GOLF REMAINS A SPLIT OPERATION WHEN KOEPKA RETURNS AND TRAITORS STAY AWAY
Brian Rolapp came from the NFL to unite the sport, but all he did was bring back Koepka while Johnson, DeChambeau, Rahm and Smith stayed with LIV, the Saudi-backed league fueled as always by greed
Golf has become a party trip to the driving range. That’s about it, beyond the Masters and three other majors during a calendar year. The people awaiting some sort of merger, between the PGA Tour and LIV, are left only with Brooks Koepka switching leagues. This while Dustin Johnson signs a multi-year extension with the Saudi Arabians, joining Bryson DeChambeau, Jon Rahm and Cameron Smith in a silly world watched by few of us.
Topgolf is much more fun. Who wouldn’t love watching the very best play the traditional way, as Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy and Koepka take on Rahm and DeChambeau? Whatever President Trump tried to accomplish, in speaking to both leagues, has turned to amusement. The PGA Tour hired a Roger Goodell media fiend, CEO Brian Rolapp, to make sense of the 48 weeks generally ignored by fans. He chased Koepka, winner of five majors, and thought he’d lure more of LIV’s best to the PGA.
“When I was a child, I always dreamed about competing on the PGA Tour, and I am just as excited today to announce that I am returning,” Koepka said. “Being closer to home and spending more time with my family makes this opportunity especially meaningful to me. I believe in where the PGA Tour is headed with new leadership, new investors, and an equity program that gives players a meaningful ownership stake.”
Tiger Woods weighed in, too, after he turned 50. “It’s incredible for all the fans,” he said. “The fan initiative program that we did last year, what they wanted, they want to see the best play against the best. And for Brooks to want to come back, he was able to do that.”
No one else came back. So fans spend most weekends ignoring LIV — Fox is bored — and trying to find Jim Nantz on the original tour. The sport will catch on, with great champions beyond Woods, if they are wedged together beyond big events. The ratings would boom with the rest of the sports industry. But one side is here, the other is there. Tedium. The NFL and the NBA came together decades ago. What is this, America and the Saudis?
It’s greed, as always. Johnson has fallen short in the majors race, so he takes more money. Who cares if Scheffler dominates? Rivals are elsewhere. “I’m obviously very excited about this year,” Johnson said in Palm Beach. “I think we’re going to a couple new venues, and that’s exciting. Obviously, anytime we’re going to a new place, especially all the things I’m hearing about South Africa, it’s supposed to be amazing. We’ve got a ton of fans.”
Whoo! At least Koepka donated $5 million to a charity to appease Rolapp. Many were expected to follow. Sadly, the PGA Tour means nothing compared to collective payouts over a billion bucks. “I had no idea, no idea that that would happen,” DeChambeau said of Koepka. “No idea what the penalties would even be. Right now, I’ve got a contract. I’m looking forward to seeing what we can do at LIV Golf this year.”
“I’m not planning on going anywhere,” said Rahm, who signed with LIV for $300 million in 2023. “It’s a very similar answer to what Bryson gave. I wish Brooks the best. As far as I’m concerned, I’m focused on the league and my team this year, and hopefully we can repeat as champions again.”
LIV has teams with funky names: 4Aces GC, Crushers GC, Fireballs GC, HyFlyers GC. No one cares. Notice how Phil Mickelson, one of the all-time greats, has been forgotten. Rolapp didn’t pursue him. “I think we’re all friends. I consider Brooks a friend, and whatever he thinks is best for him and his family, I fully support,” Mickelson said. “I’m having so much fun out here. I love playing out here on LIV. I love being with the guys.”
He loves the money and doesn’t have to work much.
See you at the Masters. Gee, it’s still three months away.
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Jay Mariotti, called “without question the most impacting Chicago sportswriter of the past quarter-century,’’ writes general sports columns for Substack while appearing on some of the 1,678,498 podcasts and shows in production today. He is an accomplished columnist, TV panelist and talk/podcast host. Living in Los Angeles, he gravitated by osmosis to film projects.