Masters Tournament at the cathedral of golf is a must-win for the LIV Tour | Whitley
The Champions Dinner at the Masters is usually limited to past winners and the tournament chairman. This year, there was an added guest of sorts.
“The gorilla in the room,” Tiger Woods called it.
He was referring to the rivalry between the PGA and LIV tours. This year’s tournament is the first time the warring factions have met on the same battlefield.
So far, things have been a little awkward but collegial. Rory McIlroy and Brooks Koepka played some practice holes together. Sergio Garcia didn’t bring a food taster to the Champions Dinner to make sure his blackened redfish wasn’t poisoned.
“I’m sure you’re all wondering about the temperature in the room,” Nick Faldo tweeted. “It was calm and cool. Only the tortilla soup was spicy hot.”
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Next on the menu is the actual tournament, where we will find out if the PGA faction will eat its words
“There’s a lot of chatter going around about how ‘These guys don’t play real golf anymore,’ ” Cameron Smith said. “And I think it’s B.S., to be honest. And we just want to show people that.”
By “these guys,” he means himself and the 17 other LIV golfers in the field. If Augusta National were Bushwood Country Club in “Caddyshack,” they would be the equivalent of 18 Baby Ruths in the swimming pool.
The Masters has welcomed six past winners and 12 other LIV golfers who qualified for the event. But they’re facing a lot of B.S.
Or is it?
Is it bull hockey to assume that LIV isn’t real golf? That its golfers traded their legacies for 30 million or so pieces of Saudi silver? That playing no-cut, 54-hole money grabs in relative obscurity is no way to prepare for Sunday at the Masters?
The most pressure LIV golfers have faced lately is deciding whether to buy the Bentley or the Rolls Royce. If we’ve learned one thing in the past year, it’s that money can buy Phil Mickelson and Dustin Johnson, but it can’t buy respect.
Where is Joe Namath when you need him?
The LIV desperately needs a Super Bowl III, when Joe Namath’s Jets beat the Colts to give the AFL instant legitimacy. There would be no better place to do it than the cathedral of golf.
“I think that only puts more pressure on themselves, that they are not just playing for themselves,” McIlroy said, “They are playing for this cause.”
They’ll have to put on their Big Boy Pants, if they can remember where to find them. The LIV lets players wear shorts. It lends to the whole Cool Rebel vibe that sets it apart from the starched-Sansabelt PGA.
The motto is “Golf, but louder.” I went to the LIV’s Orlando tournament last week and can attest that’s at least half true.
It was definitely “louder,” if for no other reason than PGA Tour courses don’t have speakers pumping out background music in mid-swing. As for the “golf” aspect, it felt more like a member-guest giggle fest than a pro tournament with a $25 million purse.
Or was it $50 million?
It’s all a blur. But if money can’t buy the love of golf fans, the LIV hopes its team concept will.
There are 12 of them with names like 4Aces, RangeGoats, Fireballs and Iron Heads. The thinking is that the team drama will help turn Gen Z golfers into RangeGoats fans, just like Bostonians cheer for the Red Sox.
Give LIV Tour credit for marketing
It’s hard to see that working, but it won’t be for lack of marketing. The merchandise store in Orlando overflowed with team goodies.
I considered buying a bright yellow Fireballs golf shirt. Then I realized it cost $100, and $73 of that might go to funding another prison the Saudis can throw gays or journalists into.
Not that Tiger, Rory and the other Nike-clad PGA fashion plates have much room to virtue signal. LIV golfers wore their team-logo shirts in practice rounds, though it’s unclear whether the Masters will allow that in the tournament.
LIV boss Greg Norman did tell The Telegraph that if one of his foot soldiers wins, the other 17 will join the celebration on the 18th hole.
“Could you imagine what a scene that would be?” he said.
Not really, given the atmosphere adjustment it would require. But if the LIV wants to escape the B.S., it desperately needs a Joe Namath Moment on Sunday.
Otherwise, they’ll just keep looking like a bunch of rich guys in goofy shirts.
David Whitley is The Gainesville Sun's sports columnist. Contact him at dwhitley@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter @DavidEWhitley
This article originally appeared on The Gainesville Sun: 2023 Masters Tournament is a must-win for LIV Tour golfers
