Letters: Does PGA Tour chief Jay Monahan really want to 'grow the game' of golf?

Cutting through the PR talk about “growing the game,” the consensus is that the PGA Tour/LIV merger (reported June 6) is all about the money, regardless of the source. So, if money trumps morality, doesn’t it follow that if Putin or Kim Jong-Un offered you twice as much as the Saudis, then you would accept it? It’s just business, right?

Brooks Koepka, undeniably a golf superstar, won the 2023 PGA Championship coming off months of what was basically a paid vacation, with time to rest and rehab. How does that win compare to Tiger Woods’ 2008 U.S. Open that he won playing with a broken leg? Shouldn’t there at least be an asterisk, Jay [Monahan, PGA Tour commissioner]? And then there’s the LPGA ― conspicuously left out of this entire conversation.

When Nelly Korda played in two PGA/LPGA mixed events last year, the men gushed at the quality of her game. Last weekend, Rose Zhang’s accomplishment of winning her first tournament as a professional was at least as compelling as Victor Hovland’s Memorial Tournament win the same day. Yet he pocketed $3.6 million to Zhang’s $412,500.

Considering Saudi women can’t even marry without their male guardian’s permission, if you are truly interested in growing the game of golf, shouldn’t female players be part of that growth? How would your new partners regard women in professional golf?

Jay, you are 100% right in this regard: It is all about the money. If viewership wanes and the money stops flowing, all your new Saudi partners might do is cut oil production again, right? I’m a golf junkie and watching the back nine on a Sunday afternoon is a tradition in my house. But I don’t know — now men’s professional golf seems as slimy as a barrel of Arabian oil.

Clyde Beaugrand, Jacksonville

New tests won’t help those without coverage

In a June 3 column, cancer care advocate Jeri Millard described a new potentially groundbreaking blood test for early detection of cancer in higher risk (over 50) patients, especially lethal cancers for which traditional screening methods do not exist. The test, available only through its manufacturer and expensive ($949), is not yet recommended for screening. It is also not covered by insurance or Medicare.

A positive test reveals cancer and its likely location 40-45% of the time; a negative test nearly excludes cancer, but it may take several months of expensive testing to determine the cancer’s presence or absence. Traditional screening like mammograms and colonoscopy must continue and advocates demand Congress approve coverage.

Millard notably leaves unmentioned the Florida Legislature’s politically driven refusal to expand Medicaid, as 40 other states have done. This would provide desperately needed health coverage for 800,000 low-income Floridians under 65 and even younger. An additional 1.7 million may lose access to Medicaid as COVID measures expire. Florida ranks near the bottom for access and affordability with large numbers of uninsured at high risk of impaired health.

A potentially lifesaving test will not be available to benefit all those without access as they’re without coverage. We must demand that Florida expand Medicaid coverage.

Michael Miller, retired physician, Ponte Vedra Beach

‘Thought police’ hard at work

I had dinner recently with a church men's group. Sitting across from me was a professor of medicine at UF Health here in Jacksonville. The doctor told me if he is going to give a lecture to his students (medical residents), he has to give the state 10 days notice and a complete copy of the lecture, which is then vetted by GOP bureaucrats.

If he is going to give a TV interview, the state requires five days' notice, plus a list of the questions he will be asked. Again, his answers are provided by the state and he cannot deviate from the answers Tallahassee gives him. Apparently, freedom of speech in any form of Florida public education is simply not allowed.

This is an example of the “thought police” described in the book “1984.” This doctor should be able to teach his resident students as his vast experience allows him to do. Freedom of speech is dying in Florida education.

Is Gov. Ron DeSantis being unconstitutional on purpose? If so … shame on him and his thought police.

Shelton Armour, Arlington

Two plus two still four

Headlines and news articles have frequently reported on books that are being considered for banning from public school libraries.

A point of contention is graphic sexualization that many times seems to focus on LGBTQ+ themes. That cohort is arguing that censorship will harm those who so identify and withholding this information from a broad general audience is somehow discriminatory and anti-education.

It's weird to me that taxpayer-funded reading material about this topic needs to be included as part of a public education. This emphasis is eroding other topics of a core educational nature that are non-discriminatory in any manner. Two plus two always equals four, regardless of who is learning it. Also, it is universally accepted as a required proficiency for becoming a contributing member of society.

If all boundaries are to be explored and no topic is off limits — what's next?

Provocative progressive agendas are usually academic and devoid of real-life consequences when taken literally. It's easy to talk about anything but — sadly — merely saying it doesn't make it so.

Rob Richardson, Jacksonville Beach

Not everyone loves Disney

In the June 3 edition of the Times-Union, Jim Turner had a column in which the Florida tourism chief was quoted stating “People love Disney.”

As a 19-year holder of annual passes to Disney, Universal, Sea World and Busch Gardens, I saw the changes slowly occurring at the theme parks several years ago. As the parks became more about the LQBTQ+ ideology and less about the family experience, I began dropping the annual passes in 2018. I dropped the last one, which was Sea World, in 2022. Gov. DeSantis in no way affected my decision.

These parks can run as they wish, but as a consumer I control how my dollars are spent. I do not drink alcoholic beverages so I have no dog in the Bud Light fiasco. I do, however, make the choice not to shop in Target or Kohls. Other stores will be added to my list as they continue to shove deviant behavior in our children’s faces.

Charles E. (Eddie) Brown, Jacksonville

Our taxes shouldn’t go to Texas, California

Florida taxpayers should not be funding immigrants coming into Texas to be flown on private jets to California or Martha’s Vineyard. The recent pickup of immigrants flown to California — paid by Florida — should be declared illegal.

I hope California files a lawsuit over possible kidnapping. The Republican-controlled Legislature authorized $12 million in the budget for these migrant flights to set up headlines for Gov. Ron DeSantis' presidential campaign run.

As a Floridian, I don’t like my taxes being used to pay for a problem that exists in Texas and Arizona. It’s true that the federal government isn’t accepting its responsibility to control the border, but Florida shouldn’t be spending our money. Use that $12 million to help homeowners who face rapidly increasing and unaffordable insurance rates. My homeowner’s insurance has doubled over the last two years. Use this money to help Florida citizens.

Doug Diamond, Jacksonville

All counties should fund stadium reno

Whatever deal is eventually reached for the renovation of Jacksonville's stadium (as reported June 7) should include financial support from the four counties contiguous to Duval. The Jaguars are a regional asset, to the extent that any NFL franchise can be regarded as such.

Players and coaches buy homes in St. Johns County. Visiting fans stay in hotels in Nassau and St. Johns counties. Contributions should be proportional, reflecting some combination of population and economic impact.

Perhaps, in return, each county could be featured in a portion of the concourse, with a portion named for that county.

St. Johns County is the third-wealthiest county in Florida, and when it comes to the Jags, we're as DTWD — “Duval ‘Til We Die” — as Jacksonville. This shouldn't be Jacksonville's challenge alone.

Cmdr. Dave Rogers, U.S. Navy (retired), Ponte Vedra

Migrant kids not flown out of state

Recently, migrants in Texas ― apparently funded by Florida — were flown by private jet to California. Another “conservative” state sending them to a “liberal” state. And we certainly don’t seem to be “united” anymore, with all the political grandstanding.

The irony? Texas, Florida and other states have been charged with child labor violations. Migrant children are hired to clean slaughterhouses in the middle of the night, among other violations, while working in the same states that send the National Guard to “protect” the border.

Irony? Yes. Hypocrisy? Of course. Despicable? Absolutely. Accountability? Absent.

Gary Schuran, Middleburg

This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Why were women left out of PGA/LIV merger discussion? Good question