Golfers taking Saudi money and splitting the sport

I don't blame those players for taking the money, a guaranteed tens or hundreds of millions is no small thing for players getting near the tail end of their career.

But I doubt this will harm the PGA much in the long run. The Saudi's bought a few players and held a little tournament, good for them, but do the public really give a toss about it? The PGA have the masters, the open, the Ryder cup etc etc, and the best players will always want to be mixing it in the big tournaments. Its not as if the top players are slumming it in the PGA, plenty of money there too so thats where the big players will go.

The Saudis can throw money around all they want but they can't buy class or history, just look at how little people care about the likes of City or PSG buying their trophies for example. They can spunk a few billion on this sportswashing but the top golfers won't want to be outside looking in on the Masters every year.

Apparently there's no drug testing and a couple of players are known to like the sandy stuff. There's also a player signed up that everyone is convinced is juicing.

Wouldn't be surprised if "Man of the people" Shane Lowry rocks up in a few weeks and plays the family card. He played in the Saudi open a few months ago.

A lot of players are playing the "looking after my families future" card. Whilst teaching their kids that it's ok to accept money off anyone for anything, as long as you get paid son.

I'd go work for whoever paid me the most money. Why wouldn't golfers do the same?

The Saudi's aren't Putin or Isis. I woudn't work for either of those.

Would I work for Trump, I don't see why not. I don't agree with most of the crap that comes out of his mouth but why would that stop me from working from him? I've worked for bigger w@nkers in my time.

The Saudi's aren't a bunch of angels but we are happy enough to take their oil and gas, what's the difference in taking their golf money?

The Saudi's are ISIS FFS. They were funding them for years and are of the same branch of Islam. They fund the wars throughout Africa with Al-Shabaab and Boko Haram. They are actively committing a genocide in Yemen. They are worse than Putin, and they are ISIS.

The pretty much give North Korea a run for the most evil regime on the planet.

Well, just to split hairs, legally I am not allowed to work for ISIS as they are a terrorist organisation. I am not sure about the legality of working for Putin.

Maybe I should have worded my sentence to include a reference to legal work to humour those in this thread who are pedantic.

Anyone running a car on or heating their home with oil based products is financing the Saudi regime.

They wouldn't have the money to sponsor these tournaments if we didn't finance them.

If you want to stop taking Middle Eastern money, then stop it for ALL, politicians (ex), businesses, exports, imports, golfers, horse industry, transport industry, football, musicians, F1, Dakar rally, Formula E, World Cup, not to mention companies in Europe that have huge amounts of ME money invested in them such as Uber, Soft Bank, Eurodisney.

Not really fair to just pick out the golfers.

Double standards, there was a swift witch hunt of Roman Abromovich and Chelsea because of his ties to Putin. The Ukraine invasion was the flavour of the month and all over the news. Yet the Saudis were allowed to buy Newcastle FC a few months earlier unchallenged all whilst they admitted to the murder of a journalist and beheaded over 80 people in one day.

They don't but they do have a right to determine that their product is not devalued by members just suiting themselves. That's what this is about, plus a cohort of largely older, already very rich men lining their nests in spectacular fashion. The format looks like a game show anyway and the tacked on team thing is right out of a kids' summer camp.

This is not tournament golf, it's a clown show exhibition roughly based on the game of golf. The names of the teams are hilariously cringe, Ironheads, Stingers, Crushers, Acers, Punch, Hy Flyers. 🤣

This nonsense will be short lived expensive folly, they can't even give away the TV rights.

It's easy for the likes of McIlroy and Justin Thomas to pontificate as they are elite players who enjoy guaranteed financial security i.e. even if their game deserted them then they’re set for life. They don't need the money but some joe schmoe who is struggling to keep his card by earning half a million dollars, who needs to make cuts, who stresses over booking (or not booking flights and hotels) for the Booz Allen Classic might have his head turned by the prospect of financial security.

You might empathise with such players who have an opportunity to quit their grinding but there is obviously some extreme cognitive dissonance going on with those other elite players who are already financially secure who have joined up about the source of funding. These guys are professionals who will seek out the maximum amount of money they can in the shortest amount of time possible even if it that means disregarding morals or scruples. The PGA commissioner saying their decision was money based was pathetic. Well, duh. These are professionals, they play to make wonga, as much of it as possible. I guess to have become an elite golfer in an individual sport in the first place means possessing a healthy dose of self-centredness and self-absorption in order to excel which can lead one to be capable of mentally disregarding events such as Jamal Khashoggi’s murder which they were not involved with. Mickelson at least is self-aware enough of what the "scary motherf*cker" Saudis are all about but he thinks he can enforce change on the PGA Tour by embracing them. It's classic cognitive dissonance i.e. I'm only taking their $200 million because I feel I can do some good for my professional peers on the PGA Tour. Nobody buys it but in the end money talks even if it means selling out your reputation. Greg Norman, the template for the “make as much dosh as possible” professional, has always tried to form a world tour. I guess his dissonance is that he’s allowing for more options for professionals but he’s pocketing mind boggling amounts of money in doing so.

Love how the recent radio debates on this was all about golf selling itself out to dodgy folk.

Why was there no such outrage when the likes of Newcastle, Man City and Barca (More than a club my ar$e) sold their souls for money?

So far it's only a bunch of wash outs blatantly signing on for the paycheck.

Dustin Johnson, DeChambeau washouts?

DeChambeau is a giant fúcking bellend.

Since his open win because of apparent hip and wrist injuries he hasn't done much, doesn't bode well for a guy that relies on heavy hitting.

He is not even in top 20 and just this week said he wasn't going to jump ship.

Sounds like he has, maybe because he was told he is passed his prime.

Johnson is a strange one, he definitely had it in him to attempt the quadruple and write his name into the history books, he says he will still compete in the majors (if he is invited) but I don't think you can compete at the highest level playing exhibition sort of golf.

TBF to him though, he came out and said he is doing for the money. So fair play to him for that.

Will be interesting to see if they get lifetime bans though and the level of regret from some of them when this clown show goes títs up.