MINNEAPOLIS — We are under no obligation to call sporting events or venues what their corporate overlords name them.
The Minnesota Gophers football stadium is "The Bank.''
The Metrodome was always "The Dome.''
Williams Arena is, was and shall ever be "The Barn.''
So when we refer to "The LIV Golf Invitational Series,'' we should just call it "Death Golf.''
LIV Golf is a Saudi Arabian production, backed by the country's government, designed to bribe the world's best golfers, making it a threat to the PGA Tour. Outside of the Olympics, this is the world's foremost attempt at "sportswashing:" when a nation launders its image via supposedly endearing competition.
Saudi Arabia would like you to forget its history of human rights abuses, and that Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi was murdered and dismembered at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul in 2018.
The first event in the LIV series will be held at the Centurion Golf Club in London next weekend. The series will not directly compete — this year — with Minnesota's 3M Open, which is scheduled for July 21-24 at the TPC Twin Cities, but it could compete with the 3M in future years, and it could provide competition this year as players decide where and when they want to compete.
After a series of denials and obfuscations, PGA Tour star Dustin Johnson has signed on, joining Louis Oosthuizen, Sergio Garcia, Kevin Na, Charl Schwartzel, Martin Kaymer, Graeme McDowell, Ian Poulter and Lee Westwood.
The PGA Tour has issued warnings that members who participate in LIV Golf tournaments will face stiff penalties, but it hasn't specified those penalties.
Longtime golf writer Jason Sobel, now with the Action Network, compared LIV Golf to the Ice Capades for figure skaters: a sports tour that isn't about competition so much as celebrity and entertainment.
LIV Golf will offer massive purses and guarantees. That's why it's so attractive to golfers, and such an ugly concept for discerning fans.
What's unique about the PGA Tour, among American professional sports, is that players must perform to earn a living, and keep their Tour card, and qualify for the majors. There are no guaranteed contracts.
LIV offers guarantees. Its events will begin with $25 million purses, with $20 million going to individual golfers and another $5 million to teams. There will be 48 players at each event, organized into 12 teams.
Players will not have to make the cut and the last-place golfer earns $120,000. There are also credible rumors about LIV offering massive bonuses to amateurs willing to turn pro on their circuit.
At the U.S. Open, Tiger Woods offered a viewpoint you'd like to believe most great competitors share. "I understand different viewpoints, but I believe in legacies," he said in May. "I believe in major championships. I believe in big events, comparisons to historical figures in the past. There's plenty of money out here. The Tour is growing. But you have to go out there and earn it."
If you are a middling pro, or an amateur, or an older golfer who no longer believes he can win a major, the LIV money might be intoxicating. Rory McIlroy acknowledged the lure even while saying he isn't interested.
"So someone that isn't guaranteed their Tour card next year, another entity comes along and says, 'We'll guarantee you this amount for three years, plus you're playing for a ton more prize money, and you're playing less events, you can spend more time with your family,' " McIlroy said this week. "I mean, whenever you sit down and look at some of those things, you know, it's very appealing to some of those guys that are in that position."
LIV Golf CEO Greg Norman, asked about the Khashoggi murder during an event in London on Wednesday to promote the new league, actually said, "We all make mistakes."
LIV Golf is likely to last because of those kinds of rationalizations and virtually unlimited money.
I'd rather watch the Ice Capades.
