PACIFIC PALISADES, CALIFORNIA | Considering all that is here at Riviera Country Club for the Genesis Invitational – the sunshine, the white-barked eucalyptus trees, the brilliantly designed short par-4 10th hole, the top 11 golfers in the world rankings and Tiger Woods just to name a few – it seems almost rude to keep gossiping about who may or may not be leaving all of this for the proposed Saudi golf league.
But, like a mustard stain on a white shirt, there’s no hiding it. And where better than on the edge of Hollywood to talk about storylines and casting and intrigue.
This is where gossip, conjecture and deception are as familiar as stalled traffic on the 405.
The subject – like the Saudi initiative – isn’t going away.
Can someone get Clooney or the Coen brothers to work up a treatment for what’s happening on the PGA Tour?
Can you see Bradley Cooper as Dustin Johnson, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson as Bryson DeChambeau and Adam Scott as Adam Scott?
(Click on images of Bradley Cooper (left) and Dustin Johnson to enlarge.)
This is where three new initials – NDA – have become a part of professional golf’s lexicon, right there with MC and DFL. Non-disclosure agreements are trendy, it seems. Not that you can get anyone to comment on such things.
It’s fair to assume that if some players have put pen to paper with the new Greg Norman-guided league, they won’t be talking about it publicly until more pens have been put to more papers.
That doesn’t stop the questions, the answers and the speculation.
Before tackling Riviera, which is as good as everyone says it is and perhaps better, it seemed everyone has been asked where they stand on where they intend to play going forward.
Flags are being planted. Lines are being drawn. Lips are staying sealed.
On one side, Jon Rahm, Rory McIlroy, Justin Thomas, Collin Morikawa, Jordan Spieth and others have expressed their loyalty to the PGA Tour.
Morikawa: “I’m all for the PGA Tour.”
Rahm: “I am officially declaring, let’s say, my fealty to the PGA Tour.”
McIlroy: “You look at the people that have already said no – Rahm, No. 1 in the world, Collin Morikawa, myself. Like you’ve got the top players in the world are saying no, so that has to tell you something.”
On the other side, while rumors swirl about Phil Mickelson, Bryson DeChambeau and others who have not publicly committed either way, Adam Scott waded into the discussion and sounded like a man who likes what he’s hearing about the new league.
“I think the schedule is very appealing. From that side of things, I would consider doing that, for sure,” Scott said.
Care to elaborate?
“Like everyone else, we’re sworn to secrecy,” Scott said, smiling from behind his beard.
Perhaps not Mickelson, who according to an excerpt from Alan Shipuck’s upcoming book, is all in on the Saudi offer while admitting he’s uncomfortable with the human rights issues that hang like a cloud over the effort. Mickelson wants rights to his own image – something to do with NFTs which are where the future money may be – and the PGA Tour isn’t likely to budge on giving those rights away.
The new league has purported plans to play 14 events next year, with 10 of those events in the United States and each tournament with a $20 million purse, equal to the Players Championship, the only tour event that matches that number. Small fields mean bigger paychecks on top of the signing bonus money that will be spread around.
For players of a certain age, as Scott suggested, it’s a tempting offer, allowing the chance to make most of the calendar year your own personal offseason.
McIlroy noted that the top young players in the game are lining up on the PGA Tour side of things and suggested that the new venture may end up looking like a bridge to senior golf. That may be a little harsh but there is an edge to what’s happening.
Commissioner Jay Monahan reminded players in a Tuesday night meeting that if they join the Saudi league, they will lose their PGA Tour membership. That part isn’t changing, it sounds like.
And, as they say on those infomercials for knives and spray stuff that will fix anything that’s broken, there’s more.
Commissioner Jay Monahan reminded players in a Tuesday night meeting that if they join the Saudi league, they will lose their PGA Tour membership. That part isn’t changing, it sounds like.
Also, the PGA Tour has been kicking around the idea of a series of team events for a while (or at least since these new challengers have put it out there) and word came out of the players’ meeting here that it’s getting closer to reality.
According to published reports, the tour is putting together a three-event overseas team competition that will happen in the fall of 2023. It would provide another big-money opportunity for the top 50 players in the FedEx Cup race while also bringing an end to the awkward wraparound schedule.
Getting away from the wraparound schedule would be a good thing. A very good thing, but it’s not done yet.
In the meantime, Mel Brooks and Larry David have houses that border Riviera Country Club.
They could be exactly what this story needs.