Nadine Gordimer was the South African Nobel laureate. She believed that time is change and that we can measure its progress by how things around us change. To this standard, 2022 in golf felt more like a dozen flips on the calendar. The status quo 12 months ago feels about the same as the sepia-toned photos taken by Old Tom Morris, an era that is often referred to but never rediscovered.
The PGA Tour was governed back then with an eye towards calming the many and not favoring those who drive business. LIV Golf was more a rumor than a reality. Phil Mickelson’s reputation was, even if it wasn’t perfect, at least very intact. Bryson de Chambeau and Brooks Koepka were the focus of febrile attention among fans. Greg Norman was more famous for the majors that he choked on than the sentiments he expressed. It might appear that Patrick Reed is unchanged from a year ago, if not for Pat Perez’s overpaid vulgarian status.
None of these assumes that 23 will bring about rapid and chaotic change. Change will come.
The PGA Tour is a good place to start. Its obsession with securing star players’ loyalty–leveraging cards, cash, and calendar to achieve that end–risques provoking a rebellion by members below deck, men who are not able to draw any eyeballs but have grown used to being compensated for their mediocrity. Jay Monahan faces a difficult task in bridging the gap between elite players and what his members will agree to. This is made even more difficult by the uncertainty caused by sponsors who now underwrite events that are unlikely to attract many stars.
Monahan is likely to be asked by some aggrieved constituency to resign his position, as hostile fire is incoming from every side. While the Tour’s most powerful voices remain in his side, much will depend on Monahan’s ability to form alliances, a skill that is not traditionally valued by the autocratic world where PGA Tour commissioners are in power.
Monahan starts ’23 with a firmer foundation than Greg Norman. This is despite all the looming problems. At least, that’s what Monahan believes, at least for those who don’t see bot-bluster and social media posturing as indicators of success. LIV is losing its novelty value. It must show that it can be sustained beyond Norman’s seemingly endless animus. For the most part, players have chosen their side. The courts will eventually make their decision. LIV does not have the luxury to wait for justice to turn. Even if it were to win, however. The upstart league will be emitted a growing sense of despair in 2023.
LIV is looking for a broadcast deal to get its product in front of more people, regardless that YouTube’s reach will be much smaller than any other platform. Golfweek reported in September that LIV was close to a deal where it would pay Fox Sports for its tournaments. This move is embarrassingly short of traditional agreements which see leagues being paid by broadcasters. Fox accepted the criticism and mockery that followed. LIV now talks with The CW to discuss a similar deal. The CW currently provides no network-supplied sports to its affiliate stations.
The prevailing dynamics between rival tours will be reflected in the playing schedules for ’23. The PGA Tour will host the first of 13 “elevated” events next week. It will also unveil a fall timeline, which includes tournaments through the PGA Tour, where journeymen could secure status for 24, a return to Q-School, and closer union with DP World Tour. LIV’s side, despite all of the hype about expanding the game worldwide, its schedule favors time zones that it hopes will appeal more to a U.S.-based TV network.
Many of the themes that emerged in 22 will continue to be present in the next year. LIV players rant that the Official World Golf Ranking is conspiring against their interests by not awarding them points; Norman’s insistent that his product would be loved by fans if it weren’t for biased critics bringing back 9/11 and other incidents by his employer; Norman’s explicit politicization, where LIV became a political rally at which Saudi government officials donned MAGA hats, and legal scuffling both at the fringe and at the center of antitrust litigation as well as well as well as well as well as well as well as well as well as the lunatic fringe and on tour.
These are good times for bots, lawyers and bullshitters. Fans will be rewarded with historical, dramatic moments that, even if they are only for a moment, distract from the noise.
One thing has remained constant despite all the changes that took place in ’22. My final Golfweek column concluded with a comment that I still hold as my view as we move into ’23. “If nothing else the Saudis offer a reminder of the values on golf which are integrity, honor, and respectability. But they must be defended against charlatans, chiselers, who are some card-carrying members the PGA Tour.”
