Twenty-one members of the PGA Tour’s “rank-and-file signed a letter over the weekend written by a top-flight litigation attorney" and delivered to the PGA Tour policy board “demanding answers on the state of the Tour’s negotiations with potential investment partners and a dialogue with the Tour’s upper chamber of decision-makers,” according to James Colgan of GOLF. The letter represents the “most threatening step yet for the Tour’s playing class” as it “reconciles with changes to the Tour schedule that promise to enrich its top members.” While the letter “does not threaten any imminent legal action,” it appears to show that at least a chunk of the Tour’s membership has “consulted legal advice as the Tour policy board prepares for one of the most significant stretches in its existence.” Colgan noted that Chez Reavie, ranked No. 111 in the world, is the highest-ranked player to sign the letter. The heart the letter centers on the “current state of negotiations between the PGA Tour and a pair of high-profile investors,” the Strategic Sports Group (or SSG) and Saudi Public Investment Fund (or PIF). The letter says that “all but a handful of PGA Tour players have been kept entirely in the dark about the prospective transaction." The group later demands “full disclosure” of the details of any negotiations the Tour has held, a meeting with the policy board and “assurances that all conflicts of interest will be disclosed and will not be permitted to color the decision-making process” (GOLF, 12/12). GOLFWEEK’s Adam Woodard noted the letter “mocked on social media by fans and golf media alike,” and within seven hours of the letter going public, PGA Tour member Wesley Bryan said that he has “removed his name from the list of players” (GOLFWEEK, 12/12).
WHAT IS NEXT? In Toronto, Jason Logan asked “what else does [PGA Tour Commissioner Jay] Monahan have left?” Maybe all that is left for the PGA Tour is to “work out a deal that ensures PGA Tour tournaments and LIV events don’t conflict.” The tour just announced that a new collaboration of investors called the Strategic Sports Group will “prop it up financially,” which is no small thing given tournament sponsors have been asked to increase their spending, but that is “not enough to compete financially with the PIF.” Logan wrote if “other big names follow [Jon] Rahm out the door, and the floodgates really open,” the tour “probably won’t have any choice but to allow its members to compete whenever and wherever they want, LIV stops included.” Monahan’s remaining play is to “yield the fall to LIV” and “use its considerable operational and marketing experience to make that product better and more cohesive to ensure golf’s biggest stars are unfettered come January.” Otherwise, the “gloves stay off and how much more of a beating can the PGA Tour take?” Logan: “How long before the audiences of its events shrink such that more sponsors flee?” (TORONTO STAR, 12/12).
A NEWFOUND INFLUENCER: The AP’s Doug Ferguson wrote Rahm becomes at LIV “what he never really was on the PGA Tour -- the face of a league” and perhaps LIV is where Rahm “feels he can leave his legacy.” During an appearance on “Th Pat McAfee Show,” Rahm mentioned Seve Ballesteros “making golf more popular in Spain and using his influence around the world.” That is what Rahm “wants to emulate.” Now Rahm can “see how well he can carry the LIV flag at its 14 tournaments next year on The CW network or a YouTube channel” (AP, 12/12). The GLOBE & MAIL’s Cathal Kelly wrote Saudi Arabia “didn’t pay for a golfer” when they signed Rahm to LIV, they paid for this “new version of Jon Rahm -- a normal, likeable, already rich-and-famous fellow who didn’t need to compromise, but did.” Now, Rahm “will be on view for years, compromising himself over and over.” Kelly wrote this is the “hypocrisy LIV exposes.” Something the “rest of us will never get the chance to turn them down.” Kelly: “But as long as guys like Rahm keep saying one thing and doing another, they expose our collective values for what they really are -- convenient and context-based” (GLOBE & MAIL, 12/12).
