Heroes and Villains
If you have not heard about the seismic eruptions in professional golf, where have you been? With the inaugural LIV Golf Invitational at the Centurion Club in England last week, golf balls and accusations are ricocheting around the golf world. At the heart of the issue is the funding by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund to the tune of $250 million in prize money for eight tournaments and astronomical signing-on fees paid to attract box office stars, or villains, depending on which side you support. Whilst many people would like to keep sport and politics or human rights separate, they are inextricably linked and have been for many years. Once again, sport is dragged through the mud by people who claim to have their best interests at heart. History repeats itself.
Indeed, it is something like a blockbuster movie being played out in real life. Is it more Silence of the Lambs with Dr. Hannibal Lecter, Darth Vader and The Empire Strikes Back or The Joker in Batman? I have always enjoyed watching villains keeping the world’s most famous MI6 agent busy in James Bond movies. The 1973 film (Live and Let Die) featured Mr. Big and Dr. Kananga who transpired to be one and the same person, a villain with a split personality. And this is what happened in the professional golf world in recent weeks and months. Everyone wants the best for golf but there are fundamental differences about how this can and should be achieved.
For a sport that is often perceived as elitist, the additional injection of cash will only serve to reinforce this point of view. Yet somehow, those pros who decided not to transfer from the PGA Tour or DP World Tour appear vindicated to judge those who signed up to LIV Golf and their new riches. Well, the levels of prize money on the PGA Tour and especially the season ending FedEx Cup were already out of proportion. The PGA Tour FedEx Cup bonus pool purse has increased with the 2021-22 season to $75,000,000 with the winner’s share coming in at $18,000,000. The top 10 all receive more than $1 million in addition to all the money they earned during the season from regular PGA sanctioned tournaments and endorsements.
And why keep the spotlight on golf? Every day this summer in the media we will witness mouthwatering transfers as professional footballers are traded from one football club to another for what appear to many as ridiculous sums of money. Most sports fans don’t understand the machinations of the sports industry and how all these deals are put together, let alone the public. In most professional sports, athletes at the elite levels are well paid and people accept they have earned their rewards. Take Rafael Nadal and his 14th triumph at the French Open and 22nd Grand Slam title, for example.
The danger at times like this is to believe your own hype, or drink too much of your own cool aid, as the Americans would say. Everyone in golf appears to know what is best for everyone else. Did anyone ask golf fans, viewers, or amateur players what they would like to see in professional golf? I doubt it would be more 72 hole tournaments including the 4 Majors, the WGC Matchplay and The Ryder Cup or Presidents Cup in alternate years. As most golfers will tell you, Saturday is ‘moving day’ and the real excitement begins on the back nine on Sunday. Yes, there are some tournaments that are worth watching on Thursday or Friday like The Open, but not too many.
As a regular visitor to the Dutch Open over the last 30 years at great courses such as Noordwijk, Kennemer, Hilversumsche and more recently The Dutch and now Bernardus, it is a popular event. A tournament won by Seve Ballesteros, Payne Stewart and Bernhard Langer but no longer attracts the same strength in depth is still worth attending due to the side events, hospitality village, fan entertainment and exciting golf. This year concluded with a four hole play-off between Ryan Fox and Victor Perez. Who? They were not megastar names but still delivered a spectacular climax to the tournament. A fun day out was had by all.
Whether you agree or disagree with LIV golf funding, the format, prize money, the human rights violations, explanations of players who transferred or the media pundits ripping strips off these villains, it is not a dignified performance. Golf is at a crossroads. All sports need to evolve but not at all costs. It is time to find a way forward in the best interests of golf and respect the legacy of great players who made the game what it is today. Live and let live. Heroes and villains are part of the script, just like in the movies and real life.