As a sport, golf isn’t my bag. However, I can see why fans watch and follow it. That being said, the battle between the PGA Tour and whatever that Saudi-funded sham competition is called will ruin things for everyone. After all, those who don’t learn from history are bound to repeat it.
So golf, what are we doing here? Is your game seriously going down the same path as another doomed sport?
Firstly, I must admit that I enjoy perennial choke artist Greg Norman going out and doing his best Rudy Giuliani impression as much as the next guy. But this is getting out of hand. Golf has a loyal but niche following and forcing them to choose sides is the last thing anyone who cares about the sport should be working towards. Look no further than the open-wheel auto racing split of the mid-1990s for proof that.
In 1996, IndyCar splintered into two separate competitions. On one side you had the Indy Racing League which operated the Indy 500, the sport’s biggest, and some would say only, event. On the other side was CART where all the best drivers plied their trade.
There have been entire books written on this topic, so I’ll just hit you with the Cliffs Notes version. The split decimated IndyCar. This is something everyone involved has basically come to admit. Open-wheel racing has never recovered from this disaster.
And what’s this? Golf is following the very same path. What are we doing here? Okay, so the circumstances around the split are different, but the risk and likely outcome won’t change. In no way does having two tours benefit the sport’s loyal but niche fanbase.
Over the years, the PGA Tour has acted with all the dignity and grace of a petulant teenager being told they can’t stay out past curfew. Players are right when they say the organization desperately needs to change its ways. But a rival competition running parallel ain’t the answer. History shows that, if anything, it’s a death wish.
The only people who win are those partaking in the quick cash grab today. Because the future of golf is screwed. Congrats Phil Mickelson. Hopefully now you’ll have enough money to pay off your bookie.
More Golf: The golf TV viewing experience is a compilation of the worst things about watching other sports
