Adore it or hate it, one factor that has turn into obviously clear concerning the controversial LIV Golf sequence, which tees off with its third occasion starting Friday at Trump Nationwide Golf Membership in Bedminster, N.J., is that it isn’t going wherever anytime quickly.
The PGA Tour has banned gamers who've participated within the rival circuit, but extra gamers proceed to hitch. Backed by the Public Funding Fund, which is managed by the Saudi authorities and valued at greater than $600 billion, it has the monetary assets to maintain it going for years.
It’s attainable the PGA Tour and LIV will come to some sort of compromise sooner or later, however that isn’t taking place for the time being.
Meaning gamers will proceed to play on LIV, with 5 extra occasions to be held this 12 months and one other 14 already scheduled for 2023.
This week at Trump Nationwide, as with the primary two tournaments, the sector consists of 48 gamers and is headlined by a number of the recreation’s largest stars — together with Phil Mickelson, Brooks Koepka, Bryson DeChambeau, Dustin Johnson and Sergio Garcia.
The format is identical because the others, too — 54 holes, no minimize, a shotgun begin and hefty assured paydays for particular person and crew performances. The full purse is $20 million, with $4 million of that going to the person winner and $5 million break up among the many successful four-man crew.
“I feel it’s one thing new and recent for golf,” stated Lee Westwood, who can also be within the discipline. “You recognize, I’m all for competitors. That is clearly aggressive to the opposite excursions on the market.”
“I feel we’re all extraordinarily excited concerning the crew format of it, so I feel you’ve bought a really structured product going ahead,” added Charles Howell III, who's making his LIV debut this week. “You've gotten the gamers that you already know are going to play and the place they’re going to play.”
It additionally marks the primary time that the course has hosted a event because the 2017 U.S. Girls’s Open.
That week, Donald Trump, then president of america, spent a lot of his time lording over the proceedings from a big, glass-enclosed balcony. This week, he's anticipated to be omnipresent on the grounds, as he was throughout Thursday’s pro-am, at the same time as his associates are being investigated by the Justice Division for Trump’s actions surrounding the Jan. 6 assault on the Capitol.
This week’s event additionally marks one thing of a revenge tour for the previous president.
His Bedminster course was to host the PGA Championship earlier this 12 months. However in January of final 12 months the membership was stripped of the most important by the PGA of America days after the revolt.
“It has turn into clear that conducting the PGA Championship at Trump Bedminster could be detrimental to the PGA of America model and would put in danger the PGA’s capacity to ship on many packages and maintain the longevity of our mission,” PGA president Jim Richerson stated in a press release on the time.
Trump’s Doral, Fla., course additionally beforehand hosted the PGA Tour’s Cadillac Championship earlier than the corporate introduced it could not be renewing past 2016 and the event in the end moved to Mexico. On Thursday, Trump was requested by reporters if he had any regrets that his course was internet hosting a LIV event as a substitute of a significant championship or PGA Tour occasion.
“No, no regrets,” he stated. “That’s their downside. This course blows each different course away.”
Trump — who performed in Thursday’s pro-am with Johnson, DeChambeau and his son Eric — was additionally requested how a lot cash he was bringing in by internet hosting the LIV event, although he declined to reply.
“I don’t do it for that,” he stated. “They’ve been very beneficiant, however I don’t do it for that. I do it as a result of I feel it’s nice for golf.”
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