Major(s) News & Notes, September 12, 2024
A big viewing weekend ahead that can't be sullied by latest PGA Tour/LIV embarrassment. Plus, Rahm's Ryder mess deepens, R&A Financials, McIlroy on architecture, This, That and a bunch of Reads.
Days to The Masters opening tee shot: 207
This is one of those special non-major weeks where the golf viewing lands in the must-see-when-you-least-planned-for-it category.
Between the usual drama of the Solheim Cup—we already have a firstest of First World spats over team house size—juxtaposed against the awe-inspiring beauty of Royal County Down—as-long-cats-and-dogs-are-not-falling-from-the-sky—there should be plenty for a golf fan to savor.
The PGA Tour is also back after a week off and delivering the re-branded ProCore in Napa with a noticeably smaller purse but some intriguing names turning up when they don’t have to.
Thursday will feature the first Solheim match reveals between the USA and Europe, but until then here is the full Cup viewing schedule for American viewers:
In Northern Ireland majestic Royal County Down hosts the Amgen Irish Open for the second time in a decade. And while this event should have been slotted into a links season run during the summer months—assuming a world where the Operational Joint Venture Partners at the PGA Tour and DP World Tour were actual in sync—we still get elites testing the old gem and making your morning coffee taste that much better (assuming you have a Sky or Peacock subscription).
“Playing the Irish Open on arguably one of, if not the best golf course in the world, in my eyes, is a real treat,” said Rory McIlroy on Wednesday after getting reacclimated with a course he played in the Walker Cup and in the 2015 Irish Open. “We don't get to play this caliber of golf course on tour, so to be able to play somewhere like this is amazing.”
Watching the golf from RCD will require some work for American viewers since Golf Channel and NBC are understandably prioritizing the Solheim Cup. The weekend portion of the Irish Open will stream exclusively on Peacock and the NBC Sports app (with a cable subscription):
Meanwhile in embarrassing gross are-you-%$#@&*!-kidding-me golf news with potential ramifications for the global schedule, the PGA Tour and Public Investment Fund of Saudia Arabia have been engaged in two days of meetings this week.
In New York City.
On the anniversary of 9/11.
For those who’ve been in a very long coma: September 11th remains a solemn day of remembrance where millions of a certain American vintage carve out time to think about where they were on 9-11-01, the humans who were lost, and the sacrifice of First Responders who went into the Twin Towers and did not come out. Anyone alive and old enough to remember that day never forgets any detail of the day or the aftermath. The emotions rarely grow dull with any reminder of that awful day.
It’s also a date where, 23 years later, most with a pulse continue to ponder the question: why? Who would do such a thing? Why did these people hate themselves and our way of life to such an extreme? And to the point we have learned after much effort, that government of Saudi Arabia would be funneling money to the hooligans to carry out the attack in an inconvenient fact desperately masked to this day?
My alma mater, Pepperdine, annually puts out an American flag every year to commemorate each lost soul. Major League Baseball games still start with a moment of silence on 9/11 and perform God Bless America in the seventh inning stretch. Flags are lowered nationally. Current and former leaders gather in New York. Stacy Lewis made a point of honoring the date Wednesday at the Solheim Cup. No one forgets. And never will.
Except, apparently, in Ponte Vedra Beach and Riyadh.
With all of the smartest (mostly) guys in the room powering the PGA Tour’s various make-it-up-as-they-go boards, committees, subcommittees and faux subcommittees, somehow no one in that Strategic Sports Group brainpowered org could muster up the wisdom to say: hey, it’s been a year-and-a-half since H.E. and Steamboat Eagle went on The CNBC and said a deal would be done, yet nothing has happened? Yet we’re going to finally have some face time with the Saudis again on September 11th? In the place where the attacks were most felt? Where everyone still does not fully understand why the Saudi government got a free pass in the form of blacked-out pages, flights out of the country when airspace was shut down, and other weirdness?
Multiple supposed geniuses compensated seven figures annually did not have the wisdom or spine to stand up for the darkest day in American history by saying, Hey, you know there’s a nice meeting room at the Courtyard off 95 in Savannah where all the jackwagons can fly in on their PJ’s without anyone noticing, other than that pesky Radar Atlas account that’ll track everyone flying into NYC-adjacent airports before the anniversary of the Saudi-supported attack on America?
There are 107,902 hotels and motels in the United States and most have meeting rooms. We have gobs of half-empty office buildings across this great land where meeting space could be pried open to discuss what to do with Greg Norman, the Cleeks and a billion dollars of PIF money to get this mess they started called LIV off their hands. Yet these “folks”, who’d like to run the sport and tell us how they want to grow the game [their pocketbooks], and who don’t give a hoot about the actual game, can’t even dig deep to locate a half-ounce of wisdom not already stripped from their soulless bodies to realize a meeting in New York City on 9/11 might look wrong?
It was presumed that Tiger Woods hosting his annual Foundation clinic was part of the thinking for an NYC confab. And his jet was tracked to the area. But then we learned from SI’s Bob Harig that Woods and other professional golfers on the subcommittee were not part of the meetings. This factoid did not reach a 9/11 family before he spoke out.
“It is disgusting, unacceptable, and incredibly painful that the Tour and Woods would do this—especially now,” said Brett Eagleson, who at age 15 lost his father in the South Tower. “Tomorrow, we commemorate the 23rd anniversary of the 9/11 tragedy, yet here we are today, in New York City, down the street from Ground Zero, and the PGA Tour and Tiger Woods are negotiating with them.”
At least LIV’s well-paid PR man and White House spokesman on 9/11, Ari Fleischer was undeterred from maintaining his moving tradition of taking to Twitter and reliving the unfolding of that tragic day, as seen from the White House. ($portwashing works!)
Perhaps the sudden rush in having the “Transaction Subcommittee” meet with Saudi’s fund goons without Adam Scott, Woods and McIlroy was fast-tracked to coincide with the latter’s Irish Open appearance?
You know Rory, he might ask annoying questions!
“Yeah, it's certainly peculiar timing,” McIlroy said Wednesday at Royal County Down, likely referring to the awful 9/11 choice more than his possible role in any negotiations. “I don't know much about the talks that are going on. I know that there is but that's not something that I'm a part of. I know as much as you do at this point, and I'm sure news will start to trickle out here in the next few days.”
Let’s be clear: there is currently no truth to the rumor that the next scheduled meeting will be October 2nd at the Saudi consulate in Turkey on the anniversary of the Crown Prince turning a journalist into sawdust.
Nor are the sides reportedly planning to meet in Honolulu on December 7th or near Normandy Beach in June. At least as of now.
Again, I share this grimness in a major-focused newsletter because it’s an important reminder that these supposedly brilliant people want to grow and run the game on all levels. And they can’t even show the grace to respect one of the most solemn days on the American calendar. How embarrassing.
Rahm Unwilling To Pay Fines For Ryder Cup Access
The Jon Rahm Ryder Cup drama appears to have just begun. Or it may end very soon. Most of the uncertainty surrounds the Spaniard’s decision to take a few hundred million of PIF money to join LIV and start lucky franchise Lesion 13.
Speaking at LIV’s second-to-last event Wednesday, Rahm confirmed his Spanish Open “a long time ago” into the September 26-29th event. Hurdle one to Ryder Cup eligibility cleared! Maybe. Combined with his Olympic appearance and three starts, an appearance in his homeland would have Rahm on the way to meeting the four-event hurdle necessary to retain eligibility.
Armed with millions from LIV to pay DP World Tour fines, it seems forking over the money has been the primary hurdle during a complicated time where he’s juggling LIV appearances and wife Kelley’s difficult pregnancy.
Rahm opened up more about the latter situation on Wednesday.
“There was a dark moment there with the pregnancy,” said Rahm. “When I say moment, it was every bit of two months, and I feel like we're coming out of that right now. We're towards the end. Because of the issues we've had, they probably won't let her go a lot past 38 weeks, but she keeps doing better and better, so they keep changing what her deadline is.”
His ability to play at Bethpage next year for Captain Luke Donald will revolve around the decision to induce labor on Jon and Kelley’s third child. And paying some DP World Tour fines. Rahm said he’s not willing to pay them as others like Tyrrell Hatton already have to tee up in specific events.
As of now, the Spanish Open is not an option even if the timing works with Kelley’s delivery and the health of his family. Fines must be paid first.
“I'm not a big fan of the fines,” Rahm said. “I think I've been outspoken about that. I don't intend to pay the fines, and we keep trying to have a discussion with them about how we can make this happen. I've said many times, I don't go to the Spanish Open for the glory or anything else. I think it's my duty to Spanish golf to be there, and I also want to play in Sotogrande (the Andalucia Masters).”
According to SI’s Bob Harig, Rahm’s refusal to pay is not squaring with the DP World Tour’s view.
A spokesman explained that the rules have been presented to Rahm and his representatives. Fines and suspensions differ by player and event.
"Jon has outstanding sanctions for breaches of the DP World Tour's conflicting tournament regulation. Until those outstanding sanctions are resolved, he is ineligible to play in a DP World Tour event," the spokesman said.
Rahm has a 6-3-3 overall Ryder Cup record in three appearances (2018, 2020/1, 2023), including a 4-0-0 mark in Foursomes.
R&A Financials Posted
The R&A recorded an after-tax profit of £8.5 million for the year ending December 31, 2023, up significantly on its 2022 loss of £2.2 million.
Open Championship revenue saw a small increase from 2022’s £150.7 million to £151.6m.
Operating profit was down nearly £10 million due in large part to the development of the new Golf It! community center in Glasgow, profiled here on Tuesday.
Dalleres notes cash reserves of £27.8 million and investments of £171.6 million, “two-thirds of which have daily liquidity.”
In contrast, the USGA’s most recent filing shows $630 million in net assets.
Dalleres also notes that the filing shows a dividend of £6 million was paid to The Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews.
The full filing can be found here.
McIlroy On Golf Architecture
With Royal County Down hosting the Amgen Irish Open this week, Rory McIlroy was asked about golf course design.
The full answer is, as always, quite enjoyable and not what 99.9% of the jocks would say.
It's hard because a professional golfer's perspective on what makes a good golf course is probably a little different than what a good golf course actually is. You know, we think of it as somewhere that obviously tests different aspects of our game, and you know, if you ask like most tour players what a good golf course is, they will say, thick rough, firm greens, trees, dog-legs, that sort of stuff.
I think when you speak to a lot of golf course architects, especially ones that have an affinity for the way golf courses were designed back in the day with wider playing corridors and some more interesting features, I think you start to appreciate some of the older golf courses in the game and golf courses in the world.
So you know, coming back to somewhere like this where you know, it feels like every hole is just sort of being carved out of the land. Doesn't seem like they moved a lot of dirt or ground to make this golf course. Yeah, different architects have different philosophies but I think that what I really gravitated towards is that sort of wider playing corridors, the ball that sort of gets repelled away from greens when you don't hit the perfect shot, and a golf course that provides you options.
If you look at this golf course, you can hit numerous different clubs off tees. You can hit numerous different clubs around the greens in terms of bump-and-runs or chips or landing it on the green, not landing it on the green. I think the best golf courses I've sort of decided are the ones that provide you as many options as possible. And as I said at the start, I think there's a lot of golf courses that we play on tour I don't think really do that. I think you have to play quite a one-dimensional game.
To have a golf course like this that provides so many options is a real treat.
This And That
Reads
🇺🇸 Zephyr Melton on Lauren Coughlin making her Solheim Cup debut in her home state.
🤯 Simon Pruitt on Cosm’s second immersive “shared reality” venue opening in the Dallas-area and the potential to sports viewing. Morning Brew shared this footage from football opening weekend games and it looks like an Apple Vision Pro experience only on massive screens in a bar setting. Amen Corner would be almost as fun to see this way as in person. Almost.
.❶ Caitie Weaver on the life, tyranny, pointlessness, cost and times of the dreaded American penny.
🧴Robert Sanders on UC Berkeley researchers figuring out a new process that can vaporize plastic bags and bottles, yielding gases to make new, recycled plastics while finally possibly making all of the recycling we do actually make sense.
On that note Quad readers, whatever doghouse you’re in, just know it’s never going to match the one Joe’ll be inhabiting in perpetuity.
Enjoy the Solheim and RCD,
Geoff
Geoff:
It never fails... while your writing and service to the game and to your readers remains wonderful, year in and year out, there are those Quad drops that make the subscription less about "value" and more about "soulfulness." This is one of those days where I am simply moved by your writing and consider myself quite fortunate to be a "fan" - of yours, golf, politics, writers, writing, and embracing the emotions of a life lived blessed. Saying "thank you" almost feels trite and empty, but it's the best I can do, with a twist: "F***ing A ... Thank You, Geoff"
If you can get your views on the 911 meeting out into the wider world, that would be a service to us all. What x#*(*#s. Thank goodness for the four majors, because the rest of it gets harder and harder to stomach.