I would say pgat feeling they have won this, at least for the moment, if thats the extend of the Saudi push. If Smith is the last to go, then the establishment centre has held. And Liv becomes a backwater.
LIV Golf
- Thread starter MarkT
- Start date
rksquire
Head Pro
The first tweet is irrelevant ?It’s Rory’s view that LIV would struggle to get enough players to go to get 48 players back in Feb
Neither tweet mentions the PGAT ?
Those “17” will be replaced by others
The talent in the sport will keep coming through
And “top 3 in Players” - what have two of them done since ( not smith )
And “Last years tour championships” - this years is more relevant and was more than good enough with those 11 replaced
99% of the players that have gone to LIV are players that really don’t hit the radar for most - they are either middle of the road pros , players at the end of their careers or once that haven’t really taken any limelight but ticked along nicely
The likes of DJ , BDC , Koepka and Smith are the ones that hit a tour but again the tour will easily recover from losing those players and move on
The PGAT has a limited set of what are actually the best players - albeit using what is essentially a self serving system to 'manufacture' those best players - but they also claim to have the best players and fields in the world. It shouldn't be that easy to replace the one's they've lost - if it is it's essentially admitting they're fillers. The new plan is to have the 'select' play more often (for sponsorship, relevancy, viewing figures etc.) with the other 130 still providing fill; over the course of a season, a potential new 'star' may emerge and so the cycle can be repeated.
It's disingenuous to suggest 99% don't hit the radar for most in LIV - of the 70 or so names so far in LIV I'm definitely interested in more than 0.7 (round up to 1 actual person!) of them; you could say 99% of any field in the PGAT don't hit the radar for most - how many of a 156 player field are people genuinely interested in? William Buhl? Callum Davison? Jaeger? Hensby? A full field PGAT event has an enormous amount of unknown players who get 0% airtime, and to be honest I'm delighted about that because I have 0% interest in them. Basically, the "17" who have gone might be past it / useless / other derogatory term, but they are known; the replacements won't be known, at least initially, so the fields are weaker.
It does feel like I'm pro-LIV but (honestly!) I'm not - I've an interest in the spectacle, I'm not anti-LIV either though because I think competition is good. I'm not pro-PGAT either, I think they've stamped all over the DPWT and poached players from Europe for years to feather their own nest, which is now under threat, and I don't much like how they're dealing with it. I watch because I like golf and McIlroy, but it is concerning the nonsense he comes out with - it's clear GN & LIV are now living rent free in his head and he appears like a puppet for the PGAT.
Mel Smooth
Hacker
This thread has virtually no interest in the play, but there is lots of speculation on who they have "bought now." All the chatter is about the mercenary nature of the circus and the strong whiff of hypocrisy from the players who have taken the cash.
Oh, except for one person on here defending this "ground breaking golf tour!"
Three events in, 6000 posts - the thread was always going to be dominated by the inception of the series and rammifications across the other tours. Be honest, it's a pretty empty argument to make against LIV at this stage.
The need top players. It looks like they havent succeeded on that front now. The handful of names will not a tour make. It makes the score 15-5 in the PGATs favour.
Last edited:
There isn't prestige in many PGA tournaments and as for the last line...........why do golfers go from all around the world to play on the PGA tour? It's money, same reason. The FedEx is a fabulous example, a contrived, meaningless bit of tosh with an enormous cheque at the end.
There are many reasons to criticise the LIV concept but throwing money into the mix as though the PGA is a pure concept just doesn't stack up.
Mel Smooth
Hacker
If you took the money away from all the PGA events, including the 4 majors, there's probably only The Masters and The Open, that would still attract anything like a full field with players comepeting for the prestige of winning. The other two would still be relevant of course, but not as much imho.
Swango1980
Well-known member
What would happen if you took the money away from LIV?
What if you took money away from all tournaments ??
.Why did the European players start jumping ship back in the day? Why did they stop playing in national tournaments, French Open, Dutch Open, Italian Open, Spanish Open etc to play in The John Deere Classic and so on. It's always the money.
Mel Smooth
Hacker
Same applies to any scenario mate. If there's no financial recompense, people won't participate.
IanM
Journeyman Pro
- Joined
- May 18, 2009
- Messages
- 12,528
- Location
- Monmouthshire, UK via Guildford!
Arguing against yourself now. As you say, 6000 posts, mostly about the insanity of the money and virtually no mention of the 3 events, and most folk couldn't tell you who won anyone of them.
I can see their Social Media Team saying, ooh, lots of mentions!! But don't tell Prince Doodah its mostly negative!
It would be like the Parrot in Monty Bloomin' Python!!
What if you took money away from all tournaments ??
Why did the European players start jumping ship back in the day? Why did they stop playing in national tournaments, French Open, Dutch Open, Italian Open, Spanish Open etc to play in The John Deere Classic and so on. It's always the money.
Which bit of Professional golf are you not understanding?
Imurg
The Grinder Of Pars (Semi Crocked)
Meg Maclaren ...I wish I was as articulate as she is.
Pin-seeker
Well-known member
Spot on.What if you took money away from all tournaments ??
Why did the European players start jumping ship back in the day? Why did they stop playing in national tournaments, French Open, Dutch Open, Italian Open, Spanish Open etc to play in The John Deere Classic and so on. It's always the money.
They all chase the money.
Rory is apparently worth $170m,he doesn’t need any more money.
Will he still sign new endorsement deals to make more money?
Of course he will.
Does that make him greedy?
?
Pin-seeker
Well-known member
Rory
RichA
Well-known member
I'm a keen golfer with only a passing interest in pro golf. I watch the last couple of hours of each major plus the odd bit here and there and Ryder Cup highlights. For the record, I knew 15 of the names on the list before the LIV talk started. I think I recognise half a dozen more only because of this thread. In terms of faces I would recognise, we are probably in single figures.
I don't really care about LIV or the tours and I don't really care that much about the majors. I've always watched the odd bit of golf because it's great to see the sporting genius of a Nicklaus, Ballesteros or Woods.
I mostly just care about golf as a participation sport and LIV seems to care less about that than the other organisations.
I rarely hear pro golf talked about at my golf club and I've only heard LIV mentioned once, when a friend couldn't give away tickets to Centurion that somebody had given to him.
I understand every bit, it's why I can see why players move between tours and why I have no time for the hypocrisy of the PGA and the comments about liv money. If you check my post again you'll see I agree it's about money and pretty much has been for decades.Which bit of Professional golf are you not understanding?
evemccc
Well-known member
I do not think this point makes sense as there is nothing unique about LIV golf with regards being paid to play golf —- it’s the raison d être of professional sport in the 21st century
Rory and other non-US golfers would likely not have left the European Tour if winning at Wentworth won him the equivalent in Sterling of $18 million
As for it ‘meaning something’, to win a prestigious event with a long, history…why not follow the Walker Cup or the Amateur Championship? That means a lot to those who compete and it is highly prestigious….why even watch a very rich professional sport, when the players are paid multiple millions at all?
There is nothing really prestigious about the majority of PGA tour events in the slightest…not compared to The Amateur Champ, The US Amateur, the majors, The Walker Cup and the Ryder Cup
And I’d say that National champs and opens like the Aussie Open or The Italian, Spanish etc are more prestigious than the John Deere Classic and the majority of dull events that make up the PGA TOUR (IF you took away its millions..)
It’s always about the money, it’s there job at the end of the day.
The European tour has been on a massive downward spiral since all Europes ‘best’ players have went across to the PGA to earn more money.
The European tour has been on a massive downward spiral since all Europes ‘best’ players have went across to the PGA to earn more money.
pokerjoke
Money List Winner
put it this way if he was worth 10m he would be sprinting over.Spot on.
They all chase the money.
Rory is apparently worth $170m,he doesn’t need any more money.
Will he still sign new endorsement deals to make more money?
Of course he will.
Does that make him greedy?
?
BubbaP
Occasional Player of Golf
And that's fair enough.
In the spirit of debate, the "FedEx Tour Championship" has been around 16 or 4 years depending on how you count. Lots of us enjoyed Rory beating 28 players for an inordinate anount of dollars. To earn fewer ranking points than when he won the Canadian.
CountLippe
Active member
Can anyone explain how the sportswashing works in this instance? What is the end game for the Saudi's?
With Premier League / European football, you have enormous worldwide followings and media coverage of competitions, teams and increasingly so individual players. There are also riches to be earned from media, tv deals etc.
With golf I just don't get it. I can barely wrap my head around the PGA Tour being able to pay the purses they do... Even DP World tour purses are big compared to coverage it gets.
Is it to do with the demographic of the golfer?
With Premier League / European football, you have enormous worldwide followings and media coverage of competitions, teams and increasingly so individual players. There are also riches to be earned from media, tv deals etc.
With golf I just don't get it. I can barely wrap my head around the PGA Tour being able to pay the purses they do... Even DP World tour purses are big compared to coverage it gets.
Is it to do with the demographic of the golfer?
