Running 2024 golf thread

Yeah, this is me to a T. I will never watch that LIV shit, and apparently nobody else does either. The LIV Vegas final round got 300,000 viewers.
At the same time it has hurt the PGA tour tremendously. The Whositz and Never Was's who have won every Jan Feb event (save Riviera) is a testament to how boring the tour is. I've gone from a huge golf fan to barely a golf fan. I wouldn't have attended Riviera except my wife wanted to go so I got her tickets for Christmas. The JTs and Spieths and Cantlays are pretty much bores and not consistent champions. The PGA tour is still relying on Tiger and that is sad.

 

The PGA Tour hasn't had a Plan B since Tiger's back gave out in 2014. Other sports seemingly survive the retirements of the likes of Babe Ruth, Michael Jordan or Mario Andretti and move on. Sort of like Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus.

Not so now.

The Tour, the networks, the sponsors, the merchandisers and the sport itself made massive amounts of money on Tiger Woods' back, when it was healthy.

So it's 10 years and counting, and nobody will accept anything less than a miracle comeback by a guy who already used up his one freebie at Augusta in 2019. Now Tiger's son becomes "the next chosen one." Normally, there's a successor that emerges naturally but there's a noticeable lack of charisma among the current pros, coupled with the shenanigans of LIV and Jay Monahan. The media abhors a vacuum, so it makes its own racket.

I feel sorry for Charlie because even though he may not realize it now, there's this massive weight of unrealistic expectations about to be foisted upon him because Golf can't find a way to be successful without a Tiger or Tiger 2.0. What the hell? Let the kid enjoy being a kid instead of trying to create a legend because the sport lacks one. We've already been beaten over the head with Danica Patrick and Anna Kournikova, and look where that got those sports.

The same burden was placed on Dale Earnhardt Jr. (and Kyle Petty, to an extent) because they were held to an unreachable standard by NASCAR fans who couldn't accept anything less than continued family excellence.

 

While I believe much of the comments here are overblown, they contain an element of truth. That's why reconciliation between the LIV and PGA Tours is inevitable. When it happens, my bet is that the peace treaty is mediated by and pretty much dictated by the members of Augusta National, who of all golf's power brokers have been the most careful to be neutrals in this war, as their exemption for Niemann shows.

 

The fact of the matter is that golf is a niche sport in the mainstream consciousness which has a 25 year artificial bump because of Tiger. If he isn’t out there, it’s a minor sport except for the majors.

 

I’m actually kind of surprised Tiger signed off on it.
You figure you’ve got to shoot 65-66 tops just go get into Monday Q. Then you’d better be 63-64. Lot to ask for a kid playing the tips.

 

I grow tired of pointing this out, but I'll do it again: the stars are free to make birdies whenever they want. Is Grayson Murray or Chris Kirk supposed to six-jack the final hole and lose on purpose because it won't be good for the Tour to have a "never was" win?
And I beg to differ about only last week's winner being the only name player. Wyndham Clark is a major champion and Nick Taylor hit one of the top 4-5 clutch shots of the season last year to win his national open -- a first for a Canadian in more than 50 years.

 

The collective golf universe has settled on a group of players that it has deemed acceptable to win—Rory, Scottie, Jordan, JT, Rickie, etc. It cannot grasp the fact that Tiger will never again be a consistent factor, so it jumps on his 15-year-old son to ‘save’ the sport.

Saw some random tweet about this week’s event saying that the Tour has a problem on its hands because of the relative weakness of the field and the fact that the winner would get automatic entry to the Masters. I’m a golf sicko but there were at least five names I’ve never heard of. So what? There are compelling stories that we aren’t telling because the chosen few aren’t in the mix. It’s an unending cycle and frankly a bit maddening. Lazy even.

 

They are all bores. Or just unappealing. The Never Wases, the Grayson Murrays, the Patrick Cantlays, the Jordan Spieths. Unappealing to me at least. If they have compelling stories, I am sure as hell not seeing it in the PGA tour product shown on the weekend.

 

Stuff like this is why the Tour and the PIF need to figure it out, and figure it out now.

 

How is it "doing this to itself" because of the guys who shoot the lowest scores and win? Again, there's not a damn thing anyone can do about it except for the superstars to step up their game. It's not up to Chris Kirk to lose on purpose because he's not a household name.