You know there’s a perspective void when people wonder why golfers are joining a new tour sponsored by an oppressive and murderous Saudi Arabian regime. The questions came again Tuesday as reports were published saying West Palm Beach’s Brooks Koepka would sign on for the LIV Tour’s blood money.
“Don’t these players stand for anything?” was a common question on social media.
They stand for money. That’s it. The only thing more laughable than LIV Tour organizer Greg Norman saying its purpose was to “grow the game,” is PGA Tour sycophants suggesting players should follow a social conscience in not taking an oppressive regime’s money.
Golf never has shown much of a social conscience. It had a Caucasian-only rule until 1961. That was 14 years after Jackie Robinson broke baseball’s color barrier.
It took another 14 years before the Masters accepted a Black player, Lee Elder. The Masters isn’t run by the PGA, but it’s an intrinsic part of the sport. Elder received such criticism in that 1975 tournament, including death threats, he rented two houses and moved between them so no one was sure where he was staying.
Yes, I know, that was a long time ago in a different era. Still, it took 46 years for the Masters to recognize Elder’s achievement. Finally, in 2021, when he was 84 and couldn’t swing a golf club anymore, it had him stand on the ceremonial first tee as the sport celebrated the money like it signed the Emancipation Proclamation.
So the PGA is upset over players siding with Saudi Arabian money? These players aren’t alone in going to bed with human-rights abusers. The NBA makes hundreds of millions from China. The Olympics went to Russia and China, twice, in recent years. The World Cup is next in Qatar.
You still wish a star like Phil Mickelson or Koepka was more than just about money. They weren’t asked to jeopardize their career taking a stand like the NFL’s Colin Kaepernick did. We’re past the time when athletes were social giants, as when Arthur Ashe took on apartheid, Billie Jean King fought for women’s rights and Muhammad Ali refused to fight an unjust war.
This is a fight to make rich men richer and an oppressive Saudi Arabia somehow more palatable. Nothing more. One of the anecdotes that came out of last weekend’s furor at the U.S. Open was a conversation between good friends Rory McIlroy and Sergio Garcia.
“We can finally get paid what we deserve,’’ said Garcia, who is joining LIV.
“We’re golfers,’’ said McIlroy, who isn’t joining the new tour. “We don’t deserve to be paid anything.”
Koepka took another tact over the weekend. He attacked sports writers for asking about LIV.
“I’m ready to play the U.S. Open, and I think it kind of sucks, too, you are all throwing this black cloud over the U.S. Open,’’ he said. “It’s one of my favorite events. I don’t know why you guys keep doing that. The more legs you give [LIV Golf], the more you keep talking about it.”
Here’s what Koepka really was saying: I don’t want to talk about LIV because I’m joining it soon. This leads to what he should say next. Behind Mickelson, he’s as big a name as signed on. He’s won four majors. He was No. 1 for 47 weeks. He also is known for saying whatever he wants.
So he should say this:
“I didn’t sign on with LIV to grow the game or any of that nonsense. I signed for the money. You telling me you wouldn’t be tempted for $100 million or $200 million? Yeah, my family and I were set up for generations even without that money. But who wouldn’t want more? Greed is good, right?
“The next tournament is in Portland, Oregon, too. That’s a long way from Saudi Arabia by my map. I don’t even know what Saudi Arabia is about, to be honest, other than oil. I don’t want to know, either, just like all those golfers in another era didn’t know much about Black golfers.
“Just tell the Prince to keep sending me those big checks. It is a Prince, right? I don’t have a social conscience and don’t care about my legacy. I only care about those checks.”
