LIV Golf has gone on the offensive with a new piece of content, served to demonstrate that this is a Very Serious Competition, and that players are taking it all Very, Very Seriously.
So far we have a one-minute trailer, into which LIV Golf has packed an almost impressive amount of... let's call it nonsense.
Soon after it has aired, at the beginning of Masters week no less, LIV Miami's TV numbers will land. Then we'll find out how many people are with them for the ride in the biggest golf market in the world. More than for LIV Singapore? Certainly. Enough to justify all this? Almost certainly not.
This is where LIV has singularly failed. Whether it was really possible to avoid such a scenario when you are the golfing arm of the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia or not, LIV simply has too many enemies and is finding ways to make more. Too many people – golf people – were against it from the start. Has a single one of them been won round? Has a serious attempt to do so even been made?
Because this method, victimhood, is surely not serious. Surely, we are not meant to forget that the victim here is professional golf and many of its fans, who next weekend get to decide whether to watch Bryson in Miami or Ludvig in Texas or try to manage both. Bryson is undoubtedly the bigger star. Many more will choose Ludvig.
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How does LIV attempt to solve this problem? So far, by pretending it does not exist. Of course, the answer is that it buys into the success and legitimacy and outright popularity of the PGA Tour, which is what PIF wanted from the start. Whether this will ever happen, who can say: within this so-called framework so far lies no more than a vague promise of unity.
For now the reality is that we have Jon Rahm telling us what we can and cannot say. It's a pity really that he can't go back and offer himself the same advice, because Rahm very much did say that three rounds and shotgun starts 'is not a golf tournament'. He very much did say that if money was his priority, he would join LIV. And then he very much did join LIV.
We have Paul Casey beginning his contribution with an abrupt 'people said'. Do you know what else people said? Forgive me now for quoting in full: "Signing a deal and being paid to be down there, I would be a hypocrite if I did that. Anybody who says sport isn't political, that's rubbish. Sport is very political. I'm glad I took a stance, more so if it highlights the issues within the region, especially next door in Yemen. I've seen the numbers."
Which 'people' said this? Why, Paul Casey did, and then he saw a different set of numbers and changed his mind.
We have Kevin Na telling us that there is no point unless you win, which by extension means that he’s been largely wasting his time. Hopefully Na hasn't also been wasting his money: $9.7m in on-course earnings alone since joining LIV, topping up the $40m he earned because he earned it on the PGA Tour, where he gained admiration for battling hard to escape his demons. Where nothing came for free.
We have John Catlin, seemingly intent on underlining the competitiveness of the league, insisting that he didn't yet earn a place on LIV. I’ve got news for you John: almost nobody did. And when Branden Grace lost his last year, then went through the charade of trying to win it back only to fail, they gave it to him anyway. You would’ve been a worthy replacement, but one of the pathways supposedly offered was bastardised by LIV to keep you out.
We have a snarling Ian Poulter gaslighting an entire continent, Europe's Ryder Cup postman now reduced to delivering lines from a script. And all this is just the trailer – no doubt the insight of some of his former teammates awaits in the full version.
There is equally no doubt that LIV Golf, and its players, have been heavily criticised. What else did they expect? Moreover, there are some questions which need asking: why did you say what you said before, only to change your mind? Is there a risk that for some, if not all, obscene wealth takes the edge off? Did LIV Golf accelerate a decline in Dustin Johnson, provoke one in Cam Smith? We don't know. That's why we ask.
But victimhood is a hard sell when you're playing for this money, for these people, for that reason. LIV and its players haven't yet realised – although perhaps we shouldn't be too hard on the players. It seems unlikely they had too much of a say. Nor should they be totally let off the hook, because there are things some of them could have done rather than adopt an attitude which has been present ever since a smirking Lee Westwood dismissed questions about the source of his new wealth back in the summer of 2022.
Where has been the olive branch? When did one of these great players say they are sorry if their fans feel let down, that they understand why people might be upset that their favourite golfers and their favourite golf tournaments are no longer aligned? Where even is the offer to try to win them round? Is this, LIV's aggressive rebuttal to largely valid criticism, really it?
Because it will not sell. Like this column, it will please only those who share a certain view: that we are all wrong and that they have brought growth to the game. The difference is that this column is presented exactly as it is: the opinion of one person. If and when you watch LIV Golf's latest production, remember the amount of money it took for Rahm to change his mind.
