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Sunday was a great day for professional golf that actually means something and a bad day for professional exhibition golf that has absolutely no meaning at all.
I’m speaking, of course, about the PGA Tour vs. LIV Golf and how a wild 90-minute span filled with emotion and life-changing moments made that wasteland of a money-grab league look even more meaningless than it has before.
The PGA Tour had its first round of the FedEx Cup Playoffs in Memphis this weekend and it came down to a playoff that went three holes of sudden death which had all the drama you’d ever want in a golf playoff.
Will Zalatoris, the 25 year old who three second place finishes in majors but hadn’t won a PGA Tour event yet in his young career, punched his way into the playoff by sinking a must-make, 10-foot putt on the final hole. As the putt fell in to the cup he pumped his fists and yelled “WHAT ARE THEY GONNA SAY NOW!!??,” which was an emotional message to those who might have doubted him in the past. It was an awesome, genuine reaction to a huge moment that made you think of how Tiger Woods used to react to huge moments. It’s what makes this sport so much fun – guys caring about the outcomes and understanding how much it all means.’
CLUTCH. 💥@WillZalatoris drains a par putt on the 72nd hole to maintain his share of the @FedExChamp lead
📺 NBC pic.twitter.com/4GcaaFWExf
— Golf on CBS ⛳ (@GolfonCBS) August 14, 2022
None of that happens on the LIV Golf exhibition tour, no matter how much faceless Twitter accounts created over the past few months want to tell you it does. Those 54-hole events with no cuts and shotgun starts are full of guys who have already banked a lot of money from the Saudis and now just pretend to care about a tournament they’ll forget about on the flight home.
Zalatoris, however, will never forget what happened yesterday. He battled with Sepp Straka in a juicy playoff that ended with Zalatoris sinking another huge putt to get his first PGA Tour victory. His emotions got the best of him again, too, which just added to how cool of a moment it was to see this young kid shake off all the close calls and doubts and get a win that will change his life and likely set him up for a bunch more wins.
Meanwhile, on LIV Golf, you have a bunch of mostly old dudes who probably don’t even know when or where their next tournament will be. When told they will show up, talk about how much fun and how different their meaningless league is, play their three rounds, make their money, and head home to do whatever they do there with their heaps of empty cash.
Sports are at their very best when they matter. It’s clear that in professional golf right now that happens in one tour and doesn’t come close to happening in the other.
One is preseason NFL action. The other is January football.
I’ll take January football over August football any day of the week. Call me crazy, but I like it when something is on the line. I like watching legacies get made. I like watching grown men wipe away tears while walking up to be interviewed on the 18th green.
That’s the good stuff right there.
And none of that will ever exist on LIV Golf.
Quick hits: Young kid’s priceless reaction to dropping hot dog… George Pickens tosses CB… Cowboys fans already want Mike McCarthy fired… And more.
– A young MLB fan had a priceless reaction to dropping his hot dog at Tigers-White Sox game.
– Steelers rookie WR George Pickens absolutely tossed a Seahawks CB to the ground and fans loved it.
– NFL fans crushed Mike McCarthy after the Cowboys had 17 penalties in preseason opener.
– Alex Rodriguez embarrassed Derek Jeter on the ‘KayRod’ broadcast during last night’s Yankees-Red Sox game.
