Georgie Bingham: LIV and let LIVE?
Greg Norman, CEO and commissioner of LIV Golf, being introduced to the crowd during the team championship stroke-play round of the LIV Golf Invitational - Miami at Trump National Doral Miami on October 30, 2022 in Doral, Florida. (Photo by Eric Espada/Getty Images).
Decided to hold off on a column preaching against peaking too early in the season in a Ryder Cup year; seems a little unfair on Victor Perez doesn’t it?!
So here we are on the LIV train again this week. I can’t help it; I am so fascinated by the righteous behaviour of the tour’s Saudi Arabian owners who clearly think money means they get everything they want ALL of the time. To be fair, most of the time this is true; and boxing, motorsport and golf have all taken Saudi coin for events, and why not, it’s so lucrative. But money will never buy you popularity and not everything in life is transactional.
Stability seems to be LIV golf’s biggest problem at the moment. Nothing serious; there aren’t golfers missing out on their ridiculous pay cheques, The Masters committee have done a Switzerland for this year’s tournament (leaving the PGA and USGA to work out what to do about the other two American majors) and LIV's tournament schedule for 2023 is plentiful - but we have started to see some interesting cracks emerge over this winter period. First came the the departure of COO Atul Khosla, then reports linking Mark King, the former head of TaylorMade, with Greg Norman’s role and, more recently, news of a pretty desperate broadcast deal with CW Channel, a network best described as the USA’s answer to DAVE UK or Dawson's Creek Central.
“By the time this has been published Greg Norman will have no doubt have said something new and silly again too. I just can’t help but watch with popcorn.”
More than anything, it’s the particulars in the legal fight between the PGA Tour and LIV that really demonstrates everything I dislike about Saudi sportwashing - the PIF, it seems, have flatly refused to come to the table with discovery information the PGA Tour have requested in order for legals to actually proceed in the LIV antitrust suit. I’ve read some of the filings ( thanks to Eamon Lynch for recommending lawyer Jodi Balsam who has their finger-on-the-pulse with regards these proceedings) and it seems LIV/PIF intend to just file/obstruct/appeal and until they get their way, which on American soil against an American institution like the PGA Tour surely can’t work. Sometimes you have to actually give justification for your motives/moves and that justification can’t always be “because I pay the most and have the most money”.
I can’t see this being cleared up for a while. I’ve also noticed today that Mr Lynch has now reported on another departure from LIV, this time Majed Al Sorour a MAJOR player in Saudi Golf (and someone who is also on the board at Newcastle United). Maybe he can throw his weight/money around in the Premier League for a while. By the time this has been published Greg Norman will have no doubt have said something new and silly again too. I just can’t help but watch with popcorn.
Georgie Bingham, broadcaster and journalist, writes a bi-weekly column for The Cut Stuff. She’s golf obsessed. She’s ready to go behind the tour.
Follow us on Twitter | Facebook | Instagram
#BehindTheTour
