The OWGR Wars Ended On Sunday And A Massive Sports Media Announcement
The OWGR Wars Ended On Sunday And A Massive Sports Media Announcement
The PGA Tour's player-designed "signature" event structure and bad luck worked to undermine the case against LIV's pursuit of ranking points. Plus, a mega sports media announcement.
The revamped AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am delivered a no-cut-limited-field-sponsor-exemptions-for-board-members-ball-in-hand-modified-pro-am-rain-shortened-to-54-holes inauspicious start. Sunday’s massive storm wiped out any chance of contesting a final round for days and wrapped up a revealing three-week stretch for the PGA Tour. One that started with amateur Nick Dunlap capturing the recent American Express Championship and was followed by France’s Mathieu Pavon proving how a world ranking points-depleted DP World Tour can still produce world class talent.
Meanwhile, LIV had a successful opening event with seemingly equal star power, a dramatic finish and a well-produced broadcast. Add it all up and the case against world ranking points going to Saudi Arabia’s disruptive tour has begun to look silly.
The worst part?
The architects of the PGA Tour’s answer to its existential threat have inflicted plenty of the damage.
You’ll recall that last year a group of PGA Tour players wrestled creative control from a weakened Commissioner and designed a new signature series as a means of rewarding those who stuck around. That they have done! At least based on last week’s news of a private equity windfall for those players. But in comments made and the lack of details shared to excite fans, the Tour’s top players increasingly appear oblivious to the world around them. Some seem to believe the fawning money bros assuring them their morning movement smells like a freshly cut springtime fairway. But the same guys who are good at whapping a ball around a course did not foresee how quickly their new vision could be undermined. They’re fleeing decades of credibility built around 72-holes of stroke play with a full field and cut handing out a sustainable purse that also allowed for gate receipts to leave behind a charitable legacy.
LIV Golf opened at a former Tour venue with a strong competition at the top. They played the same number of holes as the PGA Tour event but received none of the world ranking points for the same number of holes played. While it remains debatable how hard LIV’s veterans worked over the off-season given that a 19-year-old ranked in the 1900’s turned up, made 16 birdies, and beat 2/3rds of the field, the additions of Jon Rahm, Tyrrell Hatton, Adrian Meronk also meant fewer has-beens or iffy youth desperation acquisitions were watering down the field.
LIV’s wheepy winner also reiterated that he desperately wants to win majors.
“But I’ve got to get in them first,” Joaquin Niemann said two days after posting a 59 and minutes after holding off Sergio Garcia in a playoff.
Niemann’s pleas seem a tad excessive given that he knew the consequences of darting for LIV. He’s been extraordinarily well-compensated to cope with his “plight.” But Niemann has bolstered his cause the right way by playing outside of LIV events. Since December he’s won twice and finished fourth and fifth in his last four starts. Three of those events earned Niemann ranking points. But not enough to prevent him from dropping eight spots to an impractical 74th following his LIV Mexico triumph.
The Masters, holders of a seat on the ranking board and long wanting to be seen as celebrating the global game, should invite Niemann to the 2024 tournament based on his recent play. He deserves a Friends and Family discount as a former Latin America Amateur Champion. And a handwritten note from the chairman telling him to leave his garrish team “Torque GC” uniforms at home.
“The Masters Committee, at its discretion, also invites international players not otherwise qualified,” says the tournament “Qualifications For Invitation.”
Niemann fits.
Politically, a Masters invite would help buy the Official World Golf Ranking board time to sort through the current mess. One heightened by last year’s OWGR application rejection of LIV and the subsequent optics of a watered-down PGA Tour.
Niemann’s Australian Open win in December ought to have been enough for invitation consideration even before his LIV win. It’s long overdue for the Masters to invite winners of historic national Opens instead of guaranteeing an invite to winner’s of all full FedExCup points tournament regardless of field quality. Niemann is already in The Open at Troon thanks to the R&A’s qualifying series. He’s also more qualified and probably playing better golf than several past recipients of a Masters international player invitation. Granted, Niemann does not deliver eyeballs to a certain Asian television market that allegedly might have inspired previous special invitions. Allegedly!
But to a Masters committee prone to wonder what Clifford Roberts or Bobby Jones would do, Niemann’s globe-trotting effort to remain relevant in the eyes of an algorithm separates him from his many entitled and irrelevant LIV peers.
As for the hobbled OWGR algorithm, it’s not to blame for keeping LIV out. People made that call. And there remains the issue of LIV’s team format, small fields, 54-holes and propensity to randomly add players heavy on upside or because they pandered to Greg Norman at some point. But the circuit has also recruited several notable players who have accrued gobs of world ranking points. The circuit also hosted a genuine play-in event last fall. Three players made their way onto LIV that way. So while not as accessible as the PGA Tour or DP World Tour, the qualifying event might be enough of a credibility booster to offset the still-problematic possibility of a LIV player emphasizing team over individual glory. Though it’s also tough to imagine a scenario where a LIV golfer tanks in the name of team glory.
The holes in LIV’s case look smaller thanks to the PGA Tour players of Delaware summit fame responding by watering down what made their tour special. The stars apparently believed sponsors would be willing to pay for the privilege of seeing the remaining elites come together a few more tims even if it meant killing off the “meritocracy” of a big field and cut. They’ve since converted several full-field events into smaller affairs without 36-hole cuts. To date, at least two blue chip sponsors have made clear they’re not interested in paying an elevated price for slighly better and smaller fields. It feels eerily similar to the way companies like Dell and Cadillac drew a line with World Golf Championships earlier this century.
Thirty-six hole cuts remain at three stops only because they’re tied to seminal figures in world sports history known for their competitive brilliance. Tiger Woods and Jack Nicklaus made clear they weren’t fans of hosting less significant championships. So next week’s Genesis at Riviera and June’s Memorial at Muirfield Village will be joined by Arnold Palmer’s Bay Hill to send (just a few) players home on Friday night.
The player-architects behind the LIV response appear to have not gamed out what it would look like when Mother Nature intervened and the Tour was forced to play a no-cut, limited field event at 54 holes. Doing this opposite a successful LIV event only made matters worse.
The architects of this new vision also never imagined how much their cause would be undermined by handing out a full purse and accepting full points for something that looked just like a LIV stop, only with 26 more players.
Under the messy winter circumstances, play at Pebble Beach was terrific for three rounds and U.S. Open champion Wyndham Clark set a new course record in dramatic fashion. He also revealed Monday that he chose legacy over money in deciding to stay with the PGA Tour. Good for him. But the field also included three sponsor invitations for player Board Directors who ushered in the less-meritorious format. One more dent in the “legacy” brand.
The perception of a softer, less competitive PGA Tour has gained steam just a few years after players and the Commissioner lobbied for more ranking points. Fast forward to 2024 with amateur Dunlap beating the pros, followed by Pavon and several Europeans recording higher finishes than the elite of the PGA Tour, and it sure looks like the world ranking board will need to reassess everything.
ESPN, Fox and Warner Discovery Forming Joint Streming Service
As I was getting ready to hit send on the above, this press release landed in my inbox. I’ll share with some initial interruptions even though questions abound about why ESPN would do this and what it will cost.