Picking sides and packing waterproofs

I spent most of Monday afternoon looking for my Srixon in a patch of gorse that I’m fairly certain hasn’t seen sunlight in the last decade. If you’ve also spent your week battling the elements (or just your own swing), welcome to the first edition of Bad Bounce & Co.

In this issue

After round three

Club golf

The seasonal struggle of the ‘Winter Bag’.

It’s that time of year where the bag stops looking like a precision tool and starts looking like a mountain trekking survival kit.

I’ve spent the last week trying to find the balance between being ‘prepared for a damp Tuesday’ and looking like I’m about to summit Everest. My bag is currently 40% umbrellas and extra waterproofs.

Are you guys switching to heavier layers now, or are you the type of person who braves the rain with nothing but a thin windbreaker and a prayer?

Long read

Photo: Molly Riley, The White House, public domain, cropped

Professional golf has spent the best part of four years arguing about money, loyalty and who gets to play where. Just when it looked like things couldn’t get much messier, this week proved otherwise.

Pick a side

For the past few seasons, the DP World Tour has been surprisingly accommodating towards players who defected to LIV. Despite the occasional fine and legal scrap, the Tour granted conditional releases to several big names, including Jon Rahm and Tyrrell Hatton. These allowed them to compete on both circuits while maintaining their DP World Tour membership.

That last bit matters. Without membership, you can’t represent Europe at the Ryder Cup. But with LIV attempting to reinvent itself for 2027, the Tour has decided enough is enough.

Chief executive Guy Kinnings has made the position clear: players signing up to the new LIV circuit won’t be allowed to hold DP World Tour membership next season. No more playing both sides. No more special arrangements. And with the Ryder Cup heading to Adare Manor in Ireland next September, it’s a decision that could have some fairly serious consequences. Imagine being good enough to represent Europe but missing out because you’ve signed the wrong bit of paperwork. Although, admittedly, it would be some very expensive paperwork.

$100 million to hand in your notice

If the DP World Tour’s announcement wasn’t enough, LIV has got bigger problems to worry about. The breakaway league filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in September after losing the financial backing of Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund. For a competition that once appeared to have a bottomless supply of money, it’s quite the turnaround.

LIV isn’t necessarily finished. It’s attempting to restructure, with a potential $300 million financing package offering a possible route forward. But there’s a rather obvious problem with running a golf league. You need golfers.

And some of its biggest names are heading for the door. Jon Rahm, whose move to LIV in 2023 sent shockwaves through the sport, has agreed to give up more than $100 million in remaining contract value and financial claims as part of a deal to leave. Yes, $100 million. It’s a somewhat significant amount to leave on the table, even for someone who has already earned more than most of us can reasonably imagine.

The agreement still needs court approval, but Rahm’s decision says plenty about how dramatically the landscape has changed. Sergio Garcia and David Puig have also secured releases, while other players are weighing up their futures. Three years ago, LIV was throwing around massive sums to persuade golfers to join. Now, one of its biggest signings is prepared to sacrifice nine figures to get out. Not quite the recruitment advert they had in mind.

Rory wants everyone back

And then there’s Rory McIlroy. Having spent years as one of LIV’s most outspoken critics, Rory now appears increasingly interested in getting everyone back around the same table. He’s defended the DP World Tour’s right to protect its membership rules, but has also spoken about welcoming former LIV players back into the traditional game.

It’s a noticeable shift from the early days of the split, when the arguments were considerably less diplomatic. McIlroy has been particularly critical of how LIV spent its money, arguing that the league wasted an enormous opportunity to work with golf’s existing organisations. And looking at the current state of things, it’s difficult to argue that the billions spent have produced a particularly convincing return.

Still, bringing everyone back together presents its own problems. What happens to the players who turned down LIV’s money and stayed loyal to their tours? Do those who left get to walk straight back in? And who gets to decide? There are bound to be a few awkward conversations. You wouldn’t particularly fancy being the bloke responsible for the seating plan at that reunion.

So, who actually wins?

Here’s the frustrating thing about golf’s civil war. Every organisation involved claims to be acting in the best interests of the game. LIV wanted to revolutionise professional golf. The established tours wanted to protect its traditions. Players wanted greater freedom and better opportunities.

Somewhere along the way, we’ve ended up with four years of legal disputes, complicated eligibility rules and an awful lot of arguments about money. And the people watching? We just want to see the best golfers playing against each other.

The DP World Tour has every right to protect its competition. It’s difficult to run a professional circuit when some of your biggest names only turn up when it suits them. Equally, there’s something rather daft about the possibility of Europe’s Ryder Cup team being weakened because of a dispute between organisations.

The next few weeks should tell us plenty about where this is heading. LIV’s proposed relaunch still faces serious questions, while players have some expensive decisions to make about their futures. Perhaps we’ll eventually get the unified professional game everyone keeps talking about. Or perhaps we’ll be having exactly the same argument this time next year.

Given golf’s recent track record, I wouldn’t put the house on a peaceful resolution.

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P.S.

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