The US Open is all about the divided world of golf. The dispute over the heavily criticized Saudi tour LIV has escalated.
Brooks Koepka acted not at all like a golf gentleman when, completely unnerved, he blamed the media for the situation. “You’re all driving dark clouds over us. I’m fed up with the whole thing. It stinks,” said the four-time major champion: “It’s a shitty situation. We want to play the US Open – and we just have to talk about the other stuff .”
This “other stuff” that US star Koepka was so upset about is the participation of the rebels from the heavily criticized Saudi tour LIV in the third major of the year. The division in the golf world, which has dominated the sport for weeks, is also overshadowing the major event in Brookline/Massachusetts, which runs until Sunday.
“What they do there doesn’t matter”
Since the first Saudi tournament last week in London and the immediate suspension of 17 participants by the US PGA Tour, the situation has gotten increasingly out of hand. The US golf association USGA, which has been heavily criticized for allowing the LIV players, even felt compelled to first separate the “enemy” stars from one another.
The division of the three for the first two days was chosen in such a way that the most prominent defectors (Phil Mickelson, Dustin Johnson, Bryson DeChambeau) and the biggest PGA names (Koepka, Rory McIlroy, Jon Rahm, Justin Thomas, Scottie Scheffler) stand out go the way.
This de-escalating measure by the organizer seems to be sorely needed. After all, Thomas and McIlroy in particular make no secret of what they think of the LIV tour. “What they do there has no meaning – apart from collecting a pile of coal,” said four-time major champion McIlroy of the competition, which is largely funded by the Saudi regime.
McIlroy’s statement fits the tenor of most media. They accuse the departed stars of having switched out of greed. After all, the tournament in London, with prize money of 25 million dollars, was worth more than any PGA event.
Critics speak of “blood money”
There is a total of $250 million up for grabs across the eight LIV tournaments this year. In addition, there are sums in the three-digit million range that LIV paid the stars for their signature. The two-time major champion Martin Kaymer should not have gotten quite that much. Still, the German, who is injured at Brookline, cited the financial incentive as a reason for the move.
The critics outside of the sport castigate the LIV premiums as “blood money”. They bring both the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 and the 2018 murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi at the Istanbul consulate of Saudi Arabia into play.
According to media reports, the PGA and the DP World Tour (formerly European Tour) are discussing a joint approach to keep the LIV Tour in check. Among other things, it could be about excluding the stars who have migrated to LIV from the Ryder Cup. The biennial team competition between the USA and Europe is the largest event in the golf world.
In contrast to the PGA, the Europeans have so far not banned the renegades. In addition to Kaymer, the South African Louis Oosthuizen and the Spaniard Sergio Garcia (both also major winners) as well as Bernd Wiesberger (Austria) are scheduled to start in Munich next week – as of now.