The 150th Open Golf Championship at St Andrew’s two weeks ago represented everything that is good about the sport, from the iconic and historic venue to the characters and the mental strength of the participants, through to an audience on site in Scotland that rose through the week to a total of 290,000.
Coming off the back of the Horizon Irish Open at Mount Juliet and the JP McManus Pro-Am at Adare Manor, and hot on the heels of KPMG’s backing the return of the Women’s Irish Open at Dromoland Castle in September, all of them here in Ireland, it looked in the sunshine that everything was in a good shape.
But within moments of Cameron Smith’s win and celebration, the shadow that has been the arrival of LIV Golf was cast once more as rumour swirled of his potential defection from the traditional fields of the game’s historic powerhouses in the PGA and European Tours towards the new kid on the block backed by seemingly limitless funding supplied by the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund.
From a notional idea of change to the aggressive signing of players for tens and in some cases hundreds of millions of dollars of a signing on fee, LIV Golf has been the ultimate disruptor.
Golf thrived during the two years of Covid. In Ireland alone 500,000 players took to the fairways as they were among the first sporting facilities to reopen. In the professional game we were able to celebrate a longer than expected reign of Shane Lowry as the Open Champion and the return of that event to Portrush in 2025, followed by the Ryder Cup landing in Adare Manor two years after that.
We also saw Leona Maguire rise to global fame through her efforts as part of a winning European Solheim Cup team and with victory in America.
Well Heeled
At the highest level of the four Majors in the men’s game, five in the Women’s, golf attracts an audience that is sizable and very well heeled. The money involved in backing an event on the US PGA Tour starts at $10 million and escalates quickly.
A look at the brands who feel that is good value, from Mercedes to Rolex, and global finance to major pharma tells a story, as does the enormous prize money that accrues to those who win on the Tours. Cameron Smith’s last tournament win before the Open was at The Players Championship earlier this year. The prize money for that in 2023 will be €25 million.
63 golfers currently playing have earned more than that sum from prize money alone through their careers, including Padraig Harrington and Rory McIlroy from our own island of Ireland.
But now the golden circle that has lasted the test of time is under threat from the Saudi-backed challenger.
Formats
It has shaken up formats by having limited field events that are played over 54 holes and three days as opposed to 72 over four. The players all tee off at the same time, shortening the action from almost sixteen hours of live play at St Andrew’s to only four when they tee up at the Donald Trump owned Bedminster course this weekend.
The prize money on offer is either fantastic, ridiculous or obscene depending on your point of view but it looks as though it is here to stay and like any challenge to the status quo an accomodation will no doubt be reached.
The early exchanges have been driven by anger and have made some of those who ‘took the money’ come across as naive to the human rights abuses that Saudi Arabia has been accused of, and at times ridiculously self-unaware saying that they were doing it to secure the financial future of their family or to grow the game of golf.
Rory McIlroy won over a multitude of new fans with his straight talking condemnation of the new arrival, as did Tiger Woods who was reported to have been offered $1 Billion to take part.
It is not subtle and the early tournaments have looked a pale shadow of what they are seeking to compete alongside.
Jeopardy
Sport without jeopardy is just an exhibition and that is what has been served to those relatively small attendances. We do not know how many availed of the £13,000 hospitality package for the first event at London’s Centurion Club but we would guess they’d be small in number.
There is a danger that if more top players go over that both sides might lose by damaging the narrative of the sport and ultimately reducing its appeal.
Imagine two All Ireland Championships with Dublin playing in one and Kerry in another. Or two Premier Leagues where Liverpool and Manchester City never get to compete against each other.
Reality
Having lived for a time in the Middle East, and having an understanding of the reality behind the headlines of the Arab world, my guess is that this is not going to go away any time soon and that it will find a place on the sporting landscape.
The prize money pool for eight of the top tournaments in the US next year will be worth $53.8 million more than they were this year. In a high-stakes poker game, both sides are showering a small amount of professional sportspeople with massive money.
Sometimes though, sport is at its best when that side of the equation is kept behind the curtain, and the best are allowed to compete against the best.
That should remain the end game for all involved once the initial heat has cooled, and if LIV Golf finds a high end market for its limited number of events but the big tournaments on the PGA and DP World Tours continue to control the main story of the sport, then peace can reign once more.
