No winners or losers on LIV Golf Tour

A couple of weeks ago, as Tiger Woods made his return to competitive golf, matters apart from his performance on the course took much of the media attention.

Firstly, he had to withdraw from the Genesis Invitational after becoming ill prior to his second round. He battled on for a few holes but was eventually whisked away in a buggy to the clubhouse, where ambulances had pulled up outside, suggesting Woods was in worse shape that everyone had initially thought. It emerged later he wasn’t actually that bad - a bad dose of the flu was all that was wrong.

Secondly, Woods played those days at Riviera in new clothes. His latest range, Sunday Red, has led to divided opinion after his long-time association with Nike over many years.

Thirdly, and most relatable for me, one shot in particular of Woods’ over those one and a bit rounds stood out from the pack.

It was a shank on the 18th hole which made the viral headlines. Simply put, a shank is when the ball goes off at a 45 degree angle from where you're aiming. Woods put it down to a 'back spasm'. I'm going to use that excuse next time myself!

A shank from a professional golfer was doing the rounds again on social media over the weekend, but this time it came from the LIV Golf Tour.

Anthony Kim was once the rising star of the game, all of 15 years ago now, when he rose to a high of sixth in the world and played a key role in the United States Ryder Cup victory over Europe at Valhalla.

In 2008 - the year of that Ryder Cup - he became the first American under the age of 25 since Tiger Woods to win two PGA TOUR events in the same year.

For all that promise, Kim virtually disappeared from the sport after 2012, largely down to injury. Reports suggest he was receiving payments from an insurance policy worth 10-million dollars having sustained injuries which prevented him continuing his career.

Now, however, he’s back after becoming a wildcard ahead of the new LIV season and while he has waived those insurance payments to return, reports indicate that he, like all of the others playing on the LIV Tour, has received a handsome sum to sign up.

So how did his opening salvo go at last week’s tournament in Jeddah?

Kim carded a three-round total of 16-over-par, some 11 shots worse than the next best player, and finished dead last. His first round included that dreaded shank, while he also topped a shot on his way to a six-over-par 76.

“Obviously it was a rough week,” Kim told reporters after his final round.

“I’m excited to be playing professional golf again. I feel very blessed that I have this opportunity.

“I’ve got a lot to work on, but I had a lot of good things go my way this week. So I’m looking forward to building on that and being in contention at some point this year.” The recruitment of Kim is a curious one on the part of LIV Golf, but you can see the angle of interest in so far as he’s a compelling character and following his journey of redemption from serious injury provides a potential feel-good story.

No one wishes injury on anyone, and Kim is someone who is undoubtedly talented.

But it’s another illustration of the LIV model which irks so many and gnaws away at the very essence of sport.

What is the point of a meritocracy on the PGA TOUR, where players have to earn their crust by winning a tour card and potentially battling on the cut line most weeks with so much on the line, when somebody can be parachuted in from ten years in the sporting wilderness to bag a load of cash?

You’d imagine it stings for many players who have stayed true to their conscience on the PGA TOUR and want to battle for the glory, the money and the sporting achievement that comes with earning your position on the sport’s ladder.

While the ferocity of the rhetoric between the parties has softened following last year’s agreement between the PGA TOUR, DP World Tour and Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (the backers of LIV), it still doesn’t change much when it comes to LIV’s standing as a competitive entity. Does anyone even care who wins their events week to week? Does anyone even know who wins?

Every player picks up a handsome cheque, even for playing poorly as there’s no cut. In 2022, the inaugural season of the breakaway tour, Pat Perez won 8-million dollars in prize money but didn’t finish better than 16th in any of the tournaments (only 48 players competed week to week).

“Yeah, all the push-back, all the negatives comments, everything we’ve gotten at this point I don’t really care,” he said at the time. “I mean, I don’t care. I’m paid. I don’t give a damn.” With the three tours poised to reshape the game of professional golf in the not-too-distant future with a new framework agreement, how do they go about making the tournaments they come up with more meaningful?

There’s little doubt the purses will be enormous, but there has to be a competitive element. Several players have pushed for no-cut tournaments over the years.

The top players ask the question: ’we’re the big draw for these tournaments, but if we miss the cut, we don’t get paid. Where’s the fairness?’ But surely to return the game of golf to some sense of normality, competition has to become the norm. No-cut events, with no consequences for poor play, leads to a lack of meaning. That will soon lead to little or no interest from the general public - and the game is already struggling for eyeballs as the Tiger Woods era draws to a close.

Indeed, when Woods first addressed the LIV Golf saga at a press conference in advance of the 2022 Open Championship, he asked the question “Where is the incentive to go out there and earn it in the dirt?’ That sentiment should be to the forefront of golf’s stakeholders minds as they attempt to reshape the game for a new era.