Minnesota Golfer - Directory 2024 - 3

EDITOR'S
LE T T ER
Leaving
a Legacy
T
he last time the U.S. Amateur visited Minnesota
was 2006 (it returns this year, Aug. 12-18, to
Chaska TC and Hazeltine National). Two youthful
amateur stars from that championship, Webb Simpson
and Dustin Johnson (DJ), popped up on my social feed
recently. Simpson, the 2012 U.S. Open champ, summed up
the dilemma of his friend's legacy after DJ jumped to the
LIV Tour in 2022. DJ, who turns
40 this year, is a former No. 1
ranked player in the world with
two majors under his belt, as
well as 24 wins on the PGA Tour.
We'll never know how good
DJ could have been relative to
other tour stars because he cut
his PGA Tour career short, and
that makes Simpson " a little sad. "
In DJ's first season at LIV, he
earned a cool $36.5 million.
The LIV Tour, the brainchild
of frontman Greg Norman and
funded by Saudi Arabia's Public
Investment Fund, is similar to
other professional sports leagues, where players are guaranteed
signing bonuses in the millions. Participants commit to
playing in a dozen events around the world-54-hole shotgun
starts and no cuts-where teams are awarded points
based on top finishes. The Crushers (Bryson DeChambeau,
Paul Casey, Charles Howell III and Anirban Lahiri) won the
2023 team championship, Oct. 22 at Trump Doral Miami,
along with the $14 million bonus prize.
The 2024 LIV Tour
season kicks off Feb.
2-4 in
Mayakoba, Mexico.
To a non-traditionalist, a 54-hole, no-cut team format
has a certain appeal-namely, as a spectator, you're guaranteed
to see your favorite stars play. The walkup music
and party-like atmosphere sets LIV apart from most PGA
Tour events.
Here's the rub of the green: LIV members are ineligible
to earn Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR) points. Last
fall, OWGR chairman Peter Dawson said the LIV format
cannot be equitably ranked with the world's other pro
tours. Unless LIV stars maintain their OWGR rankings by
playing well in professional golf's four majors, they are destined
to fade from public view.
Or so I thought.
Thanks to a loophole for sponsor exemptions, five of the
" The fact is,
the LIV model is money,
not merit. "
last six DP World (European) Tour events, billed as " opening
swing, " were won by LIV
members who otherwise don't
have status. LIV star Louis
Oosthuizen went from 385 to
129 on the OWGR list after
back-to-back wins on the DP
Tour.
Confused? Or couldn't care
less?
Whatever becomes of the
LIV Tour, the wins will never
compare to the PGA Tour
records amassed by the likes
of Ben Hogan,
Jack Nicklaus
or Tiger Woods. No comeback
stories like Chris Kirk or
Grayson Murray. No following the struggles of local athletes
who play their way onto the PGA Tour.
The fact is, the LIV model is money, not merit. Over social
media, Freddie Couples, the '92 Masters champ and 14-time
winner on the PGA Tour, pointed out that it took $400 million
to sign Jon Rahm, the No. 4 world ranked golfer.
It was an offer too good to refuse.
According to the Australian Human Rights Institute,
fans and athletes alike should care about sportswashing if
it hides the abuse of fellow humans.
Money, Simpson reminds us, is not everything.
See you on the tee.
W.P. Ryan, Editor-in-Chief
mngolf.org
Directory 2024 MINNESOTAGOLFER 3
http://www.mngolf.org
Minnesota Golfer - Directory 2024

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