Sunday will see a line drawn under the most memorable season in PGA Tour history, if not the tumult that rendered it so. At best, there’ll be a brief respite before the next announcement of defectors to the Saudi-backed LIV Golf circuit. When it comes, it will closely resemble those that have preceded it: an accomplished player window-dressed with dross, whose bank accounts will soon be more impressive than their trophy cases ever promised to be.
The anticipated departure of Cameron Smith is the biggest coup LIV has managed and, as a fishing buddy of Tour brass, one sure to be keenly felt. The names alongside Smith’s will serve only to underline the uncomfortable reality that mediocrity pays awfully well on the PGA Tour, even for the perpetually winless. The most familiar among them might be Cameron Tringale, but only because he’s followed almost everyone on Twitter. As of Saturday, that number is 29,458, an almost incalculable multiple of the crowd he’s ever likely to draw through the turnstiles. Somewhere in Greg Norman’s conscience (stifle thy snorts!) he must dread a day when the Crown Prince Googles the achievements of the players for whom he is paying spectacularly over market value.
What distinguishes LIV’s next announcement from priors is the context provided this week at the Tour Championship. The vision outlined by PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan seems to have bought, for now, the loyalty of all but one of the world’s top 15 players, so it will be difficult for even LIV’s most ardent apologists to characterize any signings as genuine momentum, even allowing for Smith.
While many particulars need to be penciled in on the future Monahan outlined, one component represents a windfall for fans: seeing the best golfers in the world compete against each other much more frequently than they do now—at least a dozen times every season, outside of major championships. A guaranteed product—knowing who’s playing, where and when—is momentous for fans and sponsors, but there’s much still to do if the commish is to secure the long-term viability of what he has promised.
Presenting Monahan with a wish list for the future feels like asking Santa for a gift when he just emptied his sleigh with the rich kid next door, but there are issues that demand his attention. Safeguarding the talent pipeline, for one. Seeing two college stars—U.S. Amateur champion James Piot and Eugenio Chacarra—sign with LIV should have triggered…
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