier this spring.

— This is the opinion of Times golf columnist John Lieser. Contact him at Jgl1943@gmail.com.

This article originally appeared on St. Cloud Times: The controversy surrounding the LIV golf tour: Lieser