I will absolutely watch him try to break the course record on public courses in the Dallas area that he’s never seen before. That is compelling TV, even with zero stakes.

I could not care less about LIV’s format.

Maybe if they made it teams of, like, six? And there were only like 4 “major” match play events per year, with a best shot and an alternating shot. Then three pairs on Sunday. And NO other events. oh, and a redraft every year.

Maybe this will change, but golf needs the major networks. And the major networks are going to cozy up to the PGA because they want to broadcast the majors. Sure, you can do some streaming type things with the majors but the majors are always going to have an audience.

No legitimate media was always a barrier, because no network was going to jeopardize the prospect of not getting to bid on a future major (I realize that the PGA doesn't control the majors but they're in enough cahoots that any potential to threaten the opportunity is a nonstarter).

And the big money comes from media rights deals. I guess Amazon or Netflix would maybe weigh a potential offer but even they'd know it's not worth it.

The whole thing was Gladiator-esque from the getgo. As soon as Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud becomes bored or doesn't feel like losing billions of dollars then the idea dies.

Would rather watch him play in YouTube matches, or with celebs trying to break 50 or whatever. Kudos to him on really cashing in on that particular market. Its helped his popularity in immense ways.

Not going to pick nits with it, pretty much hits the breadth of their problems.

You can't grow interest in a league in this day & age without a legitimate televised outlet. The number of DeChambeau or Koepka sickos out there who would jump thru hoops to watch them play is next to nothing.

For the unfamiliar, Nick Kokonas is a former derivatives trader and co-founder of Michelin-starred restaurants like Alinea and Next, and the reservation platform, Tock.

He has a very high opinion of himself, but he has earned his acclaim IMO.

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I think the children like it when I "get down" verbally.

...the people funding it. Greg Norman, Scott O'Neil, etc.

Seemed like the pressure from beyond the "team" - for Jack: the coaches and chef and masseur and others who help at every tourney, not anything weird or untoward - and golf in general (i.e., the extra spend) played a role in wanting guaranteed money.

But you're totally right on the way he handled majors and how he jumped back asap once he felt he was in a position to, competiveness-wise.

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The 2007 ND-UCLA game was a once in a lifetime experience, I hope

Is his brother Chase, who he managed to bring with him to LIV even though his golf skills are not at all worthy of the type of money he was being paid.

Not sure if there's a whole lot else out there, but between concerns for his health/longevity, his wife's lifestyle, and looking out for his brother, he had a lot going on.

I’ll grant them they’re relatively new to the world of investing and sponsorship, but there’s a phrase that rhymes with “numb money” that would seem to apply well here. The $45 billion to SoftBank to throw at WeWork and whatever other dumb idea came down the pike, the money they’ve thrown at aging soccer players, LIV, NEOM, you name it. Just reckless waste of their abundant resources…

Institutional investing from the brain trust that brought you bonesaw problem solving.

And now they’re finding out the consequences.

She was in "Attack of the 50 Foot Cheerleader"!

Is "Team Brooks" an entourage of hangers-on?

...backed by misinformation (that he only won because a lot of great players were on LIV). Wildly off-base.

They played crappy, uninteresting courses with no stakes. It was an awful product that was floated by a blank check--not because they were "building" toward profitability or anything sustainable. They did absolutely nothing to improve the game of golf or grow it. The only thing you can argue was a positive was that they brought some relatively big names to starved markets (Australia, South Africa). That's it.

I don't blame a lot of guys for taking the check. I'm not going to sit on a perch of moral high ground. But they should all be as honest as Harold Varner was: "I did this for the sole reason of securing life changing money for my family." The repercussions of that--including having to work their way back onto the PGA Tour--are things they should be prepared to accept.

Good riddance.

That the knee injury was serious enough that he was never going to be able to get back to major-winning ways. Or even allow him to survive the week-to-week grind of the Tour season. In light of that, taking the LIV paycheck was a no-brainer, though it was obviously an extremely tough decision that weighed heavily on him.

Once his knee improved sufficiently to allow him to walk and play without pain, he made it pretty abundantly clear that he wasn't pleased with his circumstances, and that he'd be looking to come back at the first opportunity. When playing in the majors, most of the other LIV guys would always be wearing their "team" gear and flaunting their affiliation with the league. Brooks would not.

We haven't watched all of the seasons, but we were pretty interested in the season documenting the year in which LIV was created. Brooksy, as you may know, is married to the former Jenna Sims - a model and b-movie actress. There is a higher level of spending associated with their lifestyle outside golf than there is with some other folks like Speith, Thomas, Scheffler, and the like.

Brooks, due to the injury and recovery, was at or around the cut line for a bunch of tournaments that season and was explaining that due to the weekly spend - coaches, VRBO house rental for the team, chef, private jet, etc. (which is the same as Speith, Thomas, Scheffler, and the like) - if he missed the cut it was a huge fiscal negative to go along with their non-golf spend. The pressure was not just about the golf but about maintaining lifestyle and the whole "team Koepka" that surrounded them.

Bottom line, in 2022 Brooksy was concerned enough about the fiscal impacts of his golf that it was harming his comeback from the knee and generally degrading his golf. He made the decision to take guaranteed money with the idea that the guarantee would allow him to get back to focusing on the golf without that second-level worry.

There are of course a ton of holes in his analysis, but he's a FSU guy so what can you expect.

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The 2007 ND-UCLA game was a once in a lifetime experience, I hope

The rules were really terrible.

It's not the game of golf. I still find the trappings gross, but I don't find it hard to write off Scottie and Bryson because I stopped trying to like the game anyway. Some people can leave the church over sex abuse or something, wouldn't work the same for me.

Should make it less likely that he returns to the golf world in a big way. That was his avenue to potentially get his courses more exposure, and possible majors in the US. And to possibly getting Turnberry back on the Open rota.

courses. And on the now rare occasions that I get to play, I see plenty of folks from many walks of life and a really healthy junior golf system there. It's encouraging. And I really believe MORE people should golf. Getting outside, moving around, obsessing over a dumb white ball rather than some perceived injustice to their personal being... All good things.

But the pro tour really sucks and I think it's because all those guys are wrong for the moment. They only see their taxes. These aren't W-2 guys. These are guys who have killed themselves to make it to the tour and then they make millions and can't stand that being taken away. It's selfish and boring.

Plenty of these guys probably would have bad politics if they could see anything beyond themselves or their careers, but I really think in this case, like so many pro athletes, they can't, which is part of how they managed to become pros.

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Sometimes I rhyme slow sometimes I rhyme quick.

justice aspects. You can play the game without that being part of it. Just like you can go to a baseball game and sit in the bleachers or in a skybox.

It's quite simply, Trump. Golf is very associated with him, and I don't want to do anything that is remotely like him. Nor do I want to participate in a hobby that makes me think of him in any way.

I grew up playing golf and was decent at it during a certain period in my life. Right after school, going to the course with buddies was a great escape. We only played public courses but aspired to play nice private courses.

But the older I've got the less I've really enjoyed playing. Maybe because I also am a materially worse player. But all those things I once longed for now seem pretty greedy and materialistic,

I don't know if anyone here follows the PE guy on Instagram. It's hilarious. It's satire but feels so real. But it also makes me realize just how superficial some of these folks are.

knee injury) and Rahm.

Largely a collection of has-beens and never-weres.

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In the majors, which include LIV players, he has finished as follows since 2024:

• 1
  
• T8
  
• T41
  
• T7
  
• 4
  
• 1
  
• T7
  
• 1
  
• 2

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"F--- everyone who isn't us."
#Team128

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I feel like I'm a buzzkill on this board all the time, but even before trumpism, I couldn't watch golf because of all the other signifiers of disgusting wealth inequality. I mean, I know the Saudis also have a soccer league, but no one learned golf on the mean streets of Buenos Aires. My dad, a 70 year old white midwestern catholic who reflexively hates "socialism" and loves to watch golf on a Sunday afternoon, and I have a joke about our respective reactions to Hugo Chavez seizing golf course land for public housing.

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Finding professional athletes to admire if their politics rub you the wrong way. At least the white dudes from southern states anyway.

tAthe end of the day, it benefits the PGA to have them on tour. They'll fine them some mediocre amount and won't make the eligible to win the FedEx Cup for a year but that will be it.

I'm kinda ok with it....I think Scottie Scheffler is overrated and the only reason he's won as much as he has is because like 8 of the top 20 players on tour have been on LIV. Plus he's a Trump guy which really rubs me the wrong way.

To Hell with the League!

Who doesn't sign a tax free guaranteed deal worth between 500—700m with more perks (including a 15% stake in the club) than one can list?

Meanwhile, Newcastle are down in 14th, and while I know the Toons enjoyed winning that trophy last year, selling your soul for a League Cup is a crappy deal, as Faustian bargains go.

Any time an investment thesis hinges upon one party's interest/entertainment level you know the idea is doomed to fail. With what they were paying you ***KNEW*** it was never going to make money.

I guess good for the guys who cashed in?!? But to get back in the PGA's good graces those guys are going to have to hand over some loot, especially to appease the players who never jumped at the paycheck.

Bryson makes plenty off YouTube and might prefer doing that anyway.

Rahm is the one that's royally screwed here.

I expect the PGA Tour will allow anyone back that wants to join, but they're going to be in the doghouse for a while and will probably have to pay some hefty fines.

last year passed up a one-time amnesty opportunity to rejoin the PGA, which Brooks Keopka accepted.

They arrogantly continued to cast their lot with LIV. I hope they’re not given another chance.

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Saudi Ariabia's Public Investment Fund appears to be citing force majuere in order to escape their funding agreement for LIV Golf for 2027 and beyond. Go figure that inflated costs and payouts might not be a smart investment decision. So sad...

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2026/apr/16/liv-golf-doubts-future-saudi-pif-funding