NORTH YORK (Ontario) – The PGA Tour’s Wednesday was a little different this week.
There were several press conferences and pro-ams for the 2023 RBC Canadian at Oakdale Golf and Country Club. While players such as two-time defending champ Rory McIlroy and Matt Kuchar, and the Canadian contingent participating in their national tournament desperately want to keep attention on the event, many of the 156 players in the field aren’t focused on it.
The PGA Tour , along with the DP World Tour, announced on Tuesday that a new entity would be formed. This was in conjunction with Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund. They had previously funded LIV Golf, a rival circuit which has been a thorn to the Tour for over a year. The mood on the course was eerily strange, as echoed in the few players who were willing to speak about the latest news. The players didn’t refuse to speak; they simply did not know what to say.
Harry Higgs said, “I would describe my mood as somber. I wish I knew other synonyms.” “Not like a death of a family member somber,” said Harry Higgs.
PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan couldn’t help but think about it. Mackenzie Hughes said that it is distracting. I know I’m answering questions about things that aren’t really related to this week, or even this championship, but I believe that once we’re done today, and tomorrow gets underway, the focus should be on the RBC Canadian Open.
Mackenzie Hughes hits a shot in the pro-am before the RBC Canadian Open 2023. (Photo: Dan Hamilton – USA TODAY Sports).
The press release provided little information to fans and players alike. We know that all litigation between Tour and LIV is over and, if approved by the players, they will be united again. The current PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan, who is also the Governor of the PIF will serve as the CEO. Yasir al-Rumayyan will serve as the Chair of the Board. The PIF is the only investor, and will have first refusal on new money.
Sports is big business. Higgs said that it’s difficult to keep someone away who wants to invest in your business. There are many reasons you could refuse this investor, but ultimately the dollar will win out.
LIV Golf, with the PIF as sole funding, has been criticized for years as a way of Saudi Arabia sportswashing its controversial human right record. This includes allegations of widespread human rights abuses including accusations of politically motivated killings as well as torture, forced disappearances, and inhumane treatments of prisoners.
The players used words such as betrayed and frustrated to describe their initial reaction to the news. They also described how it was communicated. Corey Conners described it as “off-putting” that players of a member-led organisation would find out via Twitter. Hughes, meanwhile, noted that players have become “accustomed to receiving bombshells every so often” since LIV Golf was formed.
Higgs added, “Even those who have agreed to this deal are just an idea.” Even those who agreed to the deal don’t have any idea what is coming.
This is where the frustration begins. All players are CEOs of their own businesses, and all want to profit from the proposed changes. Most are cautiously optimistic about the future, but they want to know what is coming.
Higgs explained, “We don’t know how professional golf will look. Jay and everyone else don’t either.” “They are working on this. We have to believe that the people who are handling this for us will do so in a way that is fair to everyone. Rory will benefit from this more than I. It’s a constant: “We don’t really know. Wait and see. A true who knows?”
Higgs, like McIlroy said that he still had confidence in Monahan, despite the fact that he was dealing in the dark. However, it is “waning.”
“I understand how business works and again, all of sport is a big business. Now golf has a seat at that table,” said Higgs. Higgs said, “I understand how the business world works. Sport is a huge business. Golf has now a place at the table.” “We’re a huge, huge business right now. That should be great, but nobody knows what will happen in the next five to ten years, five to ten weeks, or even five to ten days. It’s a strange place to be a professional golfer, having to wait and see.
“We don’t know and now we feel uneasy about the possibility that in a few days we may receive an email saying something else.” The world of professional golf is going to change. Professional golfers are not fans of change. But, it will be for the better in due time.
