19th Hole
Billy Horschel explains why he feels the PGA Tour doesn’t always need to be transparent with players
Billy Horschel, who has been one of the most vocal players against LIV and the PIF, is now preaching patience in regard to the proposed PGA Tour/PIF merger.
While speaking with Golf Channel’s Todd Lewis at Hoylake while preparing for the 151st Open Championship, the 36-year-old acknowledged that he’s “in the minority” with his stance.
“I’m in the minority probably on this — I don’t think they always have to be transparent with us because I just don’t see the benefit always of being transparent, telling us everything,” Horschel said. “Do they come to us and discuss a sponsor of a PGA Tour event that they’re trying to get; if everyone’s happy with that sponsor; is the agreement that they made with that sponsor, is everyone happy with? We’re not business people. We don’t have the knowledge, we don’t have the experience in that world to make those decisions.
“But I think we do have a member-input organization and I do think there needs to be some transparency. I’ve tried to, early in my career, say there were certain things that the PGA Tour could be more transparent with, to give the guys a better understanding of how the business is run on the PGA Tour.”
Many players have been critical of the deal, because they were led to believe their loyalty to the PGA Tour would pay off. Jon Rahm was among those players who spoke about the agreement at last month’s U.S. Open.
“It gets to a point where you want to have faith in management, and I want to have faith that this is the best thing for all of us, but it’s clear that’s not the consensus,” Rahm said. “The general feeling is that a lot of people feel a bit of betrayal from management.”
Horschel see’s it from another perspective and says he trusts executives to do their jobs.
“I’ve been out here for 15 years now, and I think I quickly understood that even though it’s a member-run organization, it truly wasn’t a member-run organization,” said Horschel, a seven-time PGA Tour winner who’s been outspoken on LIV in the past. “It’s more a member-input organization, in my opinion. When you have a company like this, the PGA Tour, that’s a billion-dollar-worth business on a yearly basis, it’s tough to get 200 players, 200-plus players who are members, to agree on the direction of the PGA Tour.
“That’s why we put [commissioner] Jay Monahan and the executives in the position they are.”
With senate now involved in the deal, it’s unclear if and when the merger will happen.
More from the 19th Hole
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- Major golf publication blasted for ‘insensitive’ Bryson DeChambeau post
- ‘Are you that dumb?’ – Dave Portnoy rips CBS over lack of live TV coverage of Rickie Fowler’s victory
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19th Hole
‘F*** around and find out’ – Phil Mickelson fires warning shot over LIV’s access to majors in since-deleted tweet
On Sunday, the social media account “Flushing It” made a post about the importance of LIV Golf ensuring that their players have major championship eligibility going forward.
Never has there been a more obvious example of the immediate issue LIV faces than today. The Volvo China Open was played for a $2.25 million purse and several players qualified for the PGA Championship at Valhalla. LIV Golf Singapore played for a purse more than 10 times that…
— Flushing It (@flushingitgolf) May 5, 2024
“LIV can have the grandest of plans for their future but getting players access to major championships should be their number 1 priority. Especially with the major exemptions running out fast and nearly all player contracts up for renewal this year and next.”
Phil Mickelson then responded to the post, warning the golf world that excluding LIV players from majors will have unintended consequences, saying “FAAFO” which means “f*** around and find out”.
“Maybe some LIV players won’t be missed. But what if NONE of the LIV players played? Would they be missed? What about next year when more great players join? Or the following year? At some point they will care and will have to answer to sponsors and television. FAAFO”
His post has since been deleted, but there are plenty of screenshots out there.
??????? #FAAFO — LIV Golf star Phil Mickelson has sent a clear message to the powers that be, when it comes to LIV players and their access into majors: “F—k around and find out.”@flushingitgolf | @PhilMickelson pic.twitter.com/kVEL7VR6UN
— NUCLR GOLF (@NUCLRGOLF) May 5, 2024
It will be easier said than done, but it does appear that some sort of agreement between LIV and the majors could be coming in the future if the PGA Tour and LIV aren’t able to mend fences.
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19th Hole
Greg Norman reveals plan for LIV to own all their golf courses and each team to have a home venue
In an interview with Bloomberg, LIV Golf CEO Greg Norman discussed the current state of LIV and what it means for the future of professional golf.
In the interview, Norman said he believes that LIV has been welcomed with “open arms.”
“Our product is received with open arms by many, but a few want to try and stop us for all the wrong reasons. They haven’t been able to sustain their position in the game of golf. What we have done brilliantly is injected more capital. Golf is finally looked upon as an asset class.”
Interestingly, Norman also revealed future plans for LIV to own all the courses they play and have home courses for each team.
“Man United owns their stadium. Indian Premier League, they own their stadiums. NFL, they own their stadiums. Think about LIV owning all their own golf courses, each team having a home venue and they host. And now you can build out around that. It’s not just a golf course. You bring in education, you bring in hospitality, you bring in real estate, you bring in merchandise, you bring in management, you bring in all these other different opportunities that the game of golf has to deliver to a community, to a region. We are gonna be doing that.
“The Philippines are very keen to get us there. Golf in the Philippines is doing very well. We are not just sport, we’re sports and entertainment and culture. So no matter where we go in the world, we adjust what we need to deliver from an entertainment standpoint.”
Norman also talked about his time as the number one player in the world when the best players in the world didn’t always play on the same tour.
“That never happened anyway. Right? I was number one player in the world. Very seldom did I go and play in the United States or Europe or Asia or anything. Did I play against the best in the world outside the four majors and maybe the TPC? They’re the five, right? So very, very seldom did that happen. We got all paid appearance money to go play somewhere.”
Norman added that LIV “isn’t going anywhere.”
“My boss told me LIV is not going to go anywhere. It will be well and truly in operation, running well past his death – he’s a young guy.”
More from the 19th Hole
- Phil Mickelson drops big retirement hint; Says LIV will grow the game “on a much more global basis”
- 2-time major champ announces shock retirement from the sport at age of 33
- Tiger explains why golf has “negative connotations” for daughter Sam
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19th Hole
“Is it a Titleist?” – Jerry Seinfeld shares never-before-heard details of iconic scene
On Thursday, legendary comedian Jerry Seinfeld joined the Rich Eisen Show and shared an awesome story from a “Seinfeld” episode titled “The Marine Biologist.”
In the episode, a golf ball goes into the blow hole of a whale. According to Seinfeld, that was never in the episode’s script.
Seinfeld recalls saying the night before the filming of the episode, “What if what puts the whale in distress is Kramer’s golf ball?”
“He’s hitting golf balls at the beach. George is at the beach with a girl, we haven’t connected them!”
“We write that speech the night before at two o’clock in the morning…The sea was angry that day my friend.”
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Kramer finishes the iconic scene by asking “Is it a Titleist?” Seinfeld told Eisen the show sought Titleist’s permission to mention its name, saying the ball had to be a Titleist. Fortunately for lovers of the iconic show, the company agreed.
If (somehow) you’re unfamiliar with the scene, check it out below.
More from the 19th Hole
- Phil Mickelson drops big retirement hint; Says LIV will grow the game “on a much more global basis”
- 2-time major champ announces shock retirement from the sport at age of 33
- Tiger explains why golf has “negative connotations” for daughter Sam
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