The Shark, The Saudis, and Samuel Ryder

Recent comments surrounding the SGL have instigated all kinds of controversy in the golfing world. Greg Norman’s investors, the idea of appearance fees and the abandoning of the PGA Tour for a rival Saudi league have been hot topics, superseding the usual build-up to the next major at Southern Hills.

Let’s try a new angle.  

The Major League Soccer saw David Beckham going to LA Galaxy once he was past his best. Wayne Rooney followed suit to D.C United. Various other high-end players have transferred from the UK to China.

No one leaves the coliseum that is the Premier League, La Liga or Serie A while they are in their prime. They don’t do it for the culture exposure. There is evidently an attraction to being paid well at the twilight of your professional career, in an environment that pays more and demands less than when you were in your prime.  

Take Rugby Union. Salary cap headlines have plagued Saracens since 2019, causing disruption in the Premiership.

The incentive of more money elsewhere becomes obvious; we saw international players Matt Giteau, Chris Robshaw and Ma’a Nonu moving to the USA, all seeing out their careers in the Major League Rugby setup.

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A step down in standards but a step up in financial returns; their training schedule will less vigorous, their expectations are lower, they can continue to enjoy the sport they love and be paid handsomely. They are moving aside for the next wave of young players.

Golf may be seeing the same shift. Players who are past their best days, choosing to be paid more for their efforts before joining the Champions Tour or putting the clubs away for good.

If the PGA play their cards right, the SGL will be associated with those who have said goodbye to their competitive careers. World Number #191 Martin Kaymer’s alleged move to the Saudi League was a very underwhelming headline, even after Greg Norman had hyped the announcement as a ‘former World Number 1m’ Kaymer wouldn’t have cracked the top ten guesses.

Thanks for Medinah, Martin. Be on your way.

Garcia, Westwood, Bubba Watson and co. can slink off to the Shark & the Saudis while Hovland, Morikawa, Scheffler and Will Zalatoris all continue to take the world by storm. The Official World Golf Ranking sees younger players climbing the rankings each year.

In my opinion, the only way the SGL gains traction is by attracting golfers out of college, originally a suggestion by Greg Norman. Some of golf’s amateurs could also turn pro in order to experience the financial gains from LIV’s promised paydays. These players will potentially have a large media following, an incentive to make money quickly and not quite be well known enough that their decisions will be widely scrutinised.

Alongside the statement made yesterday, the PGA shut this option down by changing the eligibility for college players in their PGA Tour U program. This means any participants in a tournament not recognised by the PGA cuts the players access to future Tour events.

The PGA has doubled down on their stance and commitment to ensuring its future, or as Greg Norman calls it; ‘the illegal monopoly’. The PGA are distancing themselves from any sniff of a rival league in the same vein as when the R&A chose not to return to Turnberry for fear of affiliation with Donald Trump.

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The curveball is the Ryder Cup.

Simply put, participation in the Saudi Golf League requires waiver exemptions that the PGA Tour is not willing to give away easily. Any SGL event that conflicts with PGA Tour events is not permitted, as per Jay Monahan’s announcement this week. If a player violates this contract, they may lose Tour membership, which is required to participate in the Ryder Cup.

Surely that triggers a rethink for Lee Westwood and Sergio Garcia!

They have embodied the Ryder Cup for Europe, between them amassing almost 50 points and 13 Ryder Cups. After Westwood’s comments on the SGL ruled him out of the captaincy, Henrik Stenson will take the reins at Whistling Straits. Naming Thomas Bjorn as his first Vice-Captain was a timely announcement after Monahan’s statement, reminding the Tour players what they have to look forward to, and that they cannot have it both ways.

The commitment makes me respect Stenson even more, turning his back on extra millions, but keeping the fixture alive. Mr Samuel Ryder will be smiling down on him.  

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Irrespective of where the money comes from, the risk of watering down our most precious golfing rivalry for the sake of some hefty appearance money is an awful idea. It seems a large price to pay to give up all Ryder Cup involvement for players, and to ruin the event for so many hopeful and adoring fans.

It is a mark of disrespect towards the European icons of the game who wore their heart on their sleeves and saw the tide start to turn against the American power in the 1980s and 1990s.

Jose Maria Olazabal said he’d give up his major victories to win as a Ryder Cup captain, Seve Ballesteros ignited the necessary fire to the fixture to make it a spellbinding contest  – it is sad to think that some European players are willing to snuff that spark for the sake of Saudi money.

For the Americans who choose to pursue the SGL, they will be missing out on the ‘red shift’ we have seen of late, a rampaging young team that are making up for the past two decades.

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Will we have greats of the game in years to come? Is legacy even a goal anymore?

When being paid seven figures just to show up to Tour events, there is little incentive to succeed unless you have that raw intensity of only the greatest of the great, the sort of intensity that means you win a major on a broken leg.

It was Tiger Woods who brought the Tour to a noticeable level on the world stage, elevating prize money to the numbers we see today. He is the needle that moves the golfing world, the majority of pros know they owe their financial status to him more than anyone else and they acknowledge as much on a regular basis.

The deadline to request exemption waivers for the second SGL event in Oregon (scheduled in July) is next Tuesday, 17^th May. Until then, the Saudi League, its fans and its critics, Greg Norman and Jay Monahan will steal a few more news cycles!

Cover Image via Twitter