CAST YOUR MINDS BACK TO SUNDAY APRIL 18, 2021. THE BREAKING NEWS IN THE WORLD OF SPORT WAS THE ANNOUNCEMENT THAT ARSENAL, MANCHESTER UNITED, LIVERPOOL, CHELSEA, MANCHESTER CITY AND TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR WERE GOING TO JOIN THE EUROPEAN SUPER LEAGUE, WITH ALL 6 CLUBS, ALONG WITH AC MILAN, INTER MILAN, JUVENTUS, REAL MADRID, BARCELONA AND ATLETICO MADRID RESIGNING FROM THE EUROPEAN CLUB ASSOCIATION AND SETTING UP THE SUPER LEAGUE.
THE OUTRAGE, THE 24-HOUR MEDIA COVERAGE, THE HYSTERIA FROM FANS, PUNDITS, EX-PLAYERS, GOVERNING BODIES AND OTHER CLUBS ACROSS EUROPE WAS SUFFOCATING. THEN THE DAYS OF SPECULATION, CONJECTURE BEFORE THE CLUBS RETRACTED THEIR MEMBERSHIP OF THE SUPER LEAGUE.
NOW, IMAGINE IF THAT LEAGUE WAS BACKED BY AN ICONIC FORMER PLAYER, SAY DAVID BECKHAM.
FAST FORWARD 9 MONTHS TO THE NEWS WHICH WAS BROKEN THIS EVENING BY THE GUARDIAN AND THE TELEGRAPH, SPELLING OUT DETAILS OF THE 'INTERNATIONAL SERIES' WITHIN THE ASIAN TOUR WHICH IS TO INCLUDE AN EVENT IN THE UK.
THE OUTRAGE, THE 24-HOUR MEDIA COVERAGE, THE HYSTERIA FROM FANS, PUNDITS, EX-PLAYERS, GOVERNING BODIES AND OTHER CLUBS ACROSS EUROPE WAS SUFFOCATING. THEN THE DAYS OF SPECULATION, CONJECTURE BEFORE THE CLUBS RETRACTED THEIR MEMBERSHIP OF THE SUPER LEAGUE.
NOW, IMAGINE IF THAT LEAGUE WAS BACKED BY AN ICONIC FORMER PLAYER, SAY DAVID BECKHAM.
FAST FORWARD 9 MONTHS TO THE NEWS WHICH WAS BROKEN THIS EVENING BY THE GUARDIAN AND THE TELEGRAPH, SPELLING OUT DETAILS OF THE 'INTERNATIONAL SERIES' WITHIN THE ASIAN TOUR WHICH IS TO INCLUDE AN EVENT IN THE UK.
THE 'SUPER GOLF LEAGUE' HAS BEEN MOOTED FOR MONTHS, BACKED BY THE SAUDI PFI AND THE NEWLY CREATED LIV GOLF INVESTMENTS, FRONTED BY ICONIC, GOLFING LEGEND GREG NORMAN. THE MAN WHO HAS SPENT MORE WEEKS AS WORLD NUMBER ONE THAN ANY OTHER PLAYER, OTHER THAN TIGER WOODS. THE MAN WHO HAS WON THE OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP TWICE AND MORE THAN 80 TOURNAMENTS AROUND THE WORLD.
YET, THE GENERAL SPORTS MEDIA LITERALLY COULD NOT GIVE A DAMN. THIS IS THE STATE OF GOLF TODAY. GOLF IS NOT THE MEGA, IMPORTANT SPORT IT SHOULD BE OR BELIEVES IT IS. THE RADIO SILENCE IS DEAFENING. AND THAT IS, PERHAPS, JUSTIFICATION FOR A BREAKAWAY IN THE FIRST PLACE.
YET, THE GENERAL SPORTS MEDIA LITERALLY COULD NOT GIVE A DAMN. THIS IS THE STATE OF GOLF TODAY. GOLF IS NOT THE MEGA, IMPORTANT SPORT IT SHOULD BE OR BELIEVES IT IS. THE RADIO SILENCE IS DEAFENING. AND THAT IS, PERHAPS, JUSTIFICATION FOR A BREAKAWAY IN THE FIRST PLACE.
GOLF NEEDS TO CHANGE. IT NEEDS TO ELEVATE ITS PRODUCT. IT NEEDS TO BRING THE WORLD'S BEST GOLFERS TOGETHER MORE OFTEN, ON A MORE GLOBAL BASIS. DESPITE THE ABSOLUTELY LUDICROUS CLAIMS FROM COLIN MONTGOMERIE THAT THE PLAN IS TRYNG TO "FIX SOMETHING WHICH ISN'T BROKEN", GOLF ABSOLUTELY NEEDS TO UNIFY. THE SITUATION WE CURRENTLY HAVE WITH 49 OF THE WORLDS TOP 100 PLAYING IN THE FARMERS INSURANCE OPEN, AND 27 OF THE WORLD'S TOP 100 PLAYING IN DUBAI, IS DETRIMENTAL TO THE SPORT.
FORMULA 1 IS SUCH A COMPELLING SPORT BECAUSE OF THE STORYLINES CREATED WEEK-IN-WEEK-OUT WITH THE BEST DRIVERS IN THE WORLD COMPETING AGAINST EACH OTHER ON A TRULY GLOBAL PLATFORM. I AWAIT WITH GREAT INTEREST FOR WHAT GREG NORMAN HAS TO SAY AT TUESDAY'S PRESS CONFERENCE, AND FOR THE INEVITABLE REACTION FROM THE EXISTING POWER BASE OF THE SPORT, AND THE NEGATIVE REACTION FROM THE COMPLIANT MAINSTREAM GOLF MEDIA.
FORMULA 1 IS SUCH A COMPELLING SPORT BECAUSE OF THE STORYLINES CREATED WEEK-IN-WEEK-OUT WITH THE BEST DRIVERS IN THE WORLD COMPETING AGAINST EACH OTHER ON A TRULY GLOBAL PLATFORM. I AWAIT WITH GREAT INTEREST FOR WHAT GREG NORMAN HAS TO SAY AT TUESDAY'S PRESS CONFERENCE, AND FOR THE INEVITABLE REACTION FROM THE EXISTING POWER BASE OF THE SPORT, AND THE NEGATIVE REACTION FROM THE COMPLIANT MAINSTREAM GOLF MEDIA.
