Oller's Second Thoughts: Golf is enjoyable even without millionaire golfers like Jon Rahm
I’m tired of LIV. Tired of Jon Rahm. Tired of the PGA Tour. Tired of the debate over the ball being rolled back to limit distance. Tired of the money.
Know what I’m not tired of? Golf.
I’m not tired of placing the ball on a tee and smacking it. Not tired of making a downhill 10-footer. Of buddy banter, drinking a beer after the round and enjoying being outside on a gorgeous day. I’m not tired of playing when the alternative is working.
That is golf. Not the hand-wringing over whether the PGA Tour will survive or if golf ball manufacturers will go out of business. Not the shock of Rahm collecting $300 million to join LIV or reports of Patrick Cantlay throwing journeymen tour players under the bus.
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Patrick who? Exactly. How many of you even know who Cantlay is? Maybe 25%? Maybe 10%? Probably less than 5%. It would serve professional golf well to remember that golf is a niche sport. Like hockey. Or, in this country, soccer. (Go get ’em Crew). If the Saudis want to throw millions at athletes who most people have never heard of, fine. Who cares? Not many. I no longer do, either. Unlike the NFL, which is popular despite more than half of its fan base having never played football, golf’s popularity links directly to participation. I watch because I play. But I don’t play because I watch. I’m not going to stop walking or riding 18 holes because professional golf can’t get out of its own way.
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Sure, PGA Tour TV ratings will dip as more tour stars jump to LIV, but that won’t stop us hackers from continuing to hack. It is disappointing that Rahm, and big names still to come, bolted to LIV, which I have little interest in watching. Exhibition golf is meh. But more than sadness over the defections negatively impacting my sleepy Sunday afternoon TV viewing experience, there is more of a hardening against the hypocrites such as Rahm who badmouthed LIV before backtracking by taking the blood money and running to the startup league.
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That said, I can’t crucify Rahm for choosing generational wealth over principles; let’s not forget the PGA Tour led the way on that front by willingly climbing in bed with the Saudi butchers. But it would be nice for a change to see someone stand firm on their beliefs. Rory McIlroy comes closest, but even then it is unclear how sincere he is. My sense is Rors is more anti-LIV than anti-Saudi human rights record.
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Eventually, maybe even sooner than later, Saudi money perhaps will kill off the PGA Tour, but all that means is a reformatted (i.e. traditional) LIV would take its place. It would look different, with the Saudis reducing fields from 120 or more to the top 50 or less – even the cash-rich Saudi Public Investment Fund has its limits – but one could argue that would make for better TV, anyway. And it is no news flash that TV ratings are all that matter anymore, much to the chagrin of tournament directors at most tour stops.
But such speculation is a sideshow that needs not create added stress for amateur golfers who have enough to worry about with fixing their helicopter swings. Let pro golf cannibalize itself. Who needs it? We’re busy trying to break 80, 90 and 100.
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Is Ryan Day coming out swinging?
As of Friday morning, 14 Ohio State football players had entered the transfer portal. Seven more, and an entire team will be out the door. How alarming is the mass exodus? And what precipitated it? A handful of defections may hurt, including quarterback Kyle McCord (really), tailback Chip Trayanum, wide receiver Julian Fleming and tight end Joe Royer. But none of the losses is crushing.
More interesting is the why. Could be NIL money being offered elsewhere. Could be hopes of gaining more playing time. Or could be Day “convincing” players to exit, either as a way to open room for the 23 recruits coming in and not exceed the 85-scholarship limit, or because the guys leaving are no longer the right fit in a program that needs to reinvent the way it performs in the biggest games. In other words, some of the departures could be related to culture. If so, Day is dropping a hammer in a way many of his critics did not think he could. Talking tough is one thing. Being tough, by pushing players out, is something else entirely.
Listening in
“If the product wasn’t good, people wouldn’t be making the jump. I certainly wouldn’t be doing it.” – Jon Rahm, on Fox News about LIV Golf, reversing course on previous criticisms that LIV’s current format of 54-holes with a shotgun start and no cut is “not a golf tournament.”
Off-topic
I was reminiscing with a former Ohio State classmate about when, before alcohol was served in the Horseshoe, we would sneak gin, rum, wine and whisky into the stadium in a faux goatskin bota. The friend relayed that a family member who attended the Nov. 25 Ohio State-Michigan game in Ann Arbor was surprised to learn no beer is sold in the Big House. But apparently that did not stop fans from enjoying their liquor, because after the game thousands of empty plastic bottles of Fireball whisky littered the stadium. Where there’s a will, there’s a way.
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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Jon Rahm left PGA Tour for LIV Golf. Who needs him anyway?
