SAN DIEGO — Let them play golf, dammit. Let them breathe. Let them LIV.
On any course. In any country with a water supply — except Russia. In a plane. In a train. In a car. In pasturelands (Farmers Open). On mountaintops. In rainforests. On bike lanes. In heaven. In hell.
For any amount of money, foreign or domestic.
Golfers are traitors?
There wasn't a single professional golfer attacking the Capitol with a 2-iron on Jan. 6.
Benedict Arnold changed teams, but it wasn't during the Ryder Cup.
Reports are sketchy, but many Biblical scholars believe Judas hanged himself from a tree — and not because he couldn't get out of an impossible lie behind it.
Claus von Stauffenberg didn't slip his briefcase bomb under Hitler's table on the 19th hole at Wolf's Lair CC.
Not since the Scots invented this athletic misery/addiction, in 1764, when they first knocked rocks around 18 holes at St. Andrews (the "new course" then, I suppose), has the Grand Auld Game been beset by such ignominy.
A few players are being besieged by the misguided hypocrites, the overly jingoistic, who used to be truffles, hard to find, but now grow like bamboo.
Big-name guys betraying their home organization, the PGA, turning coats and polo shirts, going over to the enemy — the rich new Saudi-backed LIV series — are traitors? Mutineers?
The PGA has banned 17 players from its tour (nine major winners) — including San Diego's Phil Mickelson, who pretty much dived on the figurative grenade for this, Dustin Johnson, Bryson DeChambeau, Patrick Reed, Rickie Fowler (quite possibly the Tour's greatest goodwill ambassador), Sergio Garcia, San Diego's Pat Perez, and with Greg Norman the LIV's P.T. Barnum — for renouncing its golfing citizenship.
Mickelson reportedly is getting $200 million, Johnson $125 million, basically just for appearing. Tiger Woods, apparently offered a sheik's ransom, gave LIV the Heisman, as did Jack Nicklaus.
Of course, the sport's Angry Villagers not only see the players as traitors to the PGA, but to the United States, citing Saudi Arabia's human rights violations.
A reporter actually asked Brits Lee Westwood and Ian Poulter if they'd play in Vladimir Putin's tournament. No answer.
This is not the same thing. We haven't cut off Saudi Arabia. Not even close.
No fan of that nation am I — exact opposite — but do the hypocrites realize they probably have some Saudi Arabia in their gas tank? We get more than one barrel of oil from that country. And the Saudis are one of the leading importers (untold billions) of U.S. weaponry.
The nation's human rights history is awful, but China's is worse, and it's hard to purchase anything here not made there. Do we not have athletes making money in China — or in Russia before the war?
Do we not have our own indelible history of human rights violations, which the clueless are trying to erase?
We needlessly lost more than 2,000 military personnel in our prolonged war in Afghanistan, which continues to produce 90% of the world's heroin supply.
Vietnam is our 10th-largest trading partner.
We have done, do and will continue to do business with these people for the same reason these "traitors" are.
Golfers are independent contractors.
Some players are disgusted with the PGA Tour, but this is about money. There aren't many athletes turning down hundreds of millions for showing up.
The PGA is making a huge mistake here. Golf is driven by names. The networks — and the Tour — have sponsors. Names sell. How long before they tell the Tour to get over it? Tiger isn't playing 20 times a year anymore.
These players owe the PGA nothing.
This reminds me of AFL commissioner Al Davis forcing the merger by plucking quarterbacks from the NFL. The League blinked — and surrendered.
While I don't know much, I know the PGA sure as hell isn't the NFL.
LIV may be an expensive-but-affordable failure. Know what these guys will do then? Smile at their bank statements and play golf. Somewhere.
