LIV Golf

[Slab]

Or he could have just done what many would have and said no?

Does strike me as another Morikawa type scenario though!

But wouldn't saying no (or yes) just validate that the question was ok/appropriate to be asked at that setting? It just doesn't deserve to be answered (at that place & time)
Best to do what he did and call it out as ridiculous

 

[Ethan]

Some of these LIV guys need a good kick up the backside. They are manning about having to fly to events two or threee weeks in a row, all that tiresome limo travel to the private airfield and then the NetJets flights and travel to the luxury accommodation arranged and staffed by their people. And then playing for a first prize of a couple of million. It is a shocking burden to bear.

Some people compared the no money of they miss the cut issue to baseball or basketball players who get paid regardless. Setting aside the fact they can also get fired or transferred, don't these players go on the road and play a series of lot of matches. Steph Curry, maybe the biggest name in basketball has played 64 games in the 21/22 regular season, mostly 2 or 3 days apart, and 22 more in the playoffs. He has done a lot of travelling. Baseball players play a lot of games too, sometimes 150 or so in a season. Are these the schedules that LIV players think are reasonable?

 

[BiMGuy]

Anyone on here "yet to deny" they are off to the liv.com forum?

My team deal with that side of things. I just concentrate on playing my golf.

 

[Bdill93]

But wouldn't saying no (or yes) just validate that the question was ok/appropriate to be asked at that setting? It just doesn't deserve to be answered (at that place & time)
Best to do what he did and call it out as ridiculous

I see your point, but not answering it definitely causes more speculation and articles than just saying no and not to ask that question again.

 

[Ethan]

Funny how LIV Golf are throwing millions at players with various degrees of public recognition, but also asking for unpaid volunteers to help out at the events. Presumably they think that gullible amateurs will give up their time in order to see Jediah Morgan in the flesh.

 

[Lord Tyrion]

Funny how LIV Golf are throwing millions at players with various degrees of public recognition, but also asking for unpaid volunteers to help out at the events. Presumably they think that gullible amateurs will give up their time in order to see Jediah Morgan in the flesh.

Aren't marshalls at most tournaments unpaid volunteers? You get a cap, polo shirts, waterproof jacket and vouchers for your food. You also get to see pro golfers close up, inside the ropes. As amateur golfers, that's a blast isn't it? No shortage of volunteers when they had the British Masters at Close House, up here.

 

[Mel Smooth]

One thing worth noting with Smith. A friend of his says hoe much he loves fishing and that he has a fishing trip planned in two weeks.

The next LIV event, is in two weeks, so on that basis, he’s obviously not signed up. ?

 

[AddisonRoad]

Funny how LIV Golf are throwing millions at players with various degrees of public recognition, but also asking for unpaid volunteers to help out at the events. Presumably they think that gullible amateurs will give up their time in order to see Jediah Morgan in the flesh.

They're correct that gullible amateurs will give up their time. I saw many people marshaling with "volunteer" apparel at the first LIV event at Centurion - they must have felt even more ripped off when they found out everyone there hadn't had to pay for tickets either!

 

[Backsticks]

If the LIV players go and play on the Asian Tour, then the event ranking improves, so it could potentially lead to more Asian tour players qualifying for majors, rather than LIV players blocking them.

I very much doubt that there's a legal position where the R&A can engineer entry requirements to prevent golfers attending The Open, because of which tour or series they play on - and they'll know that.

R&A would never dream of trying to restrict entry due to a professional spat. They Open. Its the brand. They must have, and be seen to have, the best golfera in the world. Any obstruction, even of a "well, they can come through reguonal qualifying, so they arent banned" type, would never happen, as it would devalue the Open, and kill it. They have nothing to gain, nor to do that

 

[Backsticks]

I have no issues with the current qualifying criteria for the Majors and see no reason for it to change and I don’t expect them to change it too much - it will naturally ensure that LIV players will struggle to qualify through time

It has to change. DJ, BdC, PR etc have to play in the open. It doesnt matter that they werent in the placing this week. If they are in the top 150 golfers on the world, and there is no question but that they are, then they have to start.

 

[Ethan]

Aren't marshalls at most tournaments unpaid volunteers? You get a cap, polo shirts, waterproof jacket and vouchers for your food. You also get to see pro golfers close up, inside the ropes. As amateur golfers, that's a blast isn't it? No shortage of volunteers when they had the British Masters at Close House, up here.

It was more the stark contrast between the vulgar amounts of money being thrown around at players and the expectation of free help from the peasants. If the volunteers walk away with a nice Boss outfit, OK.

 

[Backsticks]

But wouldn't saying no (or yes) just validate that the question was ok/appropriate to be asked at that setting? It just doesn't deserve to be answered (at that place & time)
Best to do what he did and call it out as ridiculous

Whether it was appropriate or not is immaterial once it was asked. Saying no would have put an end to it. Kicking it away leaves it open, and so clear that he doesnt have a public position to give at the moment....so clear he might move. He will continue to be asked about it now until he gives a definitive answer.

 

[Slab]

Whether it was appropriate or not is immaterial once it was asked. Saying no would have put an end to it. Kicking it away leaves it open, and so clear that he doesnt have a public position to give at the moment....so clear he might move. He will continue to be asked about it now until he gives a definitive answer.

Does that really matter though? That just minutes after winning the Open he didn't have a public position on the matter, isn't that perfectly Ok/appropriate at that moment without it meaning anything other than that.
I just don't get why it has to become a 'Smith refused to deny' moment rather than 'the journalist was an idiot' moment

 

[Deleted member 15344]

It has to change. DJ, BdC, PR etc have to play in the open. It doesnt matter that they werent in the placing this week. If they are in the top 150 golfers on the world, and there is no question but that they are, then they have to start.

It doesn’t have to change at all and it won’t change

If a player doesn’t qualify then they just don’t play - doesn’t matter what their name is

They won’t change the qualifying to ensure that players who have left to go play on the LIV still get a route in

 

[Lord Tyrion]

It was more the stark contrast between the vulgar amounts of money being thrown around at players and the expectation of free help from the peasants. If the volunteers walk away with a nice Boss outfit, OK.

It's the same at pretty much all tournaments though, as far as I am aware. Fedex finals, Masters, Open etc, all volunteer marshalls, all with huge prize money. If no one volunteers then they will have to pay people but most amateurs love the chance of a bit of free gear and to be able to get up close to the action. LIV are just following what other tournaments do in this case.

 

[Pin-seeker]

Might be struggling for future Ryder cup captains at this rate ?

 

[Lord Tyrion]

Might be struggling for future Ryder cup captains at this rate ?

Luke Donald will be making sure his phone is charged up. It looked like his chance had gone, not so now.

 

[rksquire]

Shame to see the ‘headlines’ that Cam Smith ‘failed to deny rumours’ about going to LIV, when all he really did was not answer an ill-timed/inappropriate question

The journalist should've been called out by their peers & told to belt up

They're still too busy back slapping themselves and high fiving after their overly aggressive questioning of the LIV players at those pressers. Still waiting on Usyk being asked if there's nowhere he wouldn't box for money and if Putin offered enough would he box in Moscow.

The question is possibly inappropriate given he's just won the Open and R&A have went to some length to remove LIV discussions, but it's not ill-timed given its prevalence in the world of golf. With the lack of specific answer, the Stenson debacle, and other rumours floating around, it's quite clear that Golf fans and Tour administrators care more about Majors, Ryder Cups, World Ranking points etc. than players generally do (some exceptions obviously).

 

[Mel Smooth]

I have no issues with the current qualifying criteria for the Majors and see no reason for it to change and I don’t expect them to change it too much - it will naturally ensure that LIV players will struggle to qualify through time

And I take it you’re happy with the quality of the fields in the majors being diminished by the abscence of some of the worlds best golfers?

 

[Deleted member 15344]

And I take it you’re happy with the quality of the fields in the majors being diminished by the abscence of some of the worlds best golfers?

I have no issues with future fields missing the odd player who could have challenged for the title. It won’t matter a jolt to the winner that DJ etc wasn’t playing and it won’t make a difference to how the winner is perceived

As soon as the first ball is hit the fact someone isn’t there won’t matter to anyone apart from those who would want to make it an issue

And if someone isn’t there imo it means they don’t really care enough about the major to be there - they have made a choice