PIF GOVERNOR YASIR AL RUMAYYAN AT THE 2023 ALFRED DUNHILL LINKS CHAMPIONSHIP IMAGE - MATT HOOPER
10 OCTOBER 2023 - SHANK, BY MATT HOOPER: LIV GOLF'S APPLICATION FOR OFFICIAL WORLD GOLF RANKING POINTS HAS BEEN REJECTED, OWGR CHAIRMAN PETER DAWSON CONFIRMED THIS EVENING. SPEAKING TO THE ASSOCIATED PRESS, THE FORMER CEO AND SECRETARY OF THE R&A SAID "We are not at war with them, This decision not to make them eligible is not political. It is entirely technical."
"LIV players are self-evidently good enough to be ranked. They're just not playing in a format where they can be ranked equitably with the other 24 tours and thousands of players trying to compete on them."
"Dustin Johnson, Sergio Garcia, of course they should be in the ranking," Dawson added. "We need to find a way to get that done. I hope that LIV can find a solution - not so much their format; that can be dealt with through a mathematical formula - but the qualification and relegation."
THIS DECISION WILL LIKELY BE MET WITH CHEERS AND DELIGHT AT PONTE VEDRA BEACH AND WENTWORTH, AND IS A SIGNIFICANT BLOW TO LIV GOLF, AND NO DOUBT WILL GIVE THE PGA TOUR THE UPPER HAND IN ANY NEGOTIATIONS WITH PIF OVER THE SUPPOSED "NEWCO". LIV GOLF IN ITS CURRENT FORM CANNOT RECEIVE OFFICIAL WORLD GOLF RANKING POINTS, AND CONSEQUENTLY ITS PLAYERS WILL SUFFER, IN TERMS OF NOT BEING ABLE TO QUALIFY FOR MAJOR CHAMPIONSHIPS, UNLESS THEY ARE EXEMPT LIKE BROOKS KOEPKA AND CAMERON SMITH.
I CERTAINLY WON'T QUESTION THE INTEGRITY OF PETER DAWSON, BUT THERE IS NO DOUBT THAT THE OUTSIDE NOISE, THE WIDER GOLF MEDIA, THE ESTABLISHMENT TOURS AND PARTICULARLY JAY MONAHAN, HAVE PLAYED A ROLE IN MAKING THIS PROCESS AS DIFFICULT FOR LIV GOLF AS POSSIBLE. YES, MONAHAN AND KEITH PELLEY TOOK THEMSELVES OUT OF THE PROCESS TO DECIDE IF LIV GOLF WAS ELIGIBLE, BUT THE CONSISTENT USE OF AGGRESSIVE LANGUAGE, AND USE OF THE MEDIA TO CREATE A NEGATIVE NARRATIVE AROUND LIV GOLF HAS TO HAVE PLAYED A ROLE IN THE OUTCOME OF THIS DECISION.
THE WORLD GOLF CHAMPIONSHIPS WERE NO CUT EVENTS, ALL THE PGA TOUR PLAYOFF EVENTS ARE NO CUT EVENTS, AND THE FINAL EVENTS ON THE DP WORLD TOUR ARE NO CUT EVENTS. ALL HAVE LIMITED FIELDS, AND BASICALLY FEATURE THE SAME PLAYERS YEAR-IN-YEAR-OUT. YES, IT CAN BE SAID EVERY MEMBER OF THOSE TOURS HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO QUALIFY FOR THE NO CUT LIMITED FIELD EVENTS THROUGHOUT THE SEASON, BUT LIV GOLF IS ATTEMPTING TO CHANGE THE SPORT.
QUALIFICATION INTO, AND RELEGATION OUT OF, LIV GOLF IS ENTIRELY POSSIBLE. IT JUST OCCURS AT THE END OF EACH SEASON, RATHER THAN WEEK-TO-WEEK. LIV GOLF IS ATTEMPTING TO MAKE GOLF LIKE OTHER SPORTS, WHERE PEOPLE CAN TUNE IN AND KNOW WHO IS GOING TO BE PLAYING, AT THE VERY LEAST. PEOPLE CAN ATTEND EVENTS ON ANY DAY AND SEE THEIR FAVOURITE PLAYER, AND CREATE STARS OUT OF GOLFERS, AND DO IT ON A GLOBAL STAGE.
IN THE LETTER TO GREG NORMAN, THE OWGR BOARD STATES IT HAS 'CONCERNS' ABOUT THE Impact of Team Competition. "The Board Committee continues to be concerned about the implications of conducting individual and team competitions simultaneously. This concern was amplified by the decision that players from the same team can be grouped together and by the
actions and comments attributed to Sebastian Munoz referenced in our April 24 letter."
actions and comments attributed to Sebastian Munoz referenced in our April 24 letter."
THIS IS FARCICAL. GOLF HAS ALWAYS HAD A 'DRAW' AT THE START OF THE WEEK. ITS ABOUT AS MUCH OF A 'DRAW' AS MY SNAP HOOK. LET US JUST TAKE LAST WEEK AS AN EXAMPLE. LAST WEEK THE GOVERNOR OF THE PUBLIC INVESTMENT FUND OF SAUDI ARABIA, YASIR AL RUMAYYAN, PLAYED IN THE ALFRED DUNHILL LINKS CHAMPIONSHIP, PARTNERING LIV GOLF PLAYER PETER UIHLEIN. THROUGHOUT THE EVENT HE WOULD BE GROUPED WITH R&A CEO MARTIN SLUMBERS (ST ANDREWS) AND OWGR CHAIRMAN PETER DAWSON (CARNOUSTIE). THIS CLEARLY WAS ARRANGED BY THE DP WORLD TOUR AND THE ESTABLISHMENT, AND WHILST THERE IS NO WAY OF KNOWING EXACTLY WHAT WAS SAID BETWEEN THE THREE GENTLEMEN, IT IS CLEAR IT WAS A CHARM OFFENSIVE FROM THE ESTABLISHMENT TO TRY AND SOFTEN THE BLOW OF WHAT WAS TO COME.
GOLF HAS ALWAYS HAD 'SUPERSTAR GROUPS'. THE USGA PAIRED THE WORLD'S TOP 3 TOGETHER IN THE US OPEN IN 2008, AND IT HAS HAPPENED ON NUMEROUS OCCASIONS. ARE YOU TRYING TO TELL ME THAT IT WAS RANDOM THAT YASIR AL RUMAYYAN GOT DREW OUT A HAT TO PLAY IN THE SAME GROUP AS MARTIN SLUMBERS, AND ONE GROUP AHEAD OF PETER DAWSON. OH, AND OF COURSE, HE'S DRAWN TO PLAY IN THE SAME GROUP AS DAWSON THE VERY NEXT DAY. THIS IS ABSOLUTE NONSENSE. PAIRING PLAYERS FROM THE SAME TEAM DOESN'T IMPACT THE INTEGRITY OF THE TOURNAMENT IN ANY WAY. SHAPE OR FORM.
I AM NOT GOING TO SPEAK FOR MARK MCCORMACK, BUT LIV GOLF IS SURELY SOMETHING CLOSE TO WHAT HE WOULD HAVE ENVISIONED FOR A WORLD TOUR. HE CREATED THE WORLD MATCH PLAY, THE TROPHEE LANCOME, THE WORLD SERIES OF GOLF AND THE ALFRED DUNHILL CUP. THESE EVENTS WERE GLOBAL AND DRIVEN BY THE STARS OF THE SPORT, HIS IMG WENT ON TO MANAGE THE AUSTRALIAN MASTERS AND CREATE THE HSBC CHAMPIONS. ALL OF THESE EVENTS ALSO WERE INNOVATIVE, AND DIFFERENT FROM THE NORM, AND HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH THE PGA TOUR.
OF COURSE, IT WAS MARK MCCORMACK WHO CREATED THE PRE-CURSER TO THE OFFICIAL WORLD GOLF RANKINGS. I TRULY WONDER WHAT HE WOULD THINK OF TODAY'S DECISION.
PETER DAWSON AT THE 2023 ALFRED DUNHILL LINKS. IMAGE - MATT HOOPER
MARTIN DEMPSTER OF THE SCOTSMAN BROKE THE STORY ON TUESDAY THAT AL RUMAYYAN WAS PLAYING IN THE CHAMPIONSHIP UNDER A PSEUDONYM, ANDREW WATERMAN, AND THAT LED TO THE TOUR RAPIDLY CHANGING THE DRAW TO ACKNOWLEDGE THAT THE WORLD KNEW THE NEWCASTLE UNITED OWNER WAS GOING TO BE PLAYING. SUDDENLY MY ATTENTION SWITCHED, FROM COVERING THE CHAMPIONSHIP, AND PHOTOGRAPHING CRICKETERS, SINGERS AND ACTORS, TO COVERING A GOLF NEWS STORY.
ON THURSDAY MORNING THE ANTICIPATION WAS SOMETHING I HAVEN'T QUITE EXPERIENCED ON A GOLF COURSE BEFORE. YASIR ARRIVED BY HELICOPTER AHEAD OF HIS TEE TIME, AND WALKED TO THE TEE WITH A MINIMUM OF FUSS, SEEMINGLY OBLIVIOUS TO THE DRIZZLE FALLING FROM THE SKY, BUT LOOKING PENSIVE. HE ARRIVED WEARING A WATERPROOF TOP, BUT IN AN EERILY SYMBOLIC GESTURE, HE REMOVED THAT TO PLAY, REVEALING A LIV GOLF HOODIE. HE THEN HIT HIS DRIVE DOWN THE MIDDLE, AND MADE A BOGEY AFTER A THREE-PUTT.
BUT LET'S BE HONEST NONE OF YOU ARE INTERESTED IN HOW HE OR MARTIN SLUMBERS PLAYED.
THE DYNAMIC BETWEEN THE PAIR WAS STRANGE, AND TO BE HONEST BOTH LOOKED UNCOMFORTABLE. CLEARLY THE EYES OF THE MEDIA WERE ON THEM, AND I AM SURE SLUMBERS WOULD RATHER HAVE JUST ENJOYED PLAYING IN THE CHAMPIONSHIP, RATHER THAN THIS VERY PUBLIC MEETING OF MINDS, IDEOLOGIES AND VISIONS. AFTER ALL, THIS ISN'T MARTIN SLUMBERS' FIGHT, OR THE FIGHT OF THE R&A, ITS THE PGA TOUR AND DP WORLD TOUR WHO ARE AT WAR WITH LIV.
WHAT THIS WAS, AND I HAVE TOUCHED ON IT, WAS A CHARM OFFENSIVE. THIS WAS AN ATTEMPT BY THE ESTABLISHMENT TO WELCOME YASIR AND SAUDI ARABIA INTO THE ESTABLISHMENT. I FOLLOWED THEIR FIRST HOLE, AND THEN 13-18 OF THEIR ROUND. I OBSERVED THEIR BODY LANGUAGE, AND HOW MUCH THEY TALKED TO EACH OTHER. IT CERTAINLY WASN'T A ROUND OF GOLF WITH TWO BUDDIES, OR EVENT TWO BUSINESS MEN. IT SEEMED TENSE, AWKWARD.
OF COURSE I AM SURE THE ESTABLISHMENT WILL TRY TO PIVOT YASIR AND THE PIF TO INVESTING IN GOLF DEVELOPMENT, RATHER THAN RUNNING A LEAGUE OR TOUR WITHIN THE SPORT. THUS KEEPING THE STATUS QUO OF THE 'ECOSYSTEM'. ANYONE ELSE DESPISE THAT WORD WHICH HAS BECOME THE FAVOURITE OF CERTAIN MEMBERS OF THE ESTABLISHMENT IN THE LAST TWO YEARS?
ITS NOW CLEAR THAT THE ESTABLISHMENT HAVE DONE EVERYTHING THEY CAN TO DESTROY LIV GOLF IN ITS CURRENT FORM. THEY HAVE BANNED PLAYERS, THEY HAVE DENIGRATED THEIR IMAGE, REPUTATION AND ABILITY TO EARN MONEY FROM SPONSORSHIP, THEY HAVE REDUCED THEIR ABILITY TO EARN OFFICIAL WORLD GOLF RANKING POINTS. THEY HAVE EVEN ENTERED INTO NEGOTIATIONS WITH THEIR OWNER, ATTEMPTING TO CLOSE IT DOWN BY GOING THROUGH THE FRONT DOOR.
WHAT YASIR AL RUMAYYAN, PIF AND LIV GOLF DOES NEXT IS ANYONE'S GUESS. IN WHAT SHOULD BE A COMPELLING FINAL WEEK OF THE INDIVIDUAL LIV GOLF SEASON, THE ATTENTION YET AGAIN HAS BEEN TAKEN AWAY FROM WHAT LIV DOES ON AND OFF COURSE, BY AN ESTABLISHMENT DECISION.
MAYBE THE THAW IN THE WAR HAS FROZEN OVER AGAIN.
