Sunday, July 31, 2022
The PGA Tour vs. LIV has reached new 'heights' this week, and it's not good news for either.
The established league is in Detroit for the Rocket Mortgage Classic, and Taylor Pendrith and Tony Finau are tied for the lead at 21 under par after 54 holes. One of the Cams, Young to be exact, is third at 17 under, Stephen Jaeger fourth at 16 under and Patrick Cantlay fifth at 15 under. Not like the glory days when the leaders on Sunday were fellas named Tiger, and Phil, and Dustin, and Brooks, and the galleries were packed from tee to green and everywhere in between.
On the other hand, LIV has no TV, no main newspaper coverage, and aside from the PGA defectors features a parking lot full of players who are heroes in their own living rooms, as the saying goes. About half the field competing at Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, New Jersey, are complete strangers to U. S. golf fans.
Sure, Dustin is there, and Henrik Stenson, and Phil, and Louis Oosthuizen, and Brooks Koepka, but so are Sadom Kaewkanjana, Eugenio Lopez-Chacana, Jinichiro Kazuma and David Puig, and about 15 or so others in the same non-recognition boat.
Stenson is leading in Jersey at 9 under after 36 holes, with Dustin three behind. Patrick Reed, Carlos Ortiz and Talor Gooch are tied for third at 5 under. Next come Lee Westwood, Turk Pettit and Phachara Khongwatmai at 4 under. Too many names that will perplex headline writers.
Mr. Mickelson, who seems to have lost it in the last few months, is tied for 40th in a field of 48 at 6 over par. If the scenario has overwhelmed him, and Phil continues to struggle, he won't be a draw for spectators, and the enormous sum of cash the Saudis laid out to draw him in will be a total waste.
Adding to the mounting problems of the LIV's is that Donald Trump has lost most of his bootlickers in the media so coverage - so far - has been scant. Crowds at Bedminster have been disappointing, and reports are that tickets for the event have been selling online for $1. That's a recipe for disaster.
Families of 9/11 victims have been extremely vocal in their view of partnering with Saudis when it's a fact that 15 of the 19 suicide hijackers were Saudi-based, even though Trump no longer admits it. They, and millions of other Saudi haters will never support LIV, and that makes it a difficult sell for this country.
LIV is handing out outrageous sums of cash to 48 players who are mostly millionaires; they would be better off using their wealth to feed the starving masses in so many parts of the world around them.
comments powered by