Our current sporting era of ‘player empowerment’ has, as the name suggests, been fruitful for players, particularly in recent years. But it has often been accompanied by bad news for fans. By prioritising their long-term prospects, players lose more games, while teams (and, indirectly, fans) shell out for juicier contracts, forcing organisations to tighten budgets while everyone prioritises the most stellar superstars. This is not to say that it is wrong that these players do not deserve it, but that most of these changes benefit those on the field far more than those in the stands.
With all due respect to college football, it is possible that no sport has experienced this imbalance better than men’s professional golf. Players have gotten bigger purses, bigger bonuses, even nicer courtesy cars (not to mention more chemical toilets on the courses). But what has player empowerment brought us?
Next week’s Crypto.com Showdown might seem an unlikely answer to that question, but it is at least an interesting test case. The Showdown sees Bryson DeChambeau and Brooks Koepka take on Rory McIlroy and Scottie Scheffler, another made-for-TV showdown, played in Las Vegas in front of a large crowd at the most expensive golf course in our country, paying millions in cryptocurrency to the winners. But before your eyes roll back in your head, know that this one should be different. Because it is different. Fans are getting a kernel of what they swear they wanted most: unity.
It’s coming in small doses and could rightly be greeted with too little, too late, given that we are on the one-year anniversary of the failure to meet a deadline agreement between the PGA Tour and the Saudi PIF, a deadline that was nothing more than a joke. But despite how long golf fans have waited, golf’s worst-kept secret is that they will end up waiting even longer, at least until 2026, to see consistent unity. Exasperated? Rory McIlroy says, welcome to my world.
Despite being one of the biggest detractors of LIV Golf years ago, McIlroy publicly changed his mind about the belief that, with all the best players under one roof, the professional side of the sport could take off. He could have spent a month in Western Europe and another month touring East Asia and Australia.
He could have spent 60 per cent of his time in America, where the biggest golf market exists, but also toured as F1 drivers, turning Jordan, Justin and Xander into world sports stars, not just golf stars. This is all McIlroy could talk about 11 months ago, an idea that depended on other people joining in. Which made him ripe for a launch. Another wave of Tour faithful had left to play elsewhere, but TV producer Bryan Zuriff approached McIlroy in Dubai to convince him to play the best of the LIV against the best of the PGA Tour for the first time.
Not surprisingly, the four Showdown participants came to an agreement just as their competitive paths stopped crossing, like summer camp friends planning a reunion to continue the fun. Part of the attraction is rooted in what these four are capable of: McIlroy and DeChambeau produced the battle of the season at the U.S. Open in June, a joy for television ratings. But part of it is also rooted in what we all knew would follow. Those two golfers haven’t been on the same golf course since July, unless you count the set of Happy Gilmore 2. Six weeks after their last meeting, the Showdown was officially announced, just as a sombre McIlroy began to suggest that PIF might take his money elsewhere.
‘I think with everything that’s happened, it was really about saying, you know what, we’re going to take the situation a little bit in our own hands,’ he said this week, ’and do something basically outside of both tours, to give something back to the fans. To show them, you know, at least let them know that we’re trying to provide entertainment… the players want to play together more often.’
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