I HAVE BEEN THINKING
I'm no genius, but hear me out.
“A deal done is better than a deal perfect”
This is a good aphorism. I don’t know who said it first, but I do for a fact know that Voltaire said, “Le mieux est l’ennemi du bien,” which translates roughly to “Perfect is the enemy of the good.”
We need to finalize Golf 2.0 by the 2026 season. Enough is enough. Pro Golf has taken an absolute beating, and I struggle to find actual adults that are doing more than spouting off on social media or into the closest camera. There is no real leadership on the PGA side and the billionaires from SSG that started infusing money last year have been largely invisible. Over at LIV, they’re acting like they’re not planning on going anywhere. I don’t think that’s wise, and I’ve written out a crib sheet below on what to do about some of the loose ends, and how to get a deal done, however imperfect.
But first…
…the PGA is sunsetting many Monday qualifiers
The Monday Qualifier, AKA Monday Q, is the last way into the field at many PGA events. After 77-years, the Monday Q at the Phoenix Open was officially killed, even as one of the guys that earned his way on, Will Chandler, ultimately finished T-6 last weekend and officially put himself on the map. This is literally the People’s Open, and the PGA is shutting down one of the last remaining lanes that are open to anyone (provided they can play like an elite).
The PGA is doing this as part of its “strategy to keep the more recognizable players at the top of the leaderboard,” and so they are “cutting cards, reducing field sizes and axing some Monday Qs,” writes Mark Baldwin of MondayQ.com. Seven Tour events will eliminate the Monday Q, which prompted Padraig Harrington to say, “This has to be one of the strangest decisions of [the] PGA Tour when it comes to being in the entertainment business…We could have a ‘tin cup’ story any given week. Could you imagine a struggling pro finishing in the top 10 and winning half a million. Nobody would begrudge that payout.”
The Product
First, the PGA is the ONLY product. LIV tried to disrupt it, and it torched billions trying to build a business, but its branding is juvenile at best. The players make more money on LIV, but the PGA product looks better, more people watch and care, it's amazing being part of the history of the game, and there's minimal political baggage. On LIV, all the usual suspects win but nobody watches, and the fields are comically weak. The KSA has some serious civil rights issues, making them medieval by Western standards.
The Money
Regarding money, LIV is going to have to offer Bryson DeChambeau a billion dollars to stay around after his contract expires in 2026. In a sane sports world, this would be unthinkable, but we are dealing with Saudi oil money, controlled by a sovereignty that is Hell-bent on establishing a stronger moral global position than it enjoys today. They want the Olympics, too. This is about establishing legitimacy as a first-world trade partner in industries like Tech and Finance, because there is only a finite amount of Oil left inside the earth in its Eastern Province.
My position on money is simple. I love money! Despite what you may think, this is not because I’m greedy. I think everyone should aspire to carve out as much as possible to establish financial independence. The world is not fair, your tax system is not fair, the markets are not fair, and your employers don’t care about you (especially in the corporate world). God help you if you think your government is going to save you. Your job is to create enough wealth to build a moat around yourself and your family, and to support leaders that install, maintain and fund societal social safety nets to protect their citizens, and provide basic services, like safety, security and road infrastructure, and yes, a minimum viable (and not corruptible) healthcare product.
The money being bandied about in Golf is generational, meaning these guys’ kids and even grandkids will live off these contracts. We don’t put a cap on our financial gain expectations, but in the 21st century, $20 Million is life changing. Consider this when you think about what earnings are in play. I’m not concerned with what PGA guys make proportional to other professional athletes – these are different markets, with different ratings, and different sponsorship deals, so proportionality is largely irrelevant.
The average tour player makes $1.5 million a year and last year’s top PGA earner, Scottie Scheffler, made over $62 million. I beg you to think of this the next time one of these guys tells you its about legacy and prestige, and not money. I implore you to call into question why Tiger Woods was given $10 million for the Player Impact Program (PIP) for 2024, based on “Internet Searches, Earned Media, TV Sponsor Exposure, General Population Awareness and Golf Fan Awareness.” Why is this a thing, and why are we giving Tiger more money?
Basically, my point is that we’re not spending the money wisely, and there is more than enough to go around. This needs to change.
What to do about LIV
Put simply, it is time to kill LIV and bring our boys back. Bryson, Brooks Koepka, Jon Rahm and Cam Smith are wasting their generational talents in a league that is only about money and that no one is watching. The issue is that we don’t get to see enough of the best guys playing against each other every weekend, so I think it’s also important that we enforce a minimum number of appearances per year if a player wants to keep his card on Tour 2.0.
On Slow Play
Issue a stroke penalty for slow play (shot clock) after one warning per tournament. Mandate 60 seconds of shot prep maximum. This would be done on an honor system. If it is not self-regulated, but captured on live TV, they will be called out for it. We made cancel culture into an art form over the last ten years; I think we can embarrass these guys into conforming. This is not perfect, but it’s better than what we have. It doesn’t have to be permanent either; do it for five years and hopefully by then, the concept of Aim Point will be sufficiently banished to the annals of history, like the Paper Straw.
Ban sponsor exemptions
If you’re enforcing the minimum number of appearances, you shouldn’t have a field problem. Sponsor exemptions exist to get known names in the field that didn’t otherwise qualify, to drive viewership. Most of the time it’s for guys that don’t deserve to be there, and it just draws eyerolls anyway. News flash: the sponsors will hate this idea.
Let’s Talk about TGL
Is TGL a compelling product? Not really, but it doesn’t totally suck, either. The numbers are not great, and the software basically broke last week. TGL is not going to save Golf. I heard that people place bets on TGL. I’m not going to even bother opening my DraftKings app to see if this is true, because that is one of the stupidest things I’ve ever heard.
Create two new Majors
Prop them up with serious money and erect the biggest, fanciest trophies you can think of; for one in Japan and one in Australia. There is a strong fan base in each country, and they each have elite golf venues. Start the events early in the morning local time so that you can adhere to reasonable TV viewing hours in the US. Park these in November and February, and you can clear the players’ schedules for one week on either side. There will be jet lag, and the American players don’t really want to travel globally all the time. Also, you’re not competing with American holidays or the NFL Playoffs and Super Bowl.
LIV will be at Adelaide in South Australia this weekend and as Pull Hook Golf said on X, “it’s the Temu version of the Waste Management Phoenix Open” and “fans will drink from a shoe”. Make fun of LIV all you want – in fact I encourage it - but these events are hugely popular Down Under, because the PGA doesn’t offer them a damn thing.
Who’s Going to Run It
From an organizational perspective, I’ve become impressed with the new LIV Golf CEO, Scott O’Neil, of whom Rory McIlroy said “has an amazing track record with what he has done in sports, in terms of managing teams and groups of teams, ownership groups.” The American’s resume includes the New Jersey Devils (NHL), Philadelphia 76ers (NBA), the Madison Square Garden Company and a senior marketing position with the NBA.
O’Neil should run Pro Golf 2.0. Greg Norman, who O’Neil replaced, was never going to last, and Jay Monahan has the likability of Roger Goodell, with the revenue stewardship of Adam Neumann, who is also not likable.
What to do about the LIV TV deals
LIV signed a long term deal with Fox in the US and a 2025 deal with ITV in the UK. That’s fine. The people working in Big TV know things that we don’t, and promises have been made. Remember, we’re going to kill the LIV brand, introduce some new events and implement a minimum annual appearance rule, so we are going to need more TV time and options for viewers. These contracts don’t need to be canceled or clawed back.
Why Trump 2.0 Will Take Credit for This Deal
The 47th President of the United States is a dealmaker. His team is working to end the wars in Israel and Ukraine, is bringing American hostages home, is standing up an America-first AI Infrastructure plan (because we are in an indisputable war with China in AI and in space), and Trump is taking calls with Vladimir Putin, who no U.S. diplomat has exchanged so much as a text message (that we know of), since Joe Biden met with him in 2021.
Jay Monahan and Adam Scott were at the White House last week. Trump played a round with Tiger on the same day as the Super Bowl. Yasir Al-Rumayyan joined the post-election entourage at UFC in November. Trump is interested in brokering deals with KSA and the PIF did a huge AI deal with American VCs last March.
After Trump’s 90-minute phone call with Putin yesterday, it became known that they’re planning for a live-meet, with Saudi Arabia as the proposed location. Why this is important to Golf is obvious. While he’s there, Trump will likely sit with MBS and Yasir, and I wouldn’t be surprised if Monahan and O’Neil tag along as well. Kumbaya.
Like many things over the last four years, deals that were just hanging around never actually closed and Trump 2.0 is a steamroller with a locomotive engine. LIV can either dole out a couple billion more for a brand that no one cares about or close shop and reverse-merge with the PGA. Monahan will be out, and O’Neil will be in. Trump will get a guaranteed five Open Championships over the next 25 years at Turnberry, and he’ll probably get a handful at Trump Bedminster (where LIV has already held two events in ’22 and ‘23) and/or Trump National Doral.
Kultida
Sincere condolences to Tiger Woods, on the loss of his mom, Kultida. No parent is perfect, but every parent owns a huge chunk of each one of us, bad or good. Kultida seems to have been the gentle warrior to Earl’s intensity (and at times, insanity). Tiger is a living icon, larger than life, and how he got to be what he is deserves to be studied by anyone interested in how success works in modern society, and what its inherent risks are.
Slam Dunk Ace
This is a replay of Emiliano Grillo’s ace on 16 at TPC Scottsdale last weekend. Perfection.
Get Ready for Torrey Pines
Here’s an up-close look at some of the guys’ weapons for this weekend at Torrey, taken this morning by someone I know.
