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Would new PGA Tour model have stopped defections?

The PGA Tour is going to reward the biggest stars with as many as 11 tournaments that have small fields, big money and no cuts.

This should sound familiar.

And there is no denying it would not happened without the threat and the disruption of Saudi-funded LIV Golf.

But it raises a question that might shed light on the differences between the rival circuits. If this had been in place two years ago, how many of the 36 PGA Tour players who defected to LIV Golf would have stayed?

“Zero to five,” Jordan Spieth said in offering his best best, which is all anyone can do. “It’s still not guaranteed money, or that level of guaranteed money.”

That remains one of the differences in the two models.

The PGA Tour has put the prize fund at $20 million for its big events, just like LIV Golf, except with larger fields and more fresh faces. LIV is locked in with the same 48 players and the occasional alternate. But without a cut, the money effectively is guaranteed on both circuits.

Not to be overlooked, however, is that LIV players like Phil Mickelson, Dustin Johnson, Brooks Koepka, Cameron Smith and Bryson DeChambeau – all of whom have won majors in the last five years – received a signing bonus of what has been reported to be in the $150 million neighborhood.

That was more appealing than a chance to play for the Iron Heads or the Hy Flyers.

Spieth still can recall being at a Rolex dinner during the U.S. Open last year when Koepka was part of a group that was circling the wagons for the PGA Tour. And then a week later, Koepka signed for the Saudi money and was gone.

“The easy way out,” is how Rory McIlroy described players leaving for LIV when their prime years were still ahead of them.

The new PGA Tour model effectively creates two tours, but players – no matter their world ranking or what they have done lately – still have to perform.

The top players are guaranteed spots on LIV for multiple years regardless of how they play. That aspect – more than the lack of a 36-hole cut or 54-hole events – is what led to suggestions the Saudi-funded league would be merely an exhibition.

PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan and his predecessor, Tim Finchem, share more than Irish heritage. Both have taken ideas from Greg Norman, the latter having created the World Golf Championships that were similar – but not identical – to the Shark’s failed plan of a World Golf Tour in the mid-1990s.

The PGA Tour stole a page from LIV’s playbook by not having a cut, effectively assuring sponsors and television that all the best players will play four rounds in the eight designated events, along with the three FedEx Cup playoff events.

It effectively creates a two-tier system. Then again, it’s been that way for the 25 years the WGCs have been around. Now those will be gone after this year.

The biggest criticism for the PGA Tour is doing away with a cut, regardless of its history of having no-cut events. Five years ago, the PGA Tour schedule had nine no-cut events, though not everyone felt compelled to play them (three were in Asia in the fall).

Tiger Woods, who has 26 no-cut victories among his 82 wins on the PGA Tour, was said to be among those who felt strongly about a cut, perhaps because he rarely worried about weekends off. Woods failed to make the cut seven times in his first 13 years on tour.

What the tour got right, however, was providing enough of an avenue for those who aren’t at the elite level or are trying to earn their way back. Ten spots will be awarded to leading players from the current FedEx Cup standings, some of that from points accrued in the fall. Five other spots would come from points earned at tournaments that year.

“As long as you’ve got a tee time, good golf takes care of everything,” J.T. Poston said in January as the system was being developed.

Performance still matters

Jon Rahm, Si Woo Kim and Nico Echavarria already have won this year. About the only thing they have in common is that all start from scratch when they get to Kapalua in January.

It’s hard to argue with how these designated events are working with the star power that keeps showing up at the end. Scottie Scheffler won in Phoenix. Rahm won at Riviera. Bay Hill was the latest example on multiple levels.

The five-way tie for the lead in the final hour featured Scheffler, Spieth and McIlroy. That the winner was Kurt Kitayama also was telling.

Only 18 months ago, Kitayama was in the Korn Ferry Tour Finals just to get a PGA Tour card. Then, he finished third in the Honda Classic. He was runner-up to Rahm in Mexico. He got into the Scottish Open and was runner-up again. He finished 40th in the FedEx Cup.

That would have been enough to get him into a tournament like Bay Hill under the new system that starts in 2024.

There are sure to be others like him.

If not, there’s always the B-flight, which doesn’t look so bad when the purse is $8.1 million (Valspar Championship) or $8.9 million (Valero Texas Open). Equally appealing is not having to face the usual list of all-stars to cash in.

The verdict won’t come until next year when this plays out. Spieth is among those who fear players who don’t qualify for the elite events might be tempted to join LIV. So this might not be the last of the defections.

That would go back to the question raised at the very start of this fracture in golf, whether players are motivated more by money or competition.

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March 7, 2023

Man Utd: Bruno Fernandes might grind your gears, but the Gary Neville-led pile-on is out of order

Bruno Fernandes was crap at Anfield. That’s absolutely fair comment. A lot of what has been said in the aftermath of a humbling, soul-destroying humping at the hand of Manchester United’s arch-rivals is not.

Fernandes was the captain of the ship that sunk without a trace in just over 45 minutes on Sunday. His team-mates were equally as wretched – actually, in many cases, they were worse – but as the skipper of Erik ten Hag’s crew, Fernandes is copping considerably more flak than anyone else.

As Harry Maguire has discovered, that’s part of the territory that comes with wearing the armband when United have one of their moments. The elastic on the bicep, as well as his style of leadership, puts Fernandes firmly in the firing line when the Red Devils surrender as they did on Sunday.

But that does not warrant the pile-on that commenced well before Liverpool completed their rout.

Gary Neville remains one of the ring-leaders. Neville – seething, stewing next to Jamie Carragher as the ex-Liverpool defender’s cackling intensified with each goal at the Kop end – took aim on multiple occasions at Fernandes. Only some of it was justified: “You give the ball away at Anfield, you try to get it back. You don’t flap your arms around. I’ve had enough of him whinging. He whinges at everybody. He’s got to put a captain’s performance in there, and that wasn’t a captain’s performance.”

Roy Keane echoed Neville’s thoughts and, of course, the pair were renowned for not whinging at team-mates and maintaining an even temper when they captained United. That’s right, isn’t it?

READ: Man Utd’s most humiliating Premier League defeats include Liverpool, Balotelli and Keane evisceration

Perhaps Neville would have preferred Fernandes to have chosen violence. The current skipper tried but, typically for United, he missed when Stefan Bajcetic skipped past him down the right flank late on. Last season, when Hannibal Mejbri came off the bench at 4-0 down and set about making his mark on his opponents’ ankles, Neville was all for it. In fact, he was “proud of him”.

“Maybe he doesn’t like the idea of Liverpool passing around him,” suggested Neville. “I wish the others were the same.” One suspects Fernandes’ frustrations ran along similar lines. Remember, though: Kicking people – fine. ‘Flapping’ arms around and ‘whining’ – not cool.

Neville zeroed in on Fernandes while many of this team-mates sleepwalked through the humiliating final half-hour. So incensed was the Sky Sports co-commentator, he started seeing things.

“Bruno Fernandes is stood in the centre circle with his arms raised asking: ‘Why is it me not coming off?’. Honestly, I have to say some of his behaviour in the second half has been a disgrace.”

Here is Fernandes raising his arms, asking to come off…

Bruno Fernandes was PLEADING to be subbed off

pic.twitter.com/EOVaKgrL1Y

— CF Comps (@CF_Compss) March 5, 2023

Or, as the club have since had to confirm, he was asking for clarity on how Marcus Rashford’s exit affects his position. Which is a reasonable question since he’s been shifted across the frontline at regular intervals in recent weeks with not a hint of complaint.

That was some time after Fernandes went down claiming to be caught by Ibrahima Konate’s arm. “Touches the chest, he holds his face, that’s embarrassing from Bruno Fernandes,” said Neville at the time while everyone else piled in. Some want Fernandes banned. Which wilfully ignores the fact that he was caught in the face. Hardly a knockout blow, but Neville should at least acknowledge the contact.

So should everyone else. Here’s the chief Liverpool writer for the Liverpool Echo‘s take on that incident and Fernandes’ character in general.

Poor from Fernandes earlier, who was actually caught nearer the chest. He really is a detestable little individual, no matter how good at football he happens to be. His parents must be disappointed

— Ian Doyle (@IanDoyleSport) March 5, 2023

I’ll wager Ma and Pa Fernandes are pretty damn proud. And we all know there are more ‘detestable little individuals’ on Premier League football pitches and in press boxes every week. Of course, Ian Doyle is playing to his audience, but his tone is typical of much of the Fernandes coverage.

‘Bruno Fernandes’ tantrum bordered on insubordination’ read the headline in The Telegraph. Writers often use the defence that they don’t write the headlines but James Ducker doubled down on ‘Manchester United’s second-half super brat’, writing that Fernandes ‘threw his arms up in disgust as if to ask why it was not him who was coming off’.

Only, he didn’t. Fernandes was p*ss-boilingly petulant – nothing new there – but he did not defy any orders.

He did, however, put his hand on the assistant referee in the second half, which was asking for trouble. But the officials didn’t seem perturbed and Dermot Gallagher took little issue with it too. Even if others are baying for a ban and demanding that Fernandes be stripped of the United captaincy.

Perhaps he isn’t cut out for the rank of skipper in the modern game. He certainly did not lead by example with his actions on Sunday and he won’t look back on his performance with any personal pride, but the petulance illustrated his fury at what was unfolding around him while most of his team-mates were sucking their thumb in the foetal position.

Fernandes has shown more leadership over a longer period of time at Old Trafford and risen above the rank mediocrity of recent seasons more than any other Manchester United player. For at least a year after he signed, he was one of the few reasons to bother watching them. Even on his bad days, he can be relied upon to impact a game, and never does he shirk his responsibility. Fernandes has missed one match through injury or illness in three years since he arrived. His resilience is admirable.

The other candidates for the role currently occupied by Maguire, primarily Casemiro and Lisandro Martinez, hardly highlighted their own credentials at Anfield. But, mercifully for United, Ten Hag will react but he won’t rush to the kind of personal judgements and falsehoods being pedalled elsewhere.

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March 7, 2023