Nick

Of course they're unhappy but.... I feel like they did pretty well here?? LIV Riyadh field: -57 players -Only 5 are +0.5 true SG or better (8.8%). WM Phoenix Open: -123 players -47 are +0.5 true SG or better (38%). Yet 6th at LIV Riyadh (4.15 pts) = 20th at Phoenix (4.15 pts) You gotta beat a much bigger volume of above average players on the PGA Tour to get the same amount of points for 6th at Riyadh. All this despite the obvious shortcomings that the OWGR statement outlined. I just don't know how they could have genuinely anticipated anything more than this.

So much of the professional golf world just doesn't make sense: -It doesn't make sense to watch 18 minutes of commercials per hour in a PGA Tour event. -It doesn't make sense for LIV to pay guys hundreds of millions of dollars when no one is watching the events. -It doesn't make sense for PGA Tour purses to keep going up when ratings essentially aren't changing -It doesn't make sense that the mules make as much money as they do compared to the value they provide. -It doesn't make sense for the mules to have as much power on the PGA Tour as they do. -It doesn't make sense to be talking FedExCup points as the Titanic is sinking. -And most importantly: It doesn't make sense for a niche sport to be divided into two warring tours. Professional golf needs an enormous reset, and Rahm's signing with LIV *may* be what accelerates the path towards reunification of the sport at the professional level. PIF have played this well, using their astronomical resources to drown out the tour. But they're still going to want to get an actual deal done, as a fractured golf world can't be their end game. Whatever the final terms are that are left to be negotiated, they're likely gonna get their way. Not painting Rahm as the hero here, but he truly may have (purposefully or accidentally?) played this thing perfectly. (He is obviously going directly against several of his own, very clear, declarations. But maybe he really is just that cold blooded?) He's gonna make a ton of money from PIF (undoubtedly less than the astronomical amounts reported, but still likely in the nine figures), and it's probably gonna tip the scales on wherever Tour/PIF/PE negotiations currently stand. It can't be an accident that this signing is happening as bids are coming in from PE groups and as the December 31 deadline approaches. Maybe I'm being overly optimistic here, but I can see a world where today's news is actually a good thing for the sport overall, and we can welcome common sense back into professional golf. It's gonna be lengthy and messy process. There's going to be a LOT more bitching about money. But here's to hoping it ends with a product that golf fans will want to watch. I'll believe it when I see it.