Masters Tournament | The LIV Golf electroshock

First, a little golf fiction. We are next Sunday (yes!), at the end of the afternoon. The last two players on the legendary Augusta course, Rory McIlroy and Cameron Smith, share the lead in the Masters Tournament. They walk with a determined step towards the 18^e green where everyone will have a birdie opportunity.

The crowd is excited, the tension is palpable. This duel is much more than one of the many historic confrontations between gifted people that created the legend of Augusta. It is first PGA c. LIV. The old circuit against the new. Unheard of in the fight for the “green jacket”.

The two organizations hate each other, and some players are unable to resent each other. The “gentleman” side of golf has given way for several months to a fierce rivalry. Who would have thought that golf – golf!!! – would become the scene of a merciless struggle?

McIlroy, the PGA’s fiercest defender in the public square, is the first to comply. His 13-foot putt grazes the cup, but the ball doesn’t drop.

Smith continues, from a distance of 12 feet. His line is perfect. The ball goes straight into the hole and the young Australian, who would have received 100 million US dollars to join LIV Golf, wins the tournament.

Can such a scenario materialize next Sunday?

And why not ?

Smith is one of the best golfers in the world and is among the favorites to win the tournament which begins Thursday. If he or one of his LIV comrades – Brooks Koepka, Dustin Johnson, Joaquin Niemann or whoever – tops the honors, it will be a thunderclap. And a huge snub for the PGA.

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This 87^e Masters Tournament is historic. It brings to the fore the crisis that has shaken professional golf since the launch of LIV Golf.

I have already written of the repugnance I feel for this league founded on greed. It is funded by Saudi Arabia, a country that violates human rights. Golfers who have made the leap have shown how ethically they are not embarrassed. After all, it’s not like they’re treated badly in the PGA.

But having said that, let’s face the obvious: LIV has caused an electric shock in professional golf. And dusted off the PGA, which took advantage of its virtual monopoly to impose its dictates.

When LIV announced purses of US$25 million per tournament, the PGA suddenly remembered that they were also very rich. As a result, tens of millions more have been released to boost player income. These, Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy in the lead, put forward their demands, which were quickly accepted by the commissioner.

That the PGA is adjusting financially is no wonder. On the other hand, it is more surprising that it copies initiatives of LIV on the sporting level.

LIV tournaments are three rounds (rather than four in the PGA). And no player is cut off halfway through the competition.

This lack of “cut” has earned LIV several mockeries. But the PGA is already inspired by it. As of the 2024 season, eight high-level tournaments will be reserved for around 75 players (roughly half as many as usual) and none of them will return home after two rounds.

On social media, LIV golfers went crazy when the news broke. Lee Westwood thus recalled having read so often about the importance of large player boards and the “cut” after 36 holes…

Today, even the most ardent PGA supporters recognize that LIV has shaken up a numb industry.

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In all this “revolution”, the players are the big winners. They receive ever more colossal sums. The losers, of course, are golf fans.

An example: The Players Championship is the most important tournament after the four majors. Last month, Scottie Scheffler won there convincingly.

On the other hand, Scheffler had it easier due to the absence of defending champion Cameron Smith, who moved to LIV Golf. While the best players in the PGA were fighting for the title, the Australian was fishing in Florida.

Scheffler didn’t have to fight Dustin Johnson or Brooks Koepka any more. LIV golfers can participate in all four major tournaments, which have their own admission rules, but not those governed by the PGA.

The absence of the LIV stars diminished the quality of the show. And took away some prestige from Scheffler’s victory.

Some will say that the best LIV golfers, because the “depth” is less strong in this circuit, will over time lose the touch that has kept them among the world’s elite. Maybe, but I’m not convinced.

Golf is full of surprises. A great champion out of fuel can impose itself at an unexpected moment. Remember Phil Mickelson’s victory at the 2021 PGA Championship… at the age of 50!

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LIV is playing big over the next few days. If none of his guns are really in the race Sunday afternoon in Augusta, the PGA will puff out their chests and have a good game of qualifying LIV for minor league play. Otherwise, LIV will cause a new electroshock.

In golf, nothing is more risky than predicting a winner before the start of a tournament. That said, I wouldn’t be surprised if my early column fiction came to fruition in part and the final explanation took place between a PGA golfer and his rival LIV.

It would be quite a spectacle.