The Golf Thread

[Anil]

Meanwhile, Gooch has suggested that the winner of this year's Masters should have an asterisk against it because the top LIV players are not there. Yeah, I'm sure it'll mean a lot less to the winner by not having Gooch and Varner in the field. And his own team captain (Koepka) at LIV may want to have a word about whether he's undermining his own PGA win last year.....

Rahm, Niemann and Koepka will be there, so will the over-the-hill crowd like Mickelson and Garcia...plenty of LIV presence there as it is.

 

[Molehill]

I don't disagree generally. I can't really see the long term benefits of signing AK (unless by some miracle he comes out just as good as he was when he left), but at least initially, it'll be more eyes on the product, and their stream on Friday will be their most watched by a long way I would imagine.

Interested to see how this impacts on his rumoured insurance policy payout that's supposedly prevented him from returning to the PGA Tour, wouldn't be surprised if he ends up not playing any of the US-based events if those rumours are true

Yeah, I wonder if this is why he's being 'launched' in Jeddah rather than the previous event in Vegas?

Got to be honest, I've never quite understood the whole thing about him. It wasn't like he was the next Tiger. Doubt he'd have won a Major had he stayed healthy. He had the ability to produce scintillating 18 holes, but rarely a whole tournament. The 3 he won were weak affairs.

 

[Anil]

He was talented but it was always more about the personality and the marketability with him. Maybe think of him as a poor man’s Rickie Fowler…?

 

[social]

Let’s not kid ourselves

Every tour event in the world would grant him a wildcard and pay him an appearance fee for his return

Steph Curry has received wildcards to 2 events and Kim’s return is far bigger news

 

[Anil]

Wildcard sure, but appearance fee?? Based on what?

 

[social]

Wildcard sure, but appearance fee?? Based on what?

Potential ratings increase

Check out the PGA Tour field this week - it blows & the return of Kim would be one of the few reasons to watch it

 

[Son Of Coco]

I don't disagree generally. I can't really see the long term benefits of signing AK (unless by some miracle he comes out just as good as he was when he left), but at least initially, it'll be more eyes on the product, and their stream on Friday will be their most watched by a long way I would imagine.

Interested to see how this impacts on his rumoured insurance policy payout that's supposedly prevented him from returning to the PGA Tour, wouldn't be surprised if he ends up not playing any of the US-based events if those rumours are true

He would've signed up to LIV either with them covering the fall out from the insurance policy, or being offered enough money to sign up to cover it.

Apparently his dad was a bit of a ****, and I wouldn't be surprised if he was forced to play golf when he was younger, so taking the payout and not playing would have been a dream for him. Then someone comes along and offers him a fortune to play a little bit...

 

[social]

He did have some serious injuries as well

$10 million not to play a sport you don’t love and avoiding endless rehabs was obviously an attractive proposition for him

 

[Son Of Coco]

He did have some serious injuries as well

$10 million not to play a sport you don’t love and avoiding endless rehabs was obviously an attractive proposition for him

Yeah, but he wasn't coming back until the money was there to make any issues with playing go away.

I don't blame him at all. If someone offered me 10 million not to do my job, I would jump all over it.

Well, I wouldn't jump. That might compromise my insurance pay out. I'd flop on it.

 

[Anil]

Potential ratings increase

Check out the PGA Tour field this week - it blows & the return of Kim would be one of the few reasons to watch it

I don't think the PGA tour does a lot of appearance fees stuff (at least not openly) unless it is to lure a really big star which Kim is not...they do offer a lot of wildcards and I can see Kim getting one...I can also see why he wouldn't be interested in risking his millions to take a chance like that...LIV is a safe bet for him, guaranteed millions, lowest possible stakes, you can probably sleepwalk through the tournaments and get millions more by the end of their "season"...

 

[social]

Still has a great swing

And a full sleeve tatt

And a man bun

And Vans

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1762475720352113064

 

[Anil]

Still isn’t a star…just a curiosity until he actually does something meaningful during his comeback…

 

[social]

Still isn’t a star…just a curiosity until he actually does something meaningful during his comeback…

You’ve forgotten how good he was

6 in the world, 2nd player in a decade to win twice in a season under 25, 5th player in 3 decades to win 3 times under 25, star of a Ryder Cup at 23, 3rd in the Masters, 3 top 10s in majors

NOBODY expects him to be successful but saying that he wasn’t a star or that this isn’t big news for golf is just silly as he was the equivalent of Sergio at the same age

 

[Molehill]

You’ve forgotten how good he was

6 in the world, 2nd player in a decade to win twice in a season under 25, 5th player in 3 decades to win 3 times under 25, star of a Ryder Cup at 23, 3rd in the Masters, 3 top 10s in majors

NOBODY expects him to be successful but saying that he wasn’t a star or that this isn’t big news for golf is just silly as he was the equivalent of Sergio at the same age

Sergio earnt over $50m on the PGA Tour and god knows how much on top of that from sponsors. Why would Kim turn all that down for a $10m insurance payout? Either his body was gone or his mind was, but he clearly was never going to be at the same level as Garcia even if one of his most infamous performances was destroying him in the Ryder Cup.

I don't think the PGA tour does a lot of appearance fees stuff (at least not openly) unless it is to lure a really big star which Kim is not...they do offer a lot of wildcards and I can see Kim getting one...I can also see why he wouldn't be interested in risking his millions to take a chance like that...LIV is a safe bet for him, guaranteed millions, lowest possible stakes, you can probably sleepwalk through the tournaments and get millions more by the end of their "season"...

No appearance fees on the PGA Tour. There are some on the DPWT in the Middle East, but those are specific Tournaments who try to lure PGA stars to their events.

It says a lot about LIV that their highest audience rating is likely to see some bloke who hasn't picked up a club for 12 years. It literally is a circus!

 

[social]

Sergio earnt over $50m on the PGA Tour and god knows how much on top of that from sponsors. Why would Kim turn all that down for a $10m insurance payout? Either his body was gone or his mind was, but he clearly was never going to be at the same level as Garcia even if one of his most infamous performances was destroying him in the Ryder Cup.



No appearance fees on the PGA Tour. There are some on the DPWT in the Middle East, but those are specific Tournaments who try to lure PGA stars to their events.

It says a lot about LIV that their highest audience rating is likely to see some bloke who hasn't picked up a club for 12 years. It literally is a circus!

There’s interest in KIm because of the mystery surrounding his absence and because he’s one of the biggest what if’s in the history of golf

It’s fkn weird that there’s basically been nothing on social media about him playing golf in over a decade until yesterday as you’d think that there would be videos of him playing somewhere even if with his mates

You’re kidding yourself if you don’t think that the PGA Tour would bend over backwards to get this guy as his return is guaranteed ratings, theirs are tanking and it’s now owned by hedge funds

Btw, while PGA Tour events are prohibited from paying appearance fees, it’s no secret that tournaments get around it

 

[social]

Speaking of circuses, a PGA Tour event is holding a qualifier for YouTube influencers with the winner getting a spot in the field

Brilliant or Gimmicky? YouTube Golfers Have a Shot at PGA Tour Event

This sentence would have been unfathomable a few years ago: YouTube golfers are competing for the right to play in a PGA Tour event. The Myrtle

mygolfspy.com

 

[Molehill]

There’s interest in KIm because of the mystery surrounding his absence and because he’s one of the biggest what if’s in the history of golf

It’s fkn weird that there’s basically been nothing on social media about him playing golf in over a decade until yesterday as you’d think that there would be videos of him playing somewhere even if with his mates

You’re kidding yourself if you don’t think that the PGA Tour would bend over backwards to get this guy as his return is guaranteed ratings, theirs are tanking and it’s now owned by hedge funds

Btw, while PGA Tour events are prohibited from paying appearance fees, it’s no secret that tournaments get around it

I think fewer people are watching golf. It's not like anyone is switching to LIV, their numbers are atrocious. But as you say, the general level of competitiveness on the PGA Tour is down. Having said that, last week and this week have never been strong (and Rory is playing in Florida which is what I'll be watching). But after that you've got Bay Hill and The Players with full strength fields.

The whole Kim thing seems to mean more to some than others. The only time I've ever given him some thought is when someone has mentioned him on social media, which hasn't been a great deal until the last 6 months. I think he's guaranteed ratings for 1 event, but if he turns out to be a busted flush (seems likely), it won't be a boost for long.

It will be interesting to see what kind of numbers LIV gets on the back of him though. The problem will be that they won't be able to cover as much of the leaders if they're showing him hacking it round.

 

[Anil]

You’ve forgotten how good he was

6 in the world, 2nd player in a decade to win twice in a season under 25, 5th player in 3 decades to win 3 times under 25, star of a Ryder Cup at 23, 3rd in the Masters, 3 top 10s in majors

NOBODY expects him to be successful but saying that he wasn’t a star or that this isn’t big news for golf is just silly as he was the equivalent of Sergio at the same age

No he was a rising star for a while before the injuries, I said he isn’t a star now, which is completely true.

 

[Anil]

No appearance fees on the PGA Tour. There are some on the DPWT in the Middle East, but those are specific Tournaments who try to lure PGA stars to their events.

It says a lot about LIV that their highest audience rating is likely to see some bloke who hasn't picked up a club for 12 years. It literally is a circus!

Thanks, this is what I thought too but didn't know the inner workings of every tournament so wasn't sure if some still did it. I know a lot of the Middle East tournaments on the DPWT have appearance fees but that's because it's about the only way they can attract top talent...

 

[social]

Thanks, this is what I thought too but didn't know the inner workings of every tournament so wasn't sure if some still did it. I know a lot of the Middle East tournaments on the DPWT have appearance fees but that's because it's about the only way they can attract top talent...

PGA Tour players rarely travelled abroad and needed incentives to do so

The Canadian Open used to struggle to attract players until RBC started endorsing players, laying on private jets etc & that’s next door

Middle East has some great courses and it’s tax free but tournaments there need to pay appearance fees because top golfers can earn big money by attending a lunch with sponsors in the lead up to most tournaments in the US (or elsewhere for that matter) without the need to travel around the world