Daniel Kahneman, a behavioral economist, has said that people who have a strong belief in a theory are more likely to ignore facts that are not convenient. They prefer to believe the facts to be wrong than their theory. In an age when alternate realities are created and vociferously defended, the Nobel laureate has no shortage of supporting evidence. Golf is a great example.
Scottie Schreffler, the PGA Tour Player of the year for this past week, was a relatively insignificant example. Tin foil haters like to suggest that ballots were tampered with at Tour headquarters. But if the scales were tipped, it was probably in the locker rooms. Jon Rahm had a superior season with two times as many wins and a major title. Rahm then quenched a sudden desire to grow the sport and jumped from LIV to halfway during the two-week period of voting in December. This gave his peers enough time to create a more palatable outcome, recognizing the amiable Texan instead of giving the Spaniard a farewell gift.
LIV’s social-media foot soldiers are always on the lookout for ways to legitimize its folly. Rory McIlroy’s conciliatory remarks regarding players who attended the Saudi-funded League were seized on by knuckledraggers after years of disdain. McIlroy’s conflict-averse nature and disarming personality (not shared by his fellow countrymen) have led him to lament friendships that have broken down in recent years. It was a mistake to portray his praise for Rahm’s “smart move” as his blessing at LIV. Instead, it was an example of how elite players view this issue – as a simple, yay or nay business opportunity – compared with the rank-and-file who are being threatened by the tour they’re undermining. McIlroy’s suggestion that he may one day play golf in a team format was not a revelation. Tiger Woods is spearheading a similar concept, and theirs will be more likely to be the seed for any future team component than LIV.
Greg Norman was unconcerned by the context and thanked McIlroy immediately for “falling upon his sword,” although not in the same manner as Jamal Khashoggi did when he fell onto the sword of the employer of the finger puppet with flaxen hair. Norman saw McIlroy’s words as proof that he had seen through LIV’s propaganda and that the ‘future’ of the game narrative was credible. Norman also believed that McIlroy had a clear understanding of what the LIV ‘future’ story is.
On that, too, facts are damned. Norman and his gang of bootlickers may tell themselves otherwise, but their Saudi overlords did not earn a seat at the negotiating tables by popular opinion or by product quality. They earned it by threats and profligacy. The Public Investment Fund, despite spending several billion dollars, still cannot boast of a league with fans and sponsors. As evidenced by the low viewership that is too small to be reported, or revenue that barely covers Patrick Reed ‘s legal fees . PIF’s only accomplishment is its ability to use LIV to take willing and well-compensated hosts hostage until other tours are prepared to negotiate terms.
The PGA Tour is not the only one that relies on theories rather than facts. Members seem to believe that the Tour’s current situation is due to its leadership being short-sighted, complacent and arrogant. The charges are not without merit, but the idea that the Tour should have embraced Saudis immediately is false. The DP World Tour added a Saudi stop in 2019 and by then, their new “partners”, were secretly plotting how to replace the European circuit by the Premier Golf League. They would use this as a base to attack their U.S. competitors. Jay Monahan was justified in putting pressure on the Saudis. He knew that the Saudis’ goal wasn’t to play golf, but to control it.
The current golf debacle is not evenly distributed, and there are many people to blame. The Tour’s capitulation of June 6 is a convenient cover for those who believe that the matter could have been resolved sensibly long ago, if leaders had led. Monahan’s team deserves criticism, but it is a convenient fiction to pretend responsibility ends here. The PGA Tour’s disloyalty, and greedy players are the most unpalatable fact. It will not change no matter how many self-serving ideas you throw out.
