Category: PGA Tour

LIV Golf v. PGA Tour INC

Phil Mickelson and 10 Other LIV Golf Players File Antitrust Suit Against The PGA Tour

LIV Golf players, Phil Mickelson and Bryson DeChambeau. Photo courtesy of golfmagic.com

It is about time!

Time for the PGA Tour to open its books and show the world the kind of big business they do not want to give up.

Phil Mickelson and 10 other LIV players have filed an antitrust suit against PGA Tour INC over the suspensions issued by PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan.

Three of the players have also filed for an injunction. The three players had qualified for the FedEx Cup prior to them joining LIV Golf, and under the new rules, they will not be allowed to play.

https://nypost.com/2022/08/03/phil-mickelson-10-others-from-liv-golf-file-lawsuit-against-pga-tour/

Listening to the on-field interviewer from the Golf Channel talking to some of the players at this week’s Wyndham Championships about LIV Golf and the lawsuit, was embarrassing and pathetic.

Damon Hack and Eamon Lynch were not much different in their commentary. More of the same, doing the PGA Tour bid. You can count on these two to bore you to death as they represent the Golf Channel lunatic fringe.

Having said that, I do not expect anything different from the Golf Channel. After all, they are part of the woke culture at NBC Sports. Objectivity and real journalism is not a requirement.

Paging Justin Thomas, Rory McIlroy, and Scottie Scheffler. Oops, once again they are not at the Wyndham Championship “supporting” the PGA Tour and the sponsor. Nothing more than whiny hypocrites.

The PGA Tour is big business and has been spending lots of money paying lobbyists in Washington to assist them in gaining political support for the PGA Tour in an attempt to prevent LIV Golf from operating.

Why would they spend money lobbying politicians? What are they afraid of?

Davis Love III, went as far as to say, “If the LIV guys sue and are allowed to play on the PGA Tour, the players are enough fed up with it.” What the heck is he saying? Is he threatening the LIV players with bodily harm?

He went on to say, “We understand we make the rules on the PGA Tour and the commissioner is enforcing our rules and we don’t want those guys playing, coming and cherry-picking our tournaments.”

Really? PGA Tour players cherry-pick their tournaments, and as long as they meet the minimum 15 event requirement, they are free to do as they wish. This is why McIlroy, Thomas, and Scheffler have not showed up for the last three regular season tournaments.

Love continued with his irrational tirade and it got even crazier. “We hold all the cards. We say to the FTC (Federal Trade Commission) and to Washington, ‘No, we support the rules. We don’t want those guys playing. We don’t care what the courts say.”

“The nuclear option is to say ‘Fine, if they have to play in our events we just won’t play’.”

Go ahead Davis, who cares? If you, and the rest of the PGA Tour players want to take that childish stance, no problem. I am sure that will do lots for your fan base.

He added that the suspensions issued to Dustin Johnson, Brooks Koepka, and Patrick Reed, makes them ineligible to play for his President’s Cup team in September.

I’ll say the International Team will have a good opportunity to beat the United States without too much fuzz. Keeping your best players out sounds like a great strategy Davis.

If Davis Love III sounds insane to you, welcome to the club.

Commissioner Monahan should be embarrassed. He is nothing but a coward. These players go out and engage the media instead of concentrating on playing the tournaments. The media should be handle by Jay Monahan, not the players.

Jay Monahan is evil. He knows exactly what he is doing by pinning PGA Tour players against LIV Golf players. He has created this atmosphere and he should be fired.

By the way Jay, it is called LIV Golf, not the Saudi League. Stop sounding stupid and ignorant.

Jay Monahan’s salary is higher than most of the purses these players are playing for. He is worth about $12 million dollars with an annual salary of $4 million dollars. The winners purse for the Open Championship was $2.5 million. Let that marinate for a minute.

The PGA Tour is going to be exposed for the fraud they are, and the PGA Tour membership finally will see how much money the suits at Ponte Vedra have been hiding from them.

If you want to read a bit more about this so-called 501 (c) (6) outfit, indulge yourself with the links below.

https://www.newsmax.com/drewjohnson/pga-tour-golf-tax-loophole/2022/06/14/id/1074297/

PGA Tour’s Tax Return Shows Some Of Its Dirty Little Secrets
Time for the PGA Tour to Get a Tax Bill

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!

LIV Golf Derangement Syndrome Continues

Golf Analyst Brandel Chamblee Continues to Make a Fool of Himself

Golf Channel Analyst, Brandel Chamblee and World Golf Hall of Famer LIV Golf CEO Greg Norman

https://golf.com/news/brandel-chamblee-greg-norman-bobblehead-slight/

My theory is poor old Brandel is bitter because he did not get a phone call from Greg Norman to join LIV Golf, so all he can do is fall to the bottom of the rubbish bin and scream to the top in hopes somebody will actually care for his nonsense.

I used to give Chamblee some level of respect, after all, he played the PGA Tour and actually won a tournament, but mostly because I think he is an outstanding historian of the game.

Now? Not so much. He has become a buffoonish character for his own detriment. Complaining about Saudi Arabia and its human rights record, while on the other side of his mouth refuses to condemn the Chinese Communist Party for the same dismal human rights record, is hypocritical to say the least.

Why Chamblee has chosen to go down this road is beyond me. I understand the Golf Channel is now part of the woke movement as part of NBC Sports, but Chamblee is losing credibility by the second.

To suggest Greg Noman and Phil Mickelson be removed for the World Golf Hall of Fame is ridiculous and petty.

If Chamblee wants to have a serious conversation with Greg Norman about LIV Golf, by all means, but to go about it this way is pathetic and it says more about Chamblee’s pettiness, than Greg Norman’s character.

LIV Golf is a reality and if Chamblee wants to have a serious debate about it, then he needs to realize that LIV Golf is here to stay and needs to base his arguments on the merits or flaws of the product.

When a current Ryder Cup Captain like Henrik Stenson chooses LIV Golf instead of the captaincy of the European Ryder Cup Team, is no longer a laughing matter.

Until then, Brandel Chamblee, and the rest of the buffoons at the Golf Channel, will be seen as nothing but foolish clowns.

As a sidebar, I want Jaime Diaz to provide evidence proving his on-air suggestion that Henrik Stenson is going through financial difficulties and that is the reason why he left for LIV Golf. Otherwise Jaime Diaz needs to mind his own business and report actual facts.

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!

From Royal & Ancient to Ridiculous & Absurd

The R&A Decided Not To Invite Two Time Open Champion Greg Norman to Open Champions Dinner

Enough said!

As the LIV Derangement Syndrome continues to cause havoc among professional golfers and their monopolistic institutions, the R&A has decided that Two Time Open Champion Greg Norman, is not worthy of attending the Champions dinner.

When they denied Norman’s request for an exemption to play the Open at St. Andrews at the age of 67, I kind of understood, but to deny him an invitation to the Champions dinner, is low class.

In their statement, the R&A stated that next week’s Open is an “extremely important milestone for golf.” Really? Well, that may have been the case, but the R&A made it about Greg Norman instead.

They want “to ensure that the focus remains on celebrating the Championship.” Again, the R&A failed miserably by making it about Greg Norman.

My message to the R&A? You chose to take the low road instead of taking the high road and welcome Greg Norman as a gesture of good will. It is obvious the R&A, the DP World Tour, and the PGA Tour, do not want an amicable resolution and rather continue to fight.

These people do not care about the game of golf or its legacy, all they care about is the bottom line.

Unfortunately for them, they refuse to find a cure for LIV Derangement Syndrome, and that is a shame.

Needless to say, I will not be watching the 150th Open Championship.

https://golf.com/news/ra-disinvites-greg-norman-open-champions-dinner/