Opinion |

Golf is latest victim of factionalization

The “gentleman’s sport” of golf has become downright ungentlemanly. But it’s not because so many women are playing the game.

The Professional Golfers’ Association (PGA) Tour, which has controlled the sport for more than 90 years, is being challenged by a deep-pocketed upstart called LIV Golf. LIV (54, in Roman numerals) represents the number of holes that will be played at each of its events, compared with 72 holes at PGA tournaments.

You might describe the PGA as a monopoly, ripe for disruption. LIV saw and seized an opportunity to attract a younger market to a game that’s grown in popularity during the pandemic. (The average PGA Tour viewer is 64.) LIV wants to make the game more exciting by accelerating the pace of play and creating a party atmosphere at its events.

For now, what LIV is known for is throwing enormous sums of money at golfers to grow their market share. So far, it’s lured 10 of the top 50 golfers — most notably, San Diegan Phil Mickelson, who was offered $200 million to play in the LIV Golf Invitational Series. According to Golf Monthly, that’s double what Mickelson earned over his 30-year PGA Tour career.

The prize money is equally astonishing: Mickelson and other players will vie for $225 million at eight LIV events.

The source of the money is causing consternation. LIV is backed by a $2 billion commitment from the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia. Its chair, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, has been linked by U.S. intelligence to the 2018 murder of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi.

The country has a long history of violating human rights. Just last week, a Saudi woman was given a 34-year prison sentence because she followed and retweeted activists and dissidents on her Twitter account.

LIV’s critics say Saudi Arabia is “sportswashing” — using golf to buy legitimacy and bolster its global image. China — with an appalling human rights record of its own — sportswashed earlier this year as host of the Winter Olympics, themed “Together for a Shared Future.” As Michael Rosenberg observed in Sports Illustrated, “Any form of good, wholesome fun can seem like it is presented by good, wholesome people — even when the facts say otherwise.”

The sportswashing clamor makes me wonder if LIV would be better regarded if Scotland was behind it.

As it turns out — at least so far — not everyone is lured by the promise of playing less golf for more money. Tiger Woods — considered by many to be golf’s GOAT (greatest of all time) — rejected an offer worth $700 million to $800 million to play in the LIV series. Woods was also approached to be LIV’s commissioner.

At the Open Championship in July, Woods candidly spoke about his disapproval of the LIV circuit, saying that some players had “turned their backs” on the PGA Tour that had made them famous. He expressed concern that LIV’s guaranteed payouts would disincentivize practice and, in the long run, hurt less-experienced players. But mostly, Woods seemed to lament LIV’s break with golf tradition.

To be clear, tour players are not employees of the PGA; they operate more like independent contractors. Payday only comes for golfers who play well enough to make a tournament cut. So, the attraction of LIV to some is understandable. But there’s another consideration: the PGA Tour Player Handbook, which sets limits on participation in non-PGA events. Players are expected to abide by it.

It all makes right and wrong in this situation a little less certain.

There was no uncertainty on the part of the PGA, however, which suspended 17 players who competed in the inaugural LIV tournament in June. Eleven of them filed an antitrust lawsuit; three sought a temporary restraining order so they could compete in the tour’s FedEx Cup Playoffs, for which they had previously qualified. (The judge ruled against them, saying they didn’t suffer “irreparable harm.”)

Like the tour operators, PGA fans fail to see any nuance. Washington Post sportswriter Sally Jenkins put it this way: “Every week, deserters to the Saudi golf exhibition circuit manifest new forms of obliviousness to go with their remorseless greed. These are not millworkers taking on U.S. Steel to champion freedom for the working guy. They’re dealbreakers who do exactly as they please for profit. Freedom of choice is what they exercised.”

So now, even the gentleman’s sport of golf has become factionalized. It will take more than the traditional handshake between golfers at the end of a round to restore its reputation. It will take decency and respect. Just like golf was known for, in the good old days.

Dinkin is president of the National Conflict Resolution Center, a San Diego-based group working to create solutions to challenging issues, including intolerance and incivility. To learn about NCRC’s programming, visit ncrconline.com