Can’t they all just get along?
Apparently not.
The PGA Tour, aggressively protecting what it believes to be its territory, on Tuesday denied players who’d asked for conflicting-events releases to play in the first event of the LIV Golf Invitational Series, fronted by Greg Norman and backed by Saudi money.
Any players who decide to play in the June 9-11 event at Centurion Golf Club near London will be in violation of PGA Tour policy and subject to sanctions, which could include fines, suspensions or possibly being denied membership, according to the PGA Tour, which seems intent on lording over the game.
The DP World Tour (formerly the European Tour) on Wednesday issued the same edict as the PGA Tour, denying its members waivers to play in the first LIV Golf event.
The PGA Tour and DP World Tour denying waivers to their players might be good for the PGA Tour and the DP World Tour, but it’s not good for the game of golf.
The PGA Tour’s hardline stance, too, seems to run counter to its status as a 501c6 non-profit organization.
Protecting its brand is understandable, but while the Norman-led team-event series, might appear on the surface to be infringing on that, it has never been about competing with the PGA Tour in an effort to take it down. Norman’s series has been about coinciding with the PGA Tour.
There are only eight events scheduled for LIV’s first year, five of which are in the United States. Members of the PGA Tour are required to play a minimum of 15 events. So, schedule-wise, players could play on both tours and, as independent contractors, should be able to do so.
But the PGA Tour wants control of everything.
An example of this was evident when The Post in February reported a proposal by three top players to PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan with an investor ready to spend $1 billion on an eight-event team series that would not involve the Saudis.
When the PGA Tour realized it was not going to own and control those events, which would have been player- and investor-owned, it swiftly shut down the idea.
It’s only a matter of time before the PGA Tour adds its own team series to its schedule.
The PGA Tour has portrayed itself as the bully during this process, led by Monahan, who spoke like one at The Players Championship back in March when addressing the Norman-led league and threatening sanctions against anyone who plays in it.
Monahan has always come off as a very humble, agreeable man. Emboldened back in March after a number of the top players in the world — Rory McIlroy, Justin Thomas, Brooks Koepka, Bryson DeChambeau, Collin Morikawa among them — had just publicly professed their support for the PGA Tour, Monahan came off sounding like a bully.
It was not a good look.
Same for the way Monahan spoke about Phil Mickelson, who at that time was being publicly shamed for controversial comments he made about the PGA Tour and the Saudis to a reporter in what he insisted was a private conversation. Monahan made it sound as if Mickelson was going to need to crawl back to him to ask for forgiveness before he would be welcome to play a PGA Tour event again.
Also, not a good look.
This Norman-led LIV series has become low-hanging fruit for critics, who point to the horrible human-rights issues in Saudi Arabia and what’s perceived as “sportswashing.’’
There’s some hypocrisy involved here, though. As an example, the PGA Tour, DP World Tour, LPGA Tour and Ladies European Tour for years have been doing business in China, a place (like Saudi Arabia) with a history of questionable human rights policies and issues.
So, it’s OK to play in China and take that money, but not OK to do so in Saudi Arabia?
“Jay’s made it very clear from the start what would happen,’’ Justin Thomas said to reporters on Wednesday at the AT&T Byron Nelson. “Everybody’s entitled to do what they want.’’
Except they aren’t. Not without repercussions.
LIV Golf Investments said as of this week it had received 170 entries, with 36 ranked among the top 150 in the Official World Golf Ranking, for its 48-man field. The names of those players were being withheld pending the granting of releases. And now that those releases weren’t granted, those players interested are going to have to ponder whether or not they want to make this a legal issue.
Among the bigger names who are known to have sought releases to play the London event are Mickelson, Lee Westwood, Sergio Garcia and Martin Kaymer.
All along, since LIV Golf announced its intentions and the PGA Tour announced its threats, this mess was bound for the courtroom. And how is that good for golf?
It’s a shame they can’t just all get along.