After the day that golf changed forever, with a seismic merger of LIV Golf, the PGA Tour and the European DP World Tour, it’s useful to go back a year.
That’s when all of this seemed implausible, if comments could be trusted as honest and genuine.
At the 2022 RBC Canadian Open, PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan criticized those who left for LIV Golf. He sat behind a news desk with CBS broadcaster Jim Nantz at his side as the course at St. George’s Golf & Country Club filled the background.
It was the final day of the tournament, when Rory McIlroy — who later became one of the Tour’s most vocal supporters — defended his title.
But in the broadcast booth, Nantz’s interview with Monahan reflected the somber reality overshadowing the Tour. LIV Golf recently had launched its first tournament in London, and the controversial, Saudi-backed association snatched Tour members and handed them millions more than they ever could have dreamed of making with Monahan.
Nantz questioned the commissioner about the comments from a 9/11 survivors group reported in the New York Post, wondering whether he had spoken with Tour members about the consequences of a defection.
“I think you’d have to be living under a rock to not know that there are significant implications,” Monahan told Nantz. “And as it relates to the families of 9/11, I have two families that are close to me that lost loved ones, and so my heart goes out to them.
“I would ask any player that has left or any player that would ever consider leaving: Have you ever had to apologize for being a member of the PGA Tour?”
This weekend’s Canadian Open won’t even be about the actual golf, not after the PGA, LIV and the European tours announced a stunning merger Tuesday morning.
Monahan called it “a historic day for the game we all know and love.” Public Investment Fund Governor Yasir Al-Rumayyan will join the PGA’s Policy Board.
All of the contentious litigation between LIV Golf and the PGA Tour will fade away. All of the controversial history, and torn relationships, will not.
There isn’t even a name for this new conglomerate, but the PGA Tour, which originally wanted to distance itself from the human right violations of Saudi Arabia, will now have the PIF as an investor. It’ll have a say in the sport’s future.
As if there needed to be another reminder that sports — when all the micro results and the macro storylines are distilled to their essences — was all about the money, the reactions from both sides, and from everyone involved, on Tuesday said it all.
Phil Mickelson, who became one of the first stars to defect, for an approximately $200 million contract, called it an “awesome day today.” Brooks Koepka, another LIV Golf advocate, joked about a “Welfare Check” on golf commentator Brandel Chamblee, who has been outspoken in opposing the Saudi-backed association. Collin Morikawa, who remained loyal to the Tour, tweeted that “I love finding out morning news on Twitter.”
Even Donald Trump, who recently hosted an LIV Golf event, chimed in on the “big, beautiful, and glamorous” merger.
Still, countless questions remain unanswered, and they’ll stay that way until the details of the agreement leak out.
What happens to the PGA Tour members who hated the idea of being associated with Saudi Arabia? They were rich before, they’re still rich and they stood up for the values they wanted. Monahan showed that loyalty was worth nothing.
How do the golf fans who chose ethics over names and network associations grapple with this development? For better or for worse, these organizations are all intertwined, though this could end CW broadcasts cutting away from competitive LIV Golf finishes to infomercials and sit-coms.
Will the awkward overlaps of players during the 2023 Masters or PGA Championship (which Koepka won) get any easier to digest? The post-tournament exchange between Koepka and PGA Tour CEO Seth Waugh was certainly a strange one.
Did golfers such as Mickelson, taking the payout from LIV Golf and now watching this all unfold, win in the end? Did golfers such as Tiger Woods, who reportedly turned down hundreds of millions of dollars, lose? Loyalty points and ethical standards test results from the past year expired Tuesday.
The tone of Monahan’s comments in the press release don’t suggest that he’ll reconcile on behalf of the PGA Tour — to its members, to fans, to anyone — soon. He went for the peaceful merger, sure, but there’s a simpler way to describe it.
Monahan did an about-face and went for the money.
That deserves an apology.
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Waiting for Judge (again)
In a repeat scenario from last month, the Yankees — and the short-term outlook of their 2023 season — are now waiting for an Aaron Judge return.
Judge missed a second consecutive game in the Yankees’ 3-2 loss against the White Sox, and during a postgame press conference, manager Aaron Boone said Judge had a contusion and a sprain of the ligament of his right toe and would be added to the injured list.
Boone didn’t share a timetable for Judge’s return.
“The biggest thing now is trying to get swelling out of there,” Boone said. “Had some improvements today.”
For another stretch, the Yankees, now 10 games over .500, will need to operate without Judge — hitting .291 with 19 homers, 40 RBIs and a 1.078 OPS — as they try to catch the Orioles and Rays in the AL East standings.
They have a lineup with two former MVPs in Josh Donaldson and Giancarlo Stanton, and they’ve received strong contributions from Gleyber Torres and Anthony Rizzo this season, but Judge’s absence looms over everything.
The Yankees went 4-6 without Judge, as The Post’s Joel Sherman noted last week, while he recovered from the hip injury, and it’ll be extremely difficult for Willie Calhoun and Jake Bauers and Isiah Kiner-Falefa, or whoever gets the outfield playing time, to replicate the reigning AL MVP’s numbers.
The Yankees’ next 10 games also include six against the Red Sox and the first two Subway Series matchups of the season. That’s followed by series against the Mariners (preseason AL contenders) and Rangers (actual, in-season AL contenders).
That means this Judge decision will have massive ramifications for the Yankees, depending on the length of his absence.
Last month, the Yankees debated whether to put Judge on the IL before eventually adding him to their 10-day list with a right hip strain, which was sustained in a series against the Rangers when he slid into third base and then felt discomfort on a swing the next day.
This time, the outfielder charged into — or, rather, through — the Dodger Stadium fence while making a catch Saturday. He finished the game, but did not play Sunday. Judge said then, about possibly having to return to the injured list: “I really don’t care at this point. If I’m on it, I’m on it. But I’m trying not to be.”
A different NBA free-agent spotlight
Even with Josh Hart revealing in a Bleacher Report interview that he plans to opt out of his contract and test free agency, a reunion with the Knicks would make the most sense.
Hart said that when he hinted at his offseason plans Sunday, too.
After he was acquired in a mid-season trade from the Trail Blazers, Hart meshed right into Tom Thibodeau’s group — becoming a valuable two-way wing who distinguished himself by helping guide the Knicks to a 17-8 record to close the regular season (averaging 10.2 and 7.0 points and rebounds per game) and into the second round of the playoffs (averaging 10.4 and 7.4).
Just as Hart proved valuable to the Knicks, a group of similar players have raised their profiles, and maybe their contract offers this summer, during this postseason, which reaches Game 3 of the NBA Finals on Wednesday (8:30 p.m. ET, ABC) with the series between the Nuggets and Heat tied, 1-1.
• Austin Reaves was arguably the Lakers’ third-best player, and with his contract up, Los Angeles will need to prioritize him as a restricted free agent.
• Gabe Vincent led the Heat with 23 points on 8-for-12 shooting in their come-from-behind Game 2 victory on Sunday night, and he has emerged as a priority for Miami to consider signing as an unrestricted free agent.
• Bruce Brown, the former Nets glue guy, has emerged as a key reserve on the Nuggets. Brown can become a free agent and attract more money if he declines his player option for 2023-24.
The contracts these players receive this offseason likely will reflect that worth, that blossoming category of players who’ve become indispensable pieces to the playoffs’ best teams.
Reaves, a second-year player signed as an undrafted free agent out of Oklahoma, averaged 13.0 points and 3.4 assists per game in the regular season, but as the Lakers knocked off the Grizzlies and Warriors to reach the Western Conference finals, those numbers rose to 16.9 and 4.6.
Brown has logged slightly fewer minutes in the postseason for Denver, but he has increased his scoring to 12 points per game from his regular-season average of 11.5.
Perhaps the centerpiece of these emerging players is Vincent. An undrafted free agent — a key label that has grown to define the Heat’s unexpected run to the NBA Finals — who hardly played in the NBA until last season, his play-making and floor-spacing shooting have complemented Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo in the postseason.
His minutes are up from 25.9 to 31.6. His scoring rose from 9.4 points per game to 13.9. His assists and shooting percentages all increased, too.
And when he hits free agency this offseason, Vincent’s $1.8 million base salary will certainly be the next thing that increases. Just as it likely will for Hart, Reaves and Brown.
Almost a different French Open
For one set Tuesday, Novak Djokovic’s appearance in the French Open semifinals wasn’t a guarantee.
He dropped the first set to Karen Khachanov, and if he lost two more, it would have marked the first semifinals at Roland Garros without one of the men’s tennis’ Big 3 of Djokovic, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal since 2004 — when Nadal withdrew before the event due to an injury, Federer lost in the third round and Djokovic was months away from making his Grand Slam debut at the 2005 Australian Open.
David Nalbandian, Gastón Gaudio, Guillermo Coria and Tim Henman were the four semifinalists that year.
Though Djokovic, the No. 3 seed, recovered to win the next three sets and secure a spot in Friday’s semifinals against No. 1 seed Carlos Alcaraz, the developments at this year’s French Open show that the sport’s transition — and introduction of its latest generation of star athletes — has begun, something that is already underway in women’s tennis following the retirements of Serena Williams and other top players.
Karolina Muchova and Aryna Sabalenka reached the French Open women’s semifinals for the first time, and Wednesday morning, 19-year-old Coco Gauff will have a chance to join them in her match against top-seeded Iga Swiatek.
In the men’s draw, Nadal — whose season could be over after he underwent a hip procedure — didn’t participate in an event he has won 14 times since 2004. Federer retired in September. Djokovic is the last one standing from that golden generation.
The changes have helped introduce tennis’ next generation of star players and major title contenders. Tuesday, for one set, nearly accelerated that.
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