Category: DP World Tour

A Man Without Conviction

Rory McIlroy

Rory McIlroy Photo courtesy of golfdigestme.com

There is no doubt, Rory McIlroy is one of the best professional golfers in the world. His accomplishments are well documented and he can be a very entertaining golfer when his game is on.

Unfortunately, this is not what McIlroy has been remembered for as of late.

Since the creation of LIV Golf, McIlroy chose to be the de-facto leader of the PGA Tour. Taking on LIV Golf, Phil Mickelson, and the great Greg Norman, he decided to interject on something he obviously did not have much knowledge of.

For over a year, press conference, after press conference, McIlroy has sounded like PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan’s loudspeaker, unlike Jon Rahm who decided to concentrate on his game and stayed above the pettiness of it all.

Nobody can deny the fact, LIV Golf has changed the face of professional golf and has forced the PGA Tour to be transparent. McIlroy is making more money because Phil Mickelson and LIV Golf shined a light on the PGA Tour’s alleged financial shenanigans.

As a result of McIlroy’s lack of attention, and self appointed leadership role, his own game has suffered and it seems his mental health has taken a hit. His performance at the 2023 Masters was dismal and he chose to disappear for over four weeks, missing his second PGA Tour “Elevated Event” of the season.

According to him, he needed a mental health break from golf. I have to admit, I needed a mental health break from all his nonsense.

This evening, I watched his interview with Golf Channel’s Kyra Dixon and I have to say, he sounded like a man without conviction. His weak answers were telling and it showed me he is not ready to return to the “Big Time” yet.

McIlroy looked more like a lost teenager than a professional golfer on a mission.

My unsolicited advice? Rory McIlroy needs to pay more attention to his own professional career and leave the adults in the room deal with the nuisances of the Tour.

Has he learned his lesson? Only time will tell.

Rory McIlroy Has It All Wrong

As He Flips and Flops The Adult In The Room Still Missing

Professional Golfer, Rory McIlroy Photo courtesy of getty images

I think Rory McIlroy is an amazing golfer, but that is the extent of my admiration or respect for the lad.

Since the LIV Golf vs. the PGA Tour saga began, McIlroy has flip-flopped on the issue like a Waffle House pancake.

He has taken the role, that in all honesty, PGA Tour Commissioner, Jay Monahan, should have taken, of making a case for the continued monopoly of professional golf by the PGA Tour.

The problem is that his case is mostly emotional and without much factual information as it the case with his latest flip flop.

In his press conference in Dubai, McIlroy called for the removal of LIV Golf CEO, Greg Norman.

“I think Greg [Norman] needs to go. I think he just needs to exit stage left,” McIlroy said. “He’s made his mark but I think now is the right time to sort of say, look, you’ve got this thing off the ground but no one is going to talk unless there’s an adult in the room that can actually try to mend fences.”

It is ironic that the one acting like a child is the one asking for an adult in the room.

Who Rory McIlroy thinks he is to be calling for anybody’s removal? Especially since Greg Norman is in charge of LIV Golf and not the PGA Tour or the DP World Tour.

He went on to say, “If those two things happen, then things can happen,” he said. “But right now, it’s a stalemate because there can’t be any other way.”

“Hopefully something can happen, who knows?” McIlroy echoed. “But right now, I think the separate entities the PGA Tour, European Tour and LIV are both going to be — one is a very different product to the other. It seems like it’s a bit of a stalemate.”

He goes from stalemate to hopefully something can happen, then he goes on to acknowledge that LIV Golf is just a “different product.”

The so-called stalemate was created by Jay Monahan who refused to meet with Norman at the beginning stages of LIV Golf.

At this point LIV Golf is a viable product that does no need McIlroy or the PGA Tour to survive. Sure, a television deal would make a big difference, but until that happens, LIV Golf is not going anywhere.

I watched every single LIV Golf Invitational broadcast and I was very pleased with the product. The commentary was minimal and golf related, a refreshing change from the “woke” commentary from the people at Golf Channel/NBC Sports.

The quality of players is much better than the quality of players playing this week at the RSM Classic, and more talented players will, without a doubt, join LIV Golf in the near future.

LIV Golf appeals to the new younger golfers for whom the PGA Tour has not created a path forward and with all the money LIV Golf has to offer; why not?

Instead of spending all that energy blasting Greg Norman and LIV Golf, perhaps McIlroy should let the adults in the room deal with the situation and concentrate in winning tournaments.

https://golf.com/news/rory-mcilroy-greg-norman-liv-golf-removal/

The Man Who Killed Professional Golf

PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan

https://golf.com/news/jay-monahan-pga-tour-liv-come-together-co-exist/

Another week and PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan refuses to see the inevitability of LIV Golf.

As LIV Golf is in serious negotiations for a television deal and top players continue to take the big money, the only thing Jay Monahan can come up with is empty rhetoric.

Him and his little minions at NBC Golf and the Golf Channel are trying hard to convince you that LIV Golf is a shooting star and it will be gone before it starts.

Of course, anyone who has watched the format understands this is going to be part of professional golf and it is here to stay.

LIV CEO, Greg Norman has made a compelling case for LIV Golf and the reasons why it can coexist with the PGA Tour and the DP World Tour.

Greg Norman’s interview with Piers Morgan was very revealing and a very honest take on the situation.

On the other hand, Jay Monahan has gone around whining and complaining about LIV Golf and refusing to even sit down to talk. Instead he sends his little dogs, McIlroy and Horschel to do his bid.

This week, McIlroy stated that it was time to sit down as professional golf was getting ripped apart by this rift.

Even a flip flopper like Rory McIlroy understands, and realizes, LIV Golf is here to stay and the importance for the best players in the world to participate in the Major Championships.

As the professional golf world turns, Jay Monahan insists on staying in the past.

And the Winner Is….

LIV Golf and Henrik Stenson

The losers? The PGA Tour and the DP World Tour. The LIV Golf event at Bedminster was impressive and very entertaining. The addition of David Feherty as a commentator was a nice one and he was very funny.

Despite the fact that Tony Finau won the PGA Tour Rocket Mortgage for his second consecutive PGA Tour win , Henrik Stenson’s win at the LIV Golf event was more meaningful as much as a bigger statement.

All the credit to Finau, for the second week in a row he decimated a weak field. At the Rocket Mortgage Patrick Cantlay, 4th in the official world golf rankings, was the highest-ranking player in the field.

LIV Golf had more Major champions in the field in 54 holes of golf than the PGA Tour had in 144 holes of golf between the 3M Championship and the Rocket Mortgage. So much for LIV Golf weak fields and “has been” players.

I was wondering where McIlroy, Justin Thomas, and Scheffler have been hiding for the past two weeks. Ah yes, I forgot, they do not play these little tournaments. Of course, they trash LIV Golf while claiming they are all about the PGA Tour. They can spare me their hypocrisy.

Despite all the haters, LIV Golf was entertaining. Watching Henrik Stenson win the tournament, after been stripped of his European Ryder Cup Team captaincy, was something to see. He is not nicknamed the “Iceman” for no reason.

He was steady and played flawless golf. As he said during his post victory interview, he played “like a captain.” An obvious jab at the DP World Tour for their decision.

Another successful LIV Golf event and another egg on the face of the PGA Tour and the DP World Tour.

Enjoy the omelet boys!

Tiger Woods Claiming The Moral High ground?

A Pathetic Joke That is Far From Funny

THE Tiger Woods. Go figure!

I am not going to invest too much of my or your time on Tiger Woods. Anybody who has followed professional golf as I have, understands Tiger Woods may be the greatest golfer alive, but he has been a rotten human being.

Not until he realized his days were numbered, he never cared for the fans. The fans were a nuisance and he did not have time for them. Probably because he carried his father chip on his own shoulder, who knows.

Now, he is taking shots at Greg Norman, LIV Golf, and the players who chose to jump ship. He went as far as to say that the R&A was right in uninviting Greg Norman, a two time Open Champion, from the Champions dinner and the 15oth anniversary celebrations.

Imagine if people had demanded Tiger Woods be banned from any festivities because he was a rotten husband, hit a fire hydrant, was high as a kite, and was taken into custody? Exactly!

Tiger Woods have no moral high ground to criticize anybody. To hear him talk about how these players turned their backs on the tour, it is laughable. Golf is a business and people make business decisions.

Tiger Woods has been sponsored by Nike his whole career, despite the fact Nike uses factories in China, with child labor, and working conditions they could not get away with in the United States.

Do I think Tiger should give up his “business” decision? Absolutely not, but with that Tiger needs to understand he has zero room for hypocrisy.

As we speak, the United States Department of Justice antitrust division is conducting an investigation of the PGA Tour and their shoddy practices. It has been reported they have contacted player’s agents seeking information about the PGA Tour bylaws.

The PGA Tour, been the arrogant entity they are, have said, “This was not unexpected.” “We went through this in 1994 and we are confident in a similar outcome.”

Sure, the only difference is that back in 1994, professional golf was small potatoes and today is big business. I am sure the liberal DOJ is going to take a closer look this time and the outcome may be far from similar.

As I said many times, I welcome this antitrust investigation. The PGA Tour has no right to monopolize professional golf, they do not own it.

This chapter is far from over and LIV Golf has all the money they need to litigate until the cows come home.

As for Tiger, well, he is not the Tiger Woods he used to be, so I guess this is the only way he can remain relevant. Sad and pathetic!