What side of the fence are you on? This unprecedented heavyweight fight between the PGA Tour and the Saudi’s LIV Tour is setting up to be a game-changer, whether for the best or not, is undecided. Through the lens my sixty-plus years of playing and following the sport reveals to me that there is room enough in this game for both tours to co-exist and prosper. Neither can afford to be selfish or bigger than the game itself.
If they sat down and broke bread and sincerely wanted to grow the game, so to speak, it could be a win-win situation for both parties. The politics of “moral authority” shouldn’t be the main focus here. Both organizations are not without blood on their hands. The Saudi’s humanitarian issues and the PGA’s racial and inequality issues still haunt both legacies. Even though the PGA Tour, under the guidance of former Commissioner Tim Finchem and current Commissioner Jay Monahan have made great strides and progress in becoming equal opportunity advocates, there’s still lots of room for improvements.
The PGA’s “Caucasian Only Clause“, up until 1961, will always be a bad reflection in their rearview mirror. And we know the Saudi’s have their own crosses to bear. But if we could look beyond all that’s transpired in the past and focus on what the future could look like, I would vote that there’s hope—and lots of it available. Legacies and records are nice to have from a historian’s perspective, but so is cash and lots of it, as well.
Big Jump To Stardom
Could you imagine PGA players like Harold Varner III (who, by the way, picked up his largest paycheck to date on Saudi soil), Cameron Champ, Tony Finau, Pat Perez, Jhonattan Vegas, Joaquin Niemann, Camilo Villegas, Will Zalatoris, Viktor Hovland, Christian Bezuidenhout, Max Homa, Cameron Smith, and Patrick Cantlay, all players on the cusp of becoming household names? Or, at least top 20 contenders in search of the big jump to stardom.
Such as the likes of the Spieth’s, McIlroy’s, Koepka’s Rahm’s, and Watson’s of the world. Kevin Na was one of those types of players who always contended but did not pick up huge paychecks on a consistent basis like he has the potential to do on the Saudi Tour.
Dustin Johnson seems to see the handwriting on the wall. How about up-and-coming Advocates Tour players such as Willie Mack, Kamaui Johnson, Tim O’Neal, and Kevin Hall, possibly receiving a sponsor’s exemption to compete on that tour? It could open up a whole new world for them. Just longer travel destinations, but I think it would be worth it.
European and Asian players have been doing it for years. From an African American perspective, I truly, sincerely, believe that if you had given Charlie Sifford, Lee Elder, Calvin Peete, Jim Dent, Jim Thorpe, Charlie Owens, Pete Brown, and other African American professional golfers that same option, it would have been a no brainer. So, now when you think about the LIV Tour, Phil Mickelson and Greg Norman might be visionaries after all.
If PGA players are considered “Independent Contractors”, what’s the problem? Why are we even having this conversation? The PGA Tour never had a problem with the European Tour, Asian Tour, newly formed D P Tour, or the Korn Ferry Tour, because they were all inferior to the PGA Tour, especially “financially”. Now, this new kid on the block is flexing its muscles with its bank account and deep, deep, pockets, so now it’s a problem. Somewhat hypocritical if you ask me. Just my take, more or less, not the gospel.
John Perry is a freelance writer, poet, and active golfer with a passion for calling shots like he sees them and, then, telling it like it is. He resides in Orlando, FL Reach him with your comments at johnpgolf@icloud.com