RORY MCILROY SPEAKS TO THE MEDIA AT THE 2019 ALFRED DUNHILL LINKS CHAMPIONSHIP. PHOTO COPYRIGHT MATT HOOPER.
23 AUGUST, 2022 - SHANK MEDIA, BY MATT HOOPER: RORY MCILROY HAS BECOME THE DEFACTO SPOKESMAN FOR THE PGA TOUR IN 2022, AND ONCE AGAIN HAS SPOKEN HONESTLY AND FRANKLY ON THE WORLD OF GOLF AND THE SITUATION IT FINDS ITSELF IN.
I WILL START AT THE OUTSET BY SAYING I DO NOT AGREE WITH HIS VIEW OF WORLD GOLF OR THE FABRICATED PYRAMID WHICH HAS BEEN CREATED THIS YEAR. THE DP WORLD TOUR, FORMERLY THE EUROPEAN TOUR, HAS EFFECTIVELY BEEN RELEGATED TO A THIRD TIER TOUR, WITH EXCEPTION OF A FEW BIG MONEY EVENTS WHICH ATTRACT SEMI-DECENT FIELDS. WE NOW HAVE A SPORT WHERE MANY OF THE WORLD'S TOP 100 PROBABLY HAVE MORE DUST THAN STAMPS ON THEIR PASSPORT, AND MULTIPLE TOURS OUTSIDE THE UNITED STATES FIGHTING FOR SURVIVAL. GOLF TV AUDIENCES CONTINUE TO LAG WELL BEHIND THE LIKES OF TENNIS, FORMULA 1 AND BOXING, OTHER COMPARABLE GLOBAL SPORTS PLAYED BY INDIVIDUALS.
RORY MCILROY HAS WON TOURNAMENTS IN HONG KONG, DUBAI, AUSTRALIA, CHINA, IRELAND, ENGLAND AND CANADA, AND HE HAS PLAYED IN SWITZERLAND, SOUTH AFRICA, JAPAN, EGYPT, AND SPAIN. HE IS ALSO GREAT FRIENDS WITH RAFAEL NADAL AND ANDY MURRAY, AND A GREAT FAN OF FORMULA 1 AND BOXING, SO THE QUESTION IS WHY DOES HE NOT GET IT?
AT LAST WEEK'S PLAYER MEETING AHEAD OF THE BMW CHAMPIONSHIP, ATTENDED BY RORY AND TIGER WOODS, AMONG OTHERS, SEVERAL SOURCES HAVE CONFIRMED THAT THE TOP PLAYERS, INCLUDING RORY, HAVE CALLED FOR MORE EVENTS THROUGHOUT THE YEAR WHERE THE TOP PLAYERS PLAY AGAINST EACH OTHER MORE OFTEN. THIS GAVE ME MORE HOPE THAT WE COULD SEE A WORLD TOUR, BUT DETAILS HAVE EMERGED OF THE PROPOSAL WHICH HAS BEEN PUT TO JAY MONAHAN AND THE PGA TOUR LEADERSHIP TODAY:
15 EXISTING PGA TOUR EVENTS
$20MILLION PURSES
LIMITED FIELD, NO CUT
RORY IS QUOTED BY GOLF CHANNEL AS SAYING: “A cut is still very important at the pinnacle of the game – it separates the field – but it depends what we’re trying to do with the Tour week-in and week-out,” McIlroy said. “As an entertainment product, to keep the talent there as long as possible at the venue, especially throughout the weekend, it’s a better thing for the Tour.”
I AM SIMPLY FED UP OF HEARING WHAT IS BEST FOR THE "TOUR", I WANT TO HEAR WHAT IS BEST FOR GOLF.
THE EVENTS ARE SAID TO BE TOURNAMENTS PLAYED BETWEEN JANUARY AND AUGUST. FIRSTLY IF THAT IS THE SCHEDULE IT WILL ONCE AND FOR ALL KILL OFF THE DP WORLD TOUR, WITH THE ROLEX SERIES EVENTS FINDING IT EVEN HARDER TO ATTRACT A QUALITY FIELD. SECONDLY IT IS KIND OF A COPY OF WHAT LIV GOLF IS OFFERING, BUT MOST CRUCIALLY OF ALL, IT IS LIKELY, IF NOT CERTAIN, THAT ALL OF THOSE 15 EVENTS WILL BE IN THE UNITED STATES.
RORY SEEMS TO HAVE FORGOTTEN THAT GOLF EXISTS OUTSIDE OF HIS ADOPTED HOMELAND. YES HE WILL PLAY THE UPCOMING BMW PGA CHAMPIONSHIP AND ALFRED DUNHILL LINKS CHAMPIONSHIP, BUT THAT IS THE FIRST TIME HE WILL HAVE PLAYED A TOURNAMENT OUTSIDE THE MAJORS IN EUROPE SINCE THE GENESIS SCOTTISH OPEN IN JULY 2021. ITS INEXPLICABLE TO THINK THAT THE EUROPEAN RYDER CUP TEAM'S NUMBER ONE STAR COULD GO AN ENTIRE 14 MONTHS WITHOUT PLAYING A REGULAR DP WORLD TOUR EVENT IN EUROPE, AND ITS AN EVEN GREATER EMBARRASSMENT THAT HE LEADS THE DP WORLD TOUR RANKINGS, GIVEN HIS CLEAR COMMITMENT TO THE PGA TOUR, NOT THE DP WORLD TOUR OR GLOBAL GOLF.
THE LAST PART OF HIS QUOTE IS ALMOST WORD FOR WORD WHAT THE LIKES OF THE PREMIER GOLF LEAGUE AND LIV GOLF HAVE BEEN SAYING, EXCEPT THEY REPLACE THE WORD TOUR WITH GOLF.
IT MAKES IT EVEN MORE REMARKABLE TO ME THAT RORY HAS BASICALLY BECOME THE PR FOR THE PGA TOUR, WHEN HIS HERO, TIGER WOODS, PLAYED AND WON IN DUBAI, AUSTRALIA, JAPAN, GERMANY, SPAIN, IRELAND, ENGLAND, ARGENTINA, MALAYSIA AND THAILAND. BUT THEN SHOULD IT BE SURPRISING? TIGER DOESN'T EVEN REFERENCE HIS WINS IN THESE EVENTS WHEN TALKING ABOUT HIS WINS, HE IS PERMANENTLY ON MESSAGE WITH THE PGA TOUR, THAT HE HAS 82 WINS. NO HE DOESN'T, TIGER HAS WON 93 EVENTS WHICH COUNT FOR THE OFFICIAL WORLD GOLF RANKING.
SO IT BEGS THE QUESTION. WAS IT JUST ALL ABOUT THE MONEY?
A RUMOURED $3MILLION WAS PAID TO TIGER FOR PLAYING IN DUBAI, AUSTRALIA, TURKEY, JAPAN, GERMANY AND THAILAND. MAYBE THESE SHOWPIECE OCCASIONS WERE JUST TOKEN GESTURES, JUST AS THE PGA TOUR WANTS IT. BECAUSE THE PGA TOUR IS RAPIDLY TURNING OUR GREAT, GLOBAL GAME INTO AN AMERICAN MAJOR LEAGUE. WHAT CHANCE THEM ELEVATING THE TOURNAMENT OF CHAMPIONS, FARMERS INSURANCE OPEN, GENESIS INVITATIONAL, ARNOLD PALMER INVITATIONAL, CHARLES SCHWAB CHALLENGE, MEMORIAL TOURNAMENT, CJ CUP, RBC HERITAGE, WELLS FARGO CHAMPIONSHIP, DELL TECHNOLOGIES MATCH PLAY, TRAVELERS CHAMPIONSHIP, FEDEX ST JUDE CHAMPIONSHIP, BMW CHAMPIONSHIP AND TOUR CHAMPIONSHIP AND CALLING IT A WORLD SERIES OR THE WGC'S?
GOLF HAS THE PERFECT OPPORTUNITY TO UNITE GLOBALLY, WITH THE MEMBER TOURS WORKING TOGETHER ON A GLOBAL SERIES OF EVENTS WHICH WOULD TRANSFORM THIS SPORT. IMAGINE ALL OF THE WORLD'S BEST PLAYING AT SUN CITY IN SOUTH AFRICA IN THE NEDBANK GOLF CHALLENGE EVERY YEAR, OR THE DUNLOP PHOENIX TOURNAMENT IN JAPAN, A TOURNAMENT WHICH, SORRY FOR THE LANGUAGE, IS ON ITS ARSE FOLLOWING CONTINUED EXPANSION FROM THE PGA TOUR. OR HOW ABOUT THE BEST GOING TO AUSTRALIA, NEW ZEALAND, SINGAPORE, THAILAND, FRANCE, SPAIN, SWITZERLAND, AND BRAZIL?
ONCE AGAIN THE INTROVERTED AMERICAN SPORTING ETHOS IS THREATENING THIS OPPORTUNITY. SADLY IT SEEMS RORY MCILROY HAS BEEN INDOCTRINATED BY THE FOLKS AT PONTE VEDRA BEACH.
