golfweloveit

On the eve of The Open the prize fund this week has been released. A total of $16.5 million up 18% from last year! In 2021 it was a mere $11.5 million.

This crazy money means that the winner takes home $3 million, with the third placed player receiving $1,095,000.

Scottie Scheffler this year becomes the first million dollar a tournament player. In 18 events he has won $18.5 million.

The catalyst to this huge increase has been the LIV situation and Yasir Al-Rumayyan, Chairman of the Saudi Public Investment Fund is here at Hoylake as a guest of the R&A. I’ve heard a couple of golf broadcasters refer to him as “His Excellency”. I think that’s going too far. Not only does it sound sychophantic it makes him sound like the royalty of the whole sport. Even if he is bankrolling everything now, that’s enough.

I was watching the Aramco Ladies Series at Centurion last weekend and it was noticeable that the branding of the Saudi PIF was on all the hoardings round the course. But there’s no way an event of that clibre could have been staged without their investment. The LET were on their knees when Aramco stepped in as sponsors.

Last year I helped with some research with the R&A into their rebranding after The 150th Open. It was to be a complete change, aligning with nature. But I can’t help feeling that this is the last year we’ll see such pure branding. I expect that the crossed swords logo of Saudi Arabi will be everywhere on the hoardings next year at Royal Troon.

See Rory’s swing at last week’s Scottish Open set to music. Golf BPM has been developed to help golfers time their swing to original music. The film shows the tempo of Rory’s swing which can be copied by any golfer It’s supposed to make practice more effective but it sounds to me like there’s some subliminal soundtrack underneath.

Rory uses his own music for warming up and during practice rounds, He likes hip hop artists like Calvin Harris and said that Adele’s Rolling In The Deep was on his mind during one of his major wins.

Rory says his dream golfing partner would be Kanye West. “I would love to spend 4 or 5 hours in his company just to see what he’s like. It would be very interesting”.

Joh Daly is playing this week in Bermuda on a special exemption.

He has spoken recently on Instagram about the possible film of his life which promises to examine the excesses, scandals and athletic achievements of the “bad boy of golf”.Oscar nominated actor Jonah Hill (Wolf of Wall Street, Moneyball) has been earmarked to play Daly and he has promised to take Hill to a driving range to teach him his over the top swing.

Congratulations to the beautiful couple Martin and Irene Kaymer who were married at the weekend.

And still bewildered at the news that Tom Watson’s third marriage in July to Leslie-Anne Wade has ended after three months.

bewildered not just it makes Greg Norman and Chrissy Evert’s one year marriage look like a Golden Wedding but for the fact that Ms Wade took to twitter to announce it and then interacted with all the comments.

She said this:

“Sadly, the inability to launch and build our relationship properly in these early days forces us to terminate our marriage. He will always mean the world to me and our connection is forever”

It sounded like their union was a silicon valley start up. “inability to launch” what does that mean? She cited an illness, but had said ahe had made a full recovery.

And rhen she carried on tweeting regardless, Very odd indeed.

Just when we thought that LIV had done the remarkable and brought Brooks Koepka and Bryson DeChambeau together, hostilities resumed.

Brooks was asked about the difference between him and Bryson to which Brooks said “I don’t let ropes defeat me. I’m also just not a little bitch. And I’m better at golf and life.”

Bryson does look physically different. A lot less bulk.

Below is the horrendous rope incident which Bryson was involved in. Not his fault, poor marshalling. Which shows how inexperienced their staff are that they can’t even handle a gallery rope.

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Just wondering why Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods didn’t get something like this. Only Hogan and Bobby Jones had a tickertape parade. Surely Tiger deserved this in 2000 after holding all four majors at the same time.

I want to start a petition now.When Tiger chooses to retire, let’s get him a tickertape parade. Jack at least had a ride in a vintage Rolls Royce around St Andrews recently, and the townsfolk all came out to cheer him.

#tickertapefortiger

I found this useful chart which sets out who does what within LIV.

Under the Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund, MBS means Crown Prince Mohammad Bin Salman. So, the total fund is $620 billion.

The Aramco Team Series, which has, in all fairness, revitalised the flagging Ladies European Tour.

This is also presented by the Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund, though Saudi Arabia national oil company Aramco are the title sponsors.

Off shore holdings and investment companies are held in the UK tax haven of Jersey.

Liv Golf Incorporated is registered in the United States. Where CEO Greg Norman lives in Florida.

But the final three entries show the involvement of sports marketing agency Performance 54 which is based in Camberley, Surrey, United Kingdom. They will, at least be the brains behind the presentation and branding, and possibly the supply of tournament staff.

LIV Golf Ltd appears to be registerd at Companies House in the UK, its prior name being Performance 54i. So this company has just changed its name to LIV Golf Ltd in 2021, the same year when Performance 54 Group was registered. The company Performance54 was registered in 2015.

As LIV is 54 in Roman Numerals and Performance54 began in 2015, this may suggest that LIV has been in the planning for much longer than the public know, possibly seven years before its launch this Spring.

The former European Tour player and now Sky Sports Golf presenter and analyst Nick Dougherty has become the youngest President of the Golf Foundation. Nick was actually supported by the Foundation through coaching programmes in the late 1990s, when he met former President Bernard Gallacher, and he has been a strong supporter in recent years.

Nick aligns himself with the Golf Foundation’s core values, that golf should be fun, inclusive, innovative, inspiring and enriching, and has recently appeared at both The Open and the BMW PGA Championship as an unofficial ambassador of the Golf Foundation.

Dougherty’s vision now is to help make a significant impact at a junior level, with a particular focus on schools. Earlier this year, he helped the Golf Foundation to create and launch its ‘Golf Is Ours’ school campaign, aimed at getting golf into as many schools as possible.

Nick Dougherty said: “I am so grateful for the role that golf has played in my life. From the joy that the game brings to the life lessons that it teaches, I have seen through the experiences of both myself and so many others, the positive impact it can play in people’s lives.

“Introducing it to children when they are young, impressionable and ‘learning the ropes’ of life with its ups and downs, just like the game itself, usually has a profoundly positive effect for them and their futures. Because of this, it is an incredible honour to accept the role of President of the Golf Foundation, an organisation that has been sharing these wonderful golfing gifts for 70 years.”

Nick added: “The Golf Foundation played a hugely important role in my development as a youngster, and the chance to work with them to support today’s children is immensely rewarding and important to me. I am extremely excited to play my part in helping to reach more children with our sport, to make it more inclusive and, with this shared passion of the Golf Foundation, push to make golf a part of the curriculum in schools so that the benefits of this amazing game are available to all.”

Nick’s first official engagement as President came at London Golf Club, where we celebrated our 70^th anniversary by presenting awards to those who have made a major difference in growing junior golf across the UK. Dougherty, who is the youngest President in the Golf Foundation’s history, congratulated five deserving winners on the day, and shared some stories of his own.