Minnesota Golfer - Fall 2022 - 38

BACKSPIN
Money Ball
The LIV tour attracts aging vets with a big payday, while the
local PGA Tour rewards young talent with opportunity.
T
his curious reporter and a few other Minnesotans spent
July 4, 2019, following Matthew Wolff, the 20-year-old
with the herky-jerky swing that would make Jim Furyk
scratch his head and wonder what the heck's going on.
The reigning NCAA champion had blasted a 340-yard
drive on the sixth hole of his fourth PGA Tour event, the firstever
3M Open at TPC Twin Cities in Blaine. A pro for only a
month, Wolff eyeballed his next shot with the famished mindset
of a broke college kid, which he basically was when tournament
director Hollis Cavner gave him nothing but a sponsor's
exemption and an unpaid opportunity to earn all the
spoils that come with the lifelong dream of winning a PGA
Tour event.
" I had 258 yards to the pin, 230 to the front, over water, "
Wolff said. " My 4-iron flies about 230. I was like, 'I'll step on the
4-iron.' "
Pressure! The ingredient that makes pro golf pure entertainment.
Nobodies grinding to become somebodies. Somebodies
striving to spend eternity among the legends.
" I absolutely murdered the 4-iron, " Wolff said. " Landed it
at 257. "
A two-putt birdie from 15 feet sparked a 2-under 69. Three
days later, Wolff used putter from off the green to drain a
26-footer for eagle on the par-5 18th to shoot 65, post 21 under
and leapfrog Bryson DeChambeau's final-hole eagle for
the win.
Talk about must-see, good-for-the-game drama! Wolff came
to Blaine with nothing and left with $1.1 million, his PGA
Tour card for two years and invites to the Masters, the Players
Championship, the PGA Championship, Jack's tournament and
Arnie's tournament.
All that old-fashioned bootstrapping sure seems increasingly
quaint today as LIV Golf-an upstart league backed by Saudi
Arabia's Public Investment Fund-casts an uneasy future on
the sport with a bottomless pit of dirty money earmarked for
" sports washing " the country's detestable human rights record.
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman-he's the man
U.S. intelligence services say ordered the killing of a Washington
Post journalist-got this slimy ball rolling by buying Phil
Mickelson-and his soul, based on Lefty's body language-for
$200 million.
With that, the unfortunate one-way path to normalcy for LIV
Golf began. Dustin Johnson ($125 million) and Bryson De38
*
BY MARK CRAIG *
Matthew Wolff
Chambeau ($100 million) led the early defectors. Sergio bolted.
Brooks Koepka and Henrik Stenson, too. Heck, even Pat Perez
got $10 million-one-third of what he's earned in a 25-year
PGA Tour career-to serve as fodder for 48-man fields that play
54 holes, have no cuts and pay $4 million for first, $120,000 for
last and $750,000 a head to the four-man team champions.
PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan thinks suspending
defectors while shaming them for taking the easy way out is the
answer. He's wrong and will end up watering down his own tour
because the Saudi oil money isn't going to lose power anytime
soon, especially if golf's four majors continue accepting LIV
Golf players.
When a Charl Schwartzel can shoot 2-over 72 in the final
round of a LIV Golf " competition " that's only being streamed
online and still win a record $4.75 million, the easy way out
looks pretty darn irresistible.
Just ask Matthew Wolff.
Three summers ago, Wolff ran with Cavner's unpaid opportunity.
He posted back-to-back top-5 finishes in his first two
majors. He climbed to No. 12 in the world.
Then his game fell apart. But, hey, no biggie. At 23, he's sidestepping
the pressure, the hard stuff, the need for the life-changing,
must-make eagle on the 72nd hole.
He signed with LIV Golf.
Should we blame him? No.
LIV Golf is good for a select group of today's golfers. It's just
not good for golf's tomorrow.
Mark Craig is the NFL/Vikings columnist and a golf writer for the
Star Tribune.
MINNESOTAGOLFER Fall 2022
mngolf.org
PHOTO: MARK BRETTINGEN/COURTESY MGA
http://www.mngolf.org
Minnesota Golfer - Fall 2022

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