Friday, June 17, 2022
An interesting thing about the LIV Tour, the Saudi backed venture is that the golfers who play in those tournaments get guaranteed money. It'd take a better golf observer than I am to figure it out, but I wonder if that will have an effect on play. Lots of professional athletes gamble- and golf is a good outlet for that activity, conducted as it is largely in private. There is a theory that Michael Jordon's stretch in AAA baseball came about because he got popped for gambling and was secretly suspended, and we know that Phil Michelson's flutters have been very, very costly. This is why I dislike Lefty- athletes who gamble are athletes who are vulnerable, and Michelson's style of play- aggressive, and risk-taking, makes him a particularly good candidate for flubbing a shot or two. Not a lot, maybe, but let's face it, golf is a sport where a hustler can do all right. So now he's got a guaranteed payday. Sure, it is blood-soaked money, and of course nobody in the world would ever look to a professional golfer as a moral avatar. Does this damage the sport? It's whole reputation is built on personal honesty- Trump cheats at golf, but when Bryson DeChambeau signs his scorecard we're supposed to believe that he has taken the equivalent of an oath.
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