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11:50 AM
A new era in golf is here?
And so the new era in golf has arrived – at least that’s what LIV, Greg Norman, and those golfers teeing it up at the Centurion Club would want us to believe.
The strap line on the LIV Golf website says it ‘exists to supercharge the game of golf.’ With a team format, a shotgun start and no cut it’s clear this is a tournament and series with a difference. But until we see what actually unfolds in Hertfordshire and beyond it’s also clear that, for now at least, the only thing it’s supercharging is the bank accounts of those golfers who’ve seen an extra nought and jumped ship from the PGA and DP World Tours.
The events of the past few months have been mired in controversy. From Phil Mickelson describing the Saudis (who are bankrolling the breakaway) as ‘scary mother——–‘ yet on Wednesday saying he was ‘so happy’ to pledge his future to LIV Golf, to Greg Norman seemingly willing to to air his views on everything no matter who he offends (he called Jack Nicklaus a ‘hypocrite’), the run up to today’s tee time has been nothing if not controversial and colourful.
But as the intervention of Jamal Khashoggi’s fiancee illustrates, the controversy is about more than just rich players wanting to become even richer and a perceived lack of loyalty to their respective tours. The fiancee of the butchered journalist called on the rebel players to be banned from majors and the Ryder Cup for ‘supporting murderers’. Hatice Cengiz went to to call the likes of Mickelson, Dustin Johnson, Ian Poulter and Lee Westwood “stooges” of a regime that has committed multiple human rights violations.
After months of behind-the-scenes deals, weighing up of options and accusations being thrown around the golf is actually about to start but, as with the run up to the tournament, you get the sense that what happens beyond the ropes will still dominate the news rather than what…
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Source : yahoo
