COMMENT: I found Mike Schuurman’s editorial quite interesting. I believe he has touched on some valid points and opportunities concerning LIV.
I disagree with the competitive pressure involved with LIV. The great thing about golf is basically you only eat what you kill! A little graphic but where is the pressure when u have 1 st prize before you tee off?
Exhibition Golf, fun but missing the true excitement of massive pressured competition!!
Just another opinion.
Respectfully Submitted, Gar Hamilton PGA Life Member
GAO Hall of Fame, PGA Ont Hall of Fame, PGA Can Hall of Fame
It’s time a lot of people got down off their high horse and recognized L1V has nothing to do with human rights and everything to do with competition. People who live in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones! As evil, ugly and horrible as the political record of the Saudi government is the policies of every other influential country in the world isn’t any better. Does that mean anyone who enjoys watching top level professional golf subscribes to the policies of the Saudi government? No! Not anymore than anyone who enjoys watching top level golf subscribes to the unacceptable policies of any other country. Rather than hiding our heads in the sand, why not look to the Saudis as an opportunity.
The PGA TOUR has long had many internal problems mostly with transparency and support for their second-tier players. Jay Monahan’s lack of recognition of a strong competitor reek of insecurity. His answer to a legitimate challenge is to attempt to ignore them, bully them and chastise them. Why go war against a more powerful enemy without any attempt to negotiate?
Regardless of the pettiness displayed by competing tours, L1V has a chance to change golf for the ‘better’ if they step up and take the leadership torch. Golf has many problems that the USGA, R&A, USPGA, USPGA Tour and every major golf association in the world has failed to address.
I have watched the last three L1V events and can honestly say I enjoyed them! First, there are no commercials, I love the verbal exchange between the players and the caddies, and the drones provide amazing photos without the annoyance of the noisy engines of a blimp and the detail on the left of the screen is fantastic! I don’t like the players wearing shorts and Feherty in the role of colour commentator instead of ‘on course reporter contributing incidental remarks places him in a place where his humour is boring.
L1V could make some of the long overdue changes the game needs badly. They could roll back the distance the ball travels ending the debate about losing great old courses who have no more land to expand their course length.
They could select countries where golf does not have a high-profile sport to encourage growth of the game by engaging the general population in the tournament via clinics.
L1V could buy their own TV channel and show case golf in ways not shown before.
They could form leagues in every major city in the world featuring teams made up if men and women. Using a Ryder Cup format, a blind draw from all players would provide one lady and one man vs two men, two women vs two men etc. Imagine watching a tournament with everything tied on the last hole with Tiger vs Annika. A complete schedule held around the world played on Fri to Sun every week culminating in a play-off scenario with women earning the same pay as the men.
L1V has an opportunity to address some of the silly rules of golf like declaring a divot ground under repair, the number of clubs in the bag and making all water hazards and Out of Bounds a lateral hazard.
This doesn’t have to be about human rights. It could be about repairing a wonderful game.
