LOS ANGELES — Confusion reigns at the highest level of men’s professional golf as players prepare for this week’s U.S. Open at Los Angeles Country Club.
The PGA Tour vs. LIV Golf, the acrimonious battle that suddenly became a most unlikely partnership via a stunning joint announcement last Tuesday, has left a lot of unanswered questions.
A week removed from the announcement, as the third major championship of 2023 is about to begin with Thursday’s opening round, those questions remain unanswered.
With players from both sides very much in the dark about the details, they’ve found themselves simply not wanting to talk about the topic because they don’t know enough about it.
“I’ll be completely honest, I literally know as much as you,’’ defending U.S. Open champion Matthew Fitzpatrick said Monday. “I’m sure everyone has gotten questions about it. I found out when everyone else found out. Yeah, honestly, I know literally nothing. The whole thing is confusing.”
When PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan and Yasir Al-Rumayyan, the governor of the Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF) that backs LIV Golf financially, came together in that kumbaya staged interview on CNBC last Tuesday to announce the partnership that Monahan called a “framework agreement,’’ it stunned the golf world and stung many PGA Tour players who turned away lucrative Saudi offers to join LIV Golf.
Monahan has subsequently strongly hinted that he was going to make it his business to compensate the players who remained loyal to the PGA Tour.
When Fitzpatrick was asked if he feels like he should be compensated for not going to LIV, he said, “Yeah, pass.’’
Asked to elaborate on his confusion, Fitzpatrick said, “I just don’t know what’s going on [and] I don’t think anyone knows what’s going on. Are we signing with the PIF, are we not signing with the PIF? I have no idea. It’s pretty clear that nobody knows what’s going on apart from about four people in the world.’’
Count Cam Smith among the high-profile players who fall into that category.
“Yeah, I really know as much as you guys know, to be honest,’’ Smith, the reigning British Open champion, said to reporters Monday after playing the front nine of LACC. “I haven’t been told much at all. I’m just taking it as it goes along. For the moment, it’s just trying to play the best golf I can and trying to win a U.S. Open.’’
Smith did confess to not believing the news of the PGA Tour-LIV partnership when it broke last week.
“I guess the first reaction was I thought it was kind of a joke that had come out, and then H.E. (Al-Rumayyan’s nickname) gave me a call and kind of explained what was going on,’’ Smith said. “He didn’t really explain too much. I think there’s still a lot of stuff to be worked out, and as time goes on, we’ll get to know more and more.
“But there’s definitely a lot of curious players, I think, on both sides as to what the future is going to look like.’’
One of the glaring questions yet to be answered is how the players who went to LIV and were banned by the PGA Tour get their memberships back to the PGA Tour in ’24.
Interestingly, Fitzpatrick in March was vocal about not welcoming the LIV Golf players back.
“My personal view is that you can’t have your cake and eat it,” Fitzpatrick said in advance of The Players Championship, where Smith was the defending champion but not invited to play because he was banned by the PGA Tour. “I would not let people come back if they had gone to LIV, I just wouldn’t. I think it is incredibly unfair for the PGA Tour to [allow them back] and I would be staggered if they did allow them.”
Asked on Monday if his PGA Tour colleagues were of the same belief he’s been, Fitzpatrick said, “I think it’s been asked and answered so we’re going to move on to U.S. Open topics.”
Asked if the distractions taking place in the game can become an issue as players prepare for a major championship, Fitzpatrick said, “No, I think it’s overrated. I think you’re not going to be [standing] on the first tee thinking, ‘Oh, what’s going on in the golf world?’ You’re thinking, ‘It’s a par-4, where do I need to hit it, where is the wind?
“That’s all you’re thinking about.”