Give me the real deal: LIV Golf is fake because the results don't matter | Rob Oller
Justin Lower wishes he was not the face of my latest cause, to stop professional golf from becoming a clown show.
“I’m trying to stay away from all that. All I’m trying to do is play good golf,” the Ohioan said before teeing off at the Nationwide Children’s Hospital Championship, not realizing his own words cemented his status as poster child for my movement.
By his own admission, Lower (pronounced Lauer), is trying. He is competing, and competition is why I follow the PGA Tour and not LIV Golf.
Korn Ferry Tour: David Lingmerth sets course record in Round 1 of Nationwide Children's Hospital Championship
There are reasons beyond lack of competition why LIV Golf leaves me cold. I’m not thrilled the start-up league is funded by the Saudis, who since January have executed at least 70 citizens for “discretionary” offenses. Like for saying the Saudi government sometimes stinks. WHAT?! Off with their heads!
I’m also not a huge fan of Greg “The Great White Narcissist” Norman, and long ago I saw through Phil Mickelson’s phony nice-guy routine. Not many of LIV’s players are particularly likable, either. Garcia, Reed & DeChambeau belong on an injury lawyer billboard. The majority of LIV fields consist of has-beens and never-weres.
But my distaste for LIV goes beyond that. I watch golf because something is at stake. Score means something. Do I marvel at the tour pro’s shotmaking? Of course, but those pin-seeking 6-irons and 340-yard drives don’t happen in isolation. If they did, I’d watch once and be done. Every made 25-foot putt contributes to a bigger picture that comes into focus only at the end of the day on the leaderboard. Results matter.
LIV is exhibition golf, plain and simple. So is the virtual golf league being put together by Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy, and endorsed by the PGA Tour (take that, LIV!). I’ll check it out, but anything that smells like Top Golf meets Putt-Putt can’t hold my interest.
What can? Lower’s up-and-down golf history.
Down: Needing to make an 8-foot putt on the last hole of the 2018 Korn Ferry Championship to reach his goal of moving up to the PGA Tour, Lower’s putt burned the edge of the cup, a miss that ultimately kept him $500 short of earning his PGA Tour status.
Up: Lower, who is from Canal Fulton and played golf at Malone University, needed a par on the final hole of the final Korn Ferry event last fall to earn his PGA Tour privileges. This time he made a 2-footer to secure his card, then wiped tears during his post-round interview.
Down: More tears fell three weeks ago, except this time after Lower lost his PGA Tour card on the last hole of the Wyndham Championship. The 33-year-old 3-putted from 61 feet for bogey on the 72nd hole, missing an 8-footer that he thought knocked him outside the top 125, costing him fully exempt status. (Turns out even a par would not have been enough to keep his card, but he did not know that at the time).
Up or Down? To automatically regain his card, Lower needs to finish among the top 25 players at the conclusion of the three-event Korn Ferry Finals. He sat 16th entering Thursday’s first round of the NCHC at Ohio State’s Scarlet course, the second of the three events. He still could move back into the top 125 if three or more PGA Tour players join LIV, which would make them ineligible to play the tour.
“My game is better than (127th, his current FedEx points standing),” Lower said. “I think it’s my brain that puts me on the edge. It’s a matter of hitting as many good golf shots as I can and not worrying about the outcome as much.”
On the flip side, LIV players don’t ever have to worry about their outcome. A pity.
My complaint with LIV includes the guaranteed money doled out before the first shot is ever struck. When the Saudis are willing to pay over-the-hill Lee Westwood an estimated $20 million to $30 million to play their tour, what incentive is there to grind? What pressure to make the cut? Oh, wait, LIV has done away with cuts. Everyone wins! Bah.
Or consider Pat Perez, who earned $1.8 million in two LIV events, finishing 29th at Pumpkin Ridge and 31st at Trump National. In 21 years on the PGA Tour, he surpassed that amount only twice for an entire season.
Unfortunately, the PGA Tour is moving in a similar direction by increasing the number of no-cut events. PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan also revealed Wednesday that all fully exempt tour players who compete in 15 tournaments next year will be guaranteed $500,000, no matter how poorly they play.
That’s good for players, bad for golf fans who watch the game in part because they know everything must be earned. The good news is that earning your keep mostly remains the way of life on the PGA Tour.
“It sucks being so close,” Lower said of his situation. “But the answer is just play better and don’t be in that position.”
My poster child.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Ohio golfer Justin Lower is poster child for golf that matters
