PACIFIC PALISADES, Calif. — A strange week. Then again, weirdness has become the norm at the Genesis Invitational in recent years.
“Bizarre” is the right word to describe the current state of professional golf, with a huge rift between the PGA Tour and LIV Golf and a “framework agreement” that seems thinner than the current state of Tiger Woods’ health. It’s perfect.
PGA Tour events will be remembered less for who won the tournament than for the bizarre sight Friday of an ambulance waiting outside the Riviera Country Club entrance to take the ailing Woods to the hospital. (He didn’t get in the ambulance) Sunday (Hideki Matsuyama) This is a problem.
That’s not what the PGA Tour wants to see. Especially at one of its signature “classy” events.
After all, the only thing that separated this tournament from the previous LA Open’s current “high” event status was the high prize money paid to players ($4 million to the winner).
Woods withdrew after six holes of the second round on Friday due to flu symptoms.
Later that day, Jordan Spieth, one of the most popular players in the world, was disqualified for signing an incorrect score on his scorecard and will miss the weekend as well.
Meanwhile, defending champion Jon Rahm (arguably the best player in the world) was not welcome here, having spent hundreds of millions of dollars to go to LIV Golf. Joaquin Niemann, the 2022 winner who also plays in LIV, was also absent.
Because of the bizarre circumstances, the ever-popular and ever-humorous Max Homa, winner of the 2021 Genesis, joked before the tournament that he was a “double defending champion.”
Speaking of champions, the thousands of spectators who gathered at Matsuyama and the natural amphitheater at the 18th green were not able to see Woods, whose foundation hosts the tournament, present the winner’s trophy Sunday.
Woods was nowhere to be seen, presumably back at his home in Florida where he was recovering from the flu.
I never question an athlete’s injury or illness. Because only the injured or sick player knows how unwell the player is. But for Woods, missing two days since his flu diagnosis, not being at Riviera to present the trophy on Sunday wasn’t a good thing. Sponsors, who pour millions of dollars into the event to benefit Woods’ foundation, were not happy about his absence.
“I was a little disappointed that I couldn’t take a photo with Tiger today,” Matsuyama said after his victory.
It’s hard to imagine that Jack Nicklaus or Arnold Palmer would have survived the flu and made sure to be on hand to present trophies to the winners of the Memorial and Arnold Palmer Invitational at the end of the tournament.
Woods’ absence and ambulance drama, coupled with Spieth’s DQ and the inability of top-ranked stars such as Rory McIlroy and Scottie Scheffler to actually race, make this a “high-class” PGA Tour event. The topic became less topical than it should have been.
The lack of buzz can be directly attributed to Woods’ early exit from the field and fragmentation of the game. Just imagine what this week would have been like if Rahm had defended his title and Johnson, DeChambeau and Cam Smith were also in.
It would have been better. Oh, you must have wondered what a “high-minded” event would be like. And PGA Tour players who are honest with themselves know that.
“It was a little weird,” Jason Day told the Post about the excitement surrounding the game. “Looks like we’ve come to an agreement.” [with LIV] Yet one side [LIV] We’re still pulling players out and asking, ‘Are you sure you’ve agreed to this? ‘It’s like that. what happened? ‘
“We need to come together at some point because we need the best players in the world to play against each other. That’s the best product. It’s not going to work the way it is. We need to take all the emotion out and say, ‘Okay, You have to say, “What would be better for the game?”
“If it’s better for the game to bring everyone back[from LIV]then wouldn’t that be better for the game and a better product? Maybe at first there would be a little bit of a backlash among some players. There may be a disconnect, but after some time, things suddenly return to normal.
“That wasn’t that long ago.” [PGA] During the tour, we were against LIV, but now we have an agreement with them that could potentially become a partnership. So we just have to sit back, remove all emotion and make the decision that is best for golf. ”
“In some ways it’s unfortunate that we’re in this situation right now,” Canadian Mackenzie Hughes said in a candid walk-and-talk interview with CBS this week, adding, “It’s all about money. “It seems like a problem,” he added. How much can I earn? In the process, the spirit of the game was lost.
“Some of the players seem to have lost sight of that a little bit, and now we’re at a point where the fans are a little fed up with the whole thing. And they’re the ones driving our sport forward.”
Perfectly stated.
