Eamonn Sweeney: Good guys to have the last laugh in golf’s civil war

Smith didn’t answer the question but he, Phil Mickelson and Matthew Wolff sniggered at it. Smith and Pat Perez were also caught laughing on course at a meme which allegedly showed the former gazing into the distance accompanied by the words, “Is that Rory over there bitching about something again.”

LIV Golf may not be directly responsible for such cretinous frat boy nonsense. But their press conferences certainly seem influenced by the league’s PR people. Such hard hitting questions as “Do you feel like the vibes on LIV are like a fun hang and the PGA Tour is like a country club with too many rules,” or, “Why is it a more fun and fan-friendly environment,” hardly bear the stamp of independent journalism.

McIlroy has become a hate figure for the sycophants who’ve hitched their wagon to LIV. Other tensions have become obvious of late. Shane Lowry’s “This is one for the good guys,” after his BMW PGA Championship victory showed he’s on the same side as his friend.

This obviously annoyed Talor Gooch who a few days later tweeted, “another one for the good guys,” after he, Dustin Johnson, Patrick Reed and Perez had won the LIV team event in Chicago. This fourth successive win for Gooch’s Four Aces team underlined the lack of competitiveness on the ersatz tour.

A moment when Bryson DeChambeau walked into a rope, hurt his eye and shouted, “What the f**k guys,” seemed a neat metaphor for the chaotic nature of LIV competition. PGA Tour loyalist Justin Thomas reacted with a tweet of a sniper. Miaow.

The atmosphere at next weekend’s Alfred Dunhill Links Championship will be strained as ten LIV rebels, Gooch among them, take on McIlroy and Lowry.

PGA Tour player irritation may stem from the defectors’ belief that they can have their human rights violator-sponsored cake and eat it. The latest example is a letter signed by all 48 rebels to Official World Golf Ranking chairman Peter Dawson begging him to include points gained in LIV events.

“Fans deserve rankings that are inclusive and accurate,” it says. “Failure to include 48 of the world’s best golfers would mean the fans are being denied what they deserve.”

The LIV players are looking not for equal, but for special treatment. Their events are limited to the small pool of golfers who’ve taken the Saudi money, take place over 54 holes and don’t have a cut. Claiming they deserve the same respect as PGA Tour events won’t fly.

That “48 of the world’s best golfers” line is pretty ludicrous. It’s a long time since anyone regarded Graeme McDowell, world number 399, as one of those. The main appeal for many defectors was the handsome reward offered to mediocrity. Like world number 170 Perez, who’s made $1,799,667 in just three LIV starts after making $1,071,981 from 19 PGA Tour events last season. LIV events consist of a few big names at the top and a lot of has-beens underneath.

LIV’s world ranking plea may derive from the fact that only a few players possess star status independent of their world rankings.

Tiger Woods had that kind of charisma. As did Mickelson to a lesser degree. With both on the way out, McIlroy is currently the biggest name in golf, his off-course earnings of $34m exceeded only by Woods. The only other players with the same kind of mainstream recognition might be Dustin Johnson and Jordan Spieth.

But the public recognition of someone like Brooks Koepka, despite his four Majors between 2017 and 2019, depends almost entirely on his results. Should he, Smith and DeChambeau slide down the rankings few will continue to regard them as world class.

The rebels can still compete in the Majors,, but the competitively attenuated LIV world may provide poor preparation for taking on players used to the rigours of the PGA Tour.

LIV’s players will still have all that lovely blood money. Exorbitant signing on fees made Mickelson, Johnson, DeChambeau and Koepka the four highest earning golfers in the world last year. Even the definitively past it Sergio Garcia’s fee was four times what McIlroy made on the course.

Garcia’s behaviour at the BMW Championship when he withdrew after the first round and was then photographed at a college football match in the US seemed symbolic of the LIV mentality. These were the actions of a man giving up on being a serious golfer.

Back in June, Garcia ranted at fellow players during the BMW International Open in Munich, “This tour is shit. You’re all f****d. You should have taken the Saudi money.” Perhaps Garcia merely said out loud what some of his fellow rebels are thinking.

The good guys versus bad guys feel to the story is exacerbated by LIV head Greg Norman’s courting of the American political right. His tour has already enlisted Donald Trump. The third LIV event in July took place at Trump’s course in Bedminster, New Jersey while the season finale takes place next month at Trump National in Miami.

Trump’s LIV involvement is a gesture of vengeance against the PGA Tour who took the PGA Championship away from Bedminster after the attack on the Capitol in January 2021.

Yet Norman’s bid to mate LIV with MAGA (Make America Great Again) met with a chilly reception when he met the largest conservative caucus in Congress last week. “Don’t come in here and act like you’re doing a great thing when you’re pimping a billion dollars of Saudi Arabian money,” said Republican representative Chip Roy of Texas.

“Bunch of rich guys are not gonna play golf somewhere, it doesn’t bother me one bit. Let these country clubbers handle their own game,” declared Tennessee’s Tim Burchett. Norman will plough on regardless. Having no shame has its advantages.

Worsening relations between the two tours will add considerable spice to next season. Who wouldn’t love to see McIlroy and Smith neck and neck over the final holes of a Major? The War By The Shore would be tame by comparison. A national rivalry may be quite continental but personal animus is a grudge match’s best friend.

We’ll see who’s crying then.

Irish pair Fahey and Campbell show their class in Pool fightback

Call it the bet that got away. At half-time in last Sunday’s Women’s Super League opener Liverpool, trailing 1-0, were 125/1 to beat Chelsea. In hindsight this was a crazy price, but the champions had completely dominated the newly-promoted home side and looked certain winners.
Instead, Liverpool mounted a mighty fightback to win 2-1 against a Chelsea side who’d only lost three league games in the previous three seasons. Irish centre-back Niamh Fahey was at the heart of it with a tremendous performance against Australian striker Sam Kerr, voted second best player in the world last year.
The catalyst for the comeback may have been the introduction of her Irish teammate Megan Campbell, whose trademark long throws seemed to unnerve the visitors, with one leading to the penalty from which Katie Stengel equalised.
Dampening the mood was the ankle injury suffered by Leanne Kiernan, which puts her out of Ireland’s World Cup qualification play-off, following a crude tackle from Kadeisha Buchanan.
It’s cruel luck given Vera Pauw’s recent praise of the striker. Saoirse Noonan’s league-leading three goals in her first two games for Durham in the Championship seem timely in the circumstances.

Spain on top in showcase for continent’s stars

The European Basketball Championships in Germany may have been the most impressive tournament on the continent this year in terms of quality. It featured three of the five players on this year’s All NBA first team, Greece’s Giannis Antetokounmpo, Slovenia’s Luka Doncic and Serbia’s Nikola Jokic. All three had excellent tournaments, yet none of them propelled their team into the medal positions.
Instead, Spain defeated France 88-76 in last Sunday’s final for their fourth win in the last six tournaments. This one owed a great deal to the Hernangomez brothers from Madrid, Willy of the New Orleans Pelicans winning tournament MVP and Juancho of the Toronto Raptors top scoring with 27 points in the final.
The hosts came third, inspired by Dennis Schroder of the LA Lakers. Their opponents in the third place play-off were an even bigger surprise package, Poland.
Their quarter-final win over reigning champions Slovenia was the shock of the tournament with Mateusz Ponitka of Olympiakos scoring just the fourth recorded triple-double in EuroBasket history.