Super Golf League Meeting Called Quick, Underwhelming

Whether this was all code for something more we’ll soon find out, but the initial reviews suggest the Saudis did not throw much of a Kiawah party.

From Daniel Rapaport’s GolfDigest.com story on the gathering of ten-percenters and lawyers representing Golf Saudi’s ripped-off Premier Golf League push:

“It all happened pretty quick,” the source, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said. “It was like, We have everything sorted, it’s all going to work out.”

Present for the meeting were lawyers from a high-profile American law firm that is handling the venture’s contractual work. These attorneys assured agents that they were combing through any potential legal hiccups and that their process, too, would be completed sooner rather than later.

Oh yeah, nothing to worry about.

A rep for Golf Saudi also ZOOM’d in. Which is probably why the characterization shared by Rex Hoggard makes a lot of sense:

One manager who attended the meeting characterized it as “underwhelming” and given how long representatives from the Super League Golf concept have been pushing for the new tour it’s likely going to continue to be a topic and a distraction for some time.

Five Families Make Moves To Stop Disruptor Leagues

Nice work by The Guardian’s Ewan Murray to get ahold of Official World Golf Ranking language apparently crafted with stopping small field concepts.

Documentation seen by the Guardian confirms world ranking points only apply on the basis that: “Tournaments on a tour must average fields of at least 75 players over the course of each season.” On this rule, the proposed tour clearly falls short; their 14 planned tournaments are for just 48 players.

The guidelines add: “A tour must demonstrate it has complied with the above guidelines for a period of at least one year immediately prior to being admitted to the OWGR system and must continue to comply with such guidelines following its inclusion in the OWGR system.”

The “average” language helps offset players and agents pointing to something like the Hero World Challenge’s 18-player field earning points.

Another interesting twist in the disruptor golf league world came Tuesday at Kiawah, as PGA of America CEO Seth Waugh made clear the Ryder Cup will only accept PGA of America members who get that perk through their PGA Tour membership:

“If someone wants to play on a Ryder Cup for the U.S., they’re going to need to be a member of the PGA of America, and they get that membership through being a member of the Tour,” Waugh said. “I believe the Europeans feel the same way, and so I don’t know that we can be more clear kind of than that. We don’t see that changing.”

Translation: should someone sign up for an SGL or PGL, and the PGA Tour follows through with threats to toss them off their books (with potential legal ramifications), the players would be Ryder Cup ineligible.

Whether that is enough to dissuade Americans, is unclear.

Adam Schupak filed this Golfweek with more details of Waugh’s remarks and his interesting assertion that these league conversations are healthy for the game, to a point.

“I actually think it’s healthy. You either disrupt or you get disrupted. That’s what this is,” he said. “You know, should it be a hostile takeover of the game? I think is way too far. They’ve created this conversation, which by the way isn’t new. It’s been around since 2014 in different forms, has created change. It’s created an alliance of the European Tour and the PGA Tour, which we think is really healthy for the game.”

Guardian: "Authoritarianism for golfers? 'How big is the cheque?'"

The Guardian’s Ewan Murray wonders why the Golf Saudi-backed Super Golf League is not dying the same quick death as the European Super League:

Mickelson, DeChambeau and others can apparently entertain offers from the Saudis of eye-watering sums of money without anyone focusing on why they might associate with such a controversial – or abhorrent, depending on one’s level of background reading – regime. Authoritarianism for golfers? “How big is the cheque?”

When the European Super League crashed around the ears of the very executives who thought they had devised the perfect closed shop, it was against the backdrop of fury from supporters. There is no golf equivalent of that; save the Ryder Cup, which takes place once every two years, this really is not a tribal environment. Another key difference is that football clubs had already committed to their lucrative breakaway. Golfers have thus far only been in lengthy negotiations over a plan that would result in the PGA and European Tours losing players to a 14-event global environment where team and individual elements combine.

Given that the money is definitely from the Crown Prince’s Golf Saudi and not entirely sexy from a fan perspective—given reports of a Middle East-heavy schedule—it is odd the Premier Golf League ripoff is lingering.

Padraig: Court Cases Loom If Saudi's Offer 10-12 Events

Padraig Harrington shared his views of the proposed Super Golf League backed by Golf Saudi, including possible Ryder Cup ramifications.

But this comment to The Telegraph’s James Corrigan was even more intriguing, implying possible “defectors” believe they can still dip in to the existing Tours on sponsor invites.

Harrington fears that if the Saudis do keep pushing on, the issue could end in court, particularly as the SGL seems only to be planning for 10-12 events a year and not the 18-20 first mooted. “It is interesting because you could see somebody playing the SGL’s 12 tournaments and also playing 15 Tour events to satisfy their membership regulations,” the Irishman said.

That’s a big schedule for today’s stars who are, in part (after the money), intrigued by these proposed concepts because they reduce the schedule and theoretically work around the majors.

GolfChannel.com: "Super League Golf will continue to linger as long as there's player 'interest'"

It’s fascinating to see how many players who will not rule out the latest world tour concept even as it’s been revealed to be even more directly funded by Saudi Arabia. Or that it’s a possibly-stolen concept and all of this after PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan (reportedly) drew a line in the sand.

Fascinating given that it feels like a shift for some players from a year ago when the Premier League concept was discussed. But why?

Do players see signs of the European Tour either fading away or getting swallowed (and inevitably muzzled to death) by Cult Ponte Vedra? That would condense their loyalties have been condensed to a pair of options.

Also surprising: there are more blatant Saudi ties to the “SGL” concept and the money source does not seem to have caused players much concern.

Or maybe, as I wrote in The Quadrilateral Monday, these outside hostile takeover attempts will just keep happening because of market forces and the unwillingness of the Tours to address some fundamental issues making them vulnerable.

Anyway, GolfChannel.com’s Rex Hoggard filed this look at player comments and the surprising open-mindedness or shifting curiousities. One standout portion:

Asked about the then-PGL concept last year, Adam Scott also seemed to be squarely in the “interested” category.

“Selfishly, for me, there is some appeal. I might have the opportunity to park myself up in Australia for a little bit if I’m being selfish,” Scott said.

And Patrick Reed said this, “Honestly I have my team grabbing all the information about it, and I don't know enough about it yet to really say anything about it, but once we get all the information, I'll go make my mind up later on."

Tommy Fleetwood appears to have adjusted his outlook toward the SLG since he was asked about the proposed circuit last year.

“Money is one side of it, world ranking points is a side of it. The Ryder Cup is always such a huge thing on people's minds, European and American,” he said. “There's a lot that goes into the criteria of why people play where they play. … I know [Monahan] has a very, very firm stance on it. We'll see where that leads.”

The Premier Golf League Still Exists Separate Of Golf Saudi's "Super League"

Nice work by the Firepit Collective’s Alan Shipnuck to report on the difference between this week’s leaked Super Golf League concept, back by Golf Saudi, and the idea we’ve recently known as the Premier Golf League.

The reason for the confusion in early reports appears a simple one: Golf Saudi has taken the framework for the “PGL” and made it their own.

I can confirm from a well-placed source and separate of Shipnuck’s report: the PGL remains a separate entity with aspirations still tied to their initial plans first revealed here a year ago.

The confusion stems from Golf Saudi essentially lifting the format and concept. I know, you’re shocked.

Shipnuck writes:

After the idea for the PGL was born in 2019 there were advanced discussions with Golf Saudi to underwrite the all-star new tour. A deal was never consummated and now Saudi Arabia is making its own play with the Super Golf League. “They 100% stole our idea,” says the PGL investor, who hails from Europe.

There are substantial differences between the two would-be tours. The Super Golf League is conceived as 10-12 tournaments a year based in the Mid East and in particular Saudi Arabia, which has a stated goal of building dozens of new golf courses and introducing a million citizens to the game over the next decade. Golf Saudi’s motivation in creating the SGL is continued reputation-laundering for the brutal regime that supports it.

The Premier Golf League was backed by Raine Group for a time, but are no longer fronting the PGL concept after merger talks with the European Tour fell through. Shipnuck explains where the PGL stands:

Having parted ways with the Saudis, the PGL is now staked by three dozen investors described by the insider as “guys who own existing sports franchises, high net-worth individuals who love golf and multinational corporations.” It is a mix of mostly American and European interests. The schedule would be comprised of 18 tournaments running January-October. The Tour would begin in Florida, migrate to Australia and Asia before returning the Southeastern U.S. ahead of the Masters. Ensuing tournaments would be played Stateside through the U.S. Open, followed by a long swing through Europe and then a return to Asia, with the grand finale contested back in America. Each tournament would have 48 players vying for a purse of $20 million. (Winner’s checks would approach $4 million while last place would pay out $250K; there is no cut.) Each event would crown an individual stroke play champion but there would be a concurrent, season-long 4-man team competition that would be decided in the season finale.

That does leave behind specifics on a team element that was a huge part of the PGL concept (and which I think remains fascinating both for fans and perhaps changing the commercialization of pro events).

Shipnuck’s story goes on to detail the world of Saudi Arabia if you are interested.

Mickelson: Super League Good For Fans And Media, But Not So Schedule Friendly

Phil Mickelson’s remarks to Bob Harig at ESPN.com suggest he continues to be intrigued by the Super/Premier/World Golf Series/Tourdeforce League concept:

"I think the fans would love it because they would see the best players play exponentially more times," Mickelson said after playing in the pro-am for the Wells Fargo Championship. "Instead of four or five times, it would be 20 times ... I don't know what the final number is.

"But that's a big deal to give up control of your schedule. I don't know if the players would be selfless enough to do that. But every other sport, the entity or teams or leagues control the schedule. The players kind of play where they are told to play. Whereas here, we're able to control it."

I’ve never heard the selfless angle, but given the apparent vaccine resistance on the Tour, he’s probably accurate.

McIlroy On Super League: "I don't see why anyone would be for it."

Rory McIlroy has steadfastly disliked the various iterations of the Super Golf League and even sarcastically noted some of its past names before offering this prior to the Wells Fargo Championship.

I was surprised at the cash grab angle, but otherwise the remarks are consistent with his past disdain for the concept.

And then with the SGL, yeah, look, they first contacted me back in 2014, so this is seven years down the line and nothing has really changed. Maybe the source of the money's changed or the people that are in charge have changed, but nothing has happened. No sponsorship deals, no media deals, no players have signed up, no manufacturers have signed up.

Manufacturers? They don’t sponsor events and rarely get near grow the game initiatives so I’m not sure they will be joining the frey.

There's been so many iterations at this point. I think people ‑‑ you go back to what happened last week in Europe with the European Super League in football. People can see it for what it is, which is a money grab, which is fine if that's what you're playing golf for is to make as much money as possible. Totally fine, then go and do that if that's what makes you happy.

BTW, FYI…500 FedExCup points on the line this week!

But I think the top players in the game, I'm just speaking my own personal beliefs, like I'm playing this game to try to cement my place in history and my legacy and to win major championships and to win the biggest tournaments in the world. That's why I'm playing this game. Golf has been very good to me obviously over the years by playing in Europe starting off, coming over to the PGA Tour and playing here. I honestly don't think there's a better structure in place in golf, and I don't think there will be.

You have the strategic partnership as well between Europe and the PGA TOUR and that's only going to strengthen the structure of golf going forward as well in terms of scheduling and all sorts of other stuff and working together a little bit more.

Yeah, I mean, I don't think it was a coincidence that the news came out yesterday just as the PGA TOUR's having their annual player meeting and Jay's addressing the membership. Yeah, I think you all know my feelings on it and I'm very much against it. I don't see why anyone would be for it.

I could see someone finding 30 million reasons that still allows them to play the majors. And not have to sit in a policy board meeting talking slow play.

Saudi-Backed "Super League" In Offer Mode, PGA Tour Commish Vows Possible Expulsion

Ewan Murray revealed the latest edition of a proposed upstart tour, this time fully backed by Golf Saudi proposing largely the same Premier Golf League proposal they invested in. This time the lucrative proposal comes minus the Raine Group, without much prospect of Tiger Woods able to play soon, and follow the Super League football debacle.

Oh, and Golf Saudi is backed by a Crown Prince who sports plenty of irredeemable qualities.

That said, the updated stories report on a rebuttal from PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan vowing immediate suspension and possible expulsion.

A few things of note from Murray:

The PGA Tour, though, is unmoved. Monahan articulated to players that he will fiercely abide by regulations that protect the PGA Tour membership, which guard against those trying to cause fiscal or reputational harm to the organisation. Anyone signing up with the Saudis will straight away lose PGA Tour status.

Despite reports elsewhere, the Guardian understands players do not yet have contracts and offer letters signed by the Saudis. The brief delay to that scenario has been linked in part to the ESL debacle. When the paperwork does become formal, leading players will be offered equity in the new tour. In what has been likened by one individual with understanding of the negotiations to a football transfer, there will also be huge signing on fees as incentives.

Going through the contracts, crossing out “Premier” and “Super”?

The PGA Tour is well aware the Saudis have been on a Florida-based recruitment drive for a concerted period but has stressed to its own players the lack of solid proposals in relation to tournaments or media deals. There were no questions from the floor on the Saudi scheme, let alone any of the ructions speculated upon elsewhere, after Monahan’s wide-ranging speech.

No questions?

I remain intrigued by the team concept and other elements, but it’s hard not to wonder about this:

The two-times Open champion Greg Norman is believed to be among those advising the Saudis. Norman’s spokesperson offered no comment when approached.

The Telegraph’s James Corrigan broke a similar story not long after Murray’s and included several details worth filing away, including possible $30 million offers for Dustin Johnson and Justin Rose.

While the majority considered the Premier Golf League to be dead in the water after significant Tour efforts to kill the idea, Telegraph Sport can reveal that formal offers worth $30m to $50m up front are being mulled over by 11 players, including - alongside Johnson and Rose - Brooks Koepka, Bryson DeChambeau, Henrik Stenson, Adam Scott and Rickie Fowler.

Phil Mickelson has purportedly been offered  $100m as the de facto head of the rebels.

Corrigan also says the Saudis want replies quickly with a September Ryder Cup looming. But if the PGA Tour and European Tour are serious about suspensions, Corrigan said word of participation might have consequences.

That means this affair could even affect the Ryder Cup in September and, if that was the case, the Kingdom, in its ever increasing mission to ‘sportswash' its reputation, could see the plan badly backfire.

“This will all kick off in the next few weeks, starting with this meeting tonight,” a source told Telegraph Sport. “It will be fascinating to hear how aggressive Monahan was with his language to the big names. The Saudis believe the Tour can’t expel members and it could end up in a big legal fight.”

Maybe that’s why he stuck to possible expulsion. Good call, legal team!

Rex Hoggard added this from the player’s mandatory meeting where Monahan spoke.

According to one player who attended the meeting, Monahan said he was not aware of any communication between officials with the Super Golf League and any of the major championships or various media companies that might be included in a new broadcast agreement.

Then again, technology allows for the easy launch of a streaming deal and those deals only come with enough recognizable names.

According to multiple sources @PGATOUR Commissioner Jay Monahan told players Tuesday night at @WellsFargoGolf that any player joining the Saudi-backed golf league will face immediate suspension and possible expulsion from the PGA Tour. Monahan taking this threat seriously.

— Todd Lewis (@ToddLewisGC) May 5, 2021

With Crown Prince Responsible For Khashoggi Killing, Where Does That Leave Golf Saudi And The Public Investment Fund?

In the worst kept secret on earth, a declassified U.S. intelligence report holds Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman responsible for the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

While the Biden administration is thus far not directing penalizing the Crown Prince, the New York Times Julian E. Barnes and David E. Sanger write that “the release of the report signaled that President Biden, unlike his predecessor, would not set aside the killing of Mr. Khashoggi and that his administration intended to try to isolate the crown prince.”

The isolation effect could have an impact on the Crown Prince’s Golf Saudi and the Public Investment Fund under his control (also said to be a primary backer of the proposed Premier Golf League among many investments).

Golf.com’s Michael Arkush recently summed up Golf Saudi’s hopes in a story prompted by the recent announcement of a Jack Nicklaus design in Saudi Arabia, a company that part of Golf.com’s parent company 8 a.m. Golf.

The golf push is part of a larger “Vision 2030” strategy, championed by Saudi Arabia’s de facto ruler, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman; that initiative is aimed, in part, at bolstering the kingdom’s entertainment and tourism offerings as the nation simultaneously implements social reform.

On the golf front, thinking big means bringing in established designers.

“Every single golf course we are going to build from now on is going to have to be a branded name,” Majed Al Sorour, the CEO of Golf Saudi and the Saudi Golf Federation, said in an interview. “All of the great designers are going to be part of the development in the kingdom.”

So far, the list includes two legendary major winners in Jack Nicklaus and Greg Norman. 

Golf Saudi also hosts an annual European Tour stop said to be the vision of bin Salman.

As for the Public Investment Fund with tentacles in several major American companies and the proposed Premier Golf League, it could be vulnerable because of direct ties to the crime.

From CNBC’s Emily DeCiccio report:

The Saudi sovereign wealth fund, known as the Public Investment Fund, is chaired by MBS. It appears to have played a role in purchasing the aircraft that ferried Khashoggi’s killers to Turkey, where the murder occurred.

“If this is the case, it could become a target for American human rights sanctions,” according to Joel Rubin, a former deputy assistant secretary of State. That could, in turn, “create an economic earthquake,” he said. 

“If the United States determines that the Khashoggi killing was a targeted human rights violation, then the perpetrators and backers of that killing could be sanctioned under the Magnitsky Act,” Rubin said. 

The Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act authorizes the president to impose economic sanctions, freeze any U.S. assets, and deny entry into the U.S. to any foreign person who has engaged in human rights abuse or corruption, while prohibiting Americans from doing business with him or her. The Magnitsky Act has been used against Russian President Vladimir Putin’s cronies. Putin called it, “A purely political, unfriendly act.”

Guardian: Premier Golf League "Pressing Ahead" With Events For Golf's Independent Contractors

Despite the news-dumped landmark strategic alliance announcement between the European Tour and PGA Tour, The Guardian’s Ewan Murray says the Raine Group’s Premier Golf League is forging ahead with event plans.

The Raine Group, venture capitalists who came close to an agreement with the European Tour, believe the finest golfers in the world – as independent contractors – can still be coaxed to play in competitions not sanctioned by the sport’s traditional tournament organisers.

There remains concern among some at the upper levels of professional golf that, by coming closer, the PGA and European tours are not boosting the market by allowing competition. Meanwhile, Raine are not going away.

It would take major contraction or a financial collapse of the European Tour for a full PGA Tour monopoly to take hold. And great news! The European Tour is “categorically” flush after laying off 68 people and the world is grand shape. Never better.

Anyway, Murray suggests the PGA Tour presented an offer the European Tour could not refuse.

Documentation seen by the Guardian understood to have been shown to the European Tour board cited, as examples, potential scheduling conflicts and increasing the number of minimum events that players must enter to retain PGA Tour status. The notion of PGA Tour qualifying events in Europe, the lobbying of major championships regarding eligibility criteria, pressure on broadcasters over coverage and impact on the Ryder Cup were all even mooted as possible outcomes. As things stand, the PGA Tour has no formal involvement in the Ryder Cup whatsoever.

A Ryder Cup bluff. Bold.

Of course, none of the threatened actions Murray reports would do anything to improve the product of either tour in any scenario. The ploys merely hold off an existential threat. That’s no small thing, but also demonstrates how far some folks are going to hold together the current model even as the times will inevitably demand some type of pivot by all tours.

What's Missing From The PGA Tour-European Tour Strategic Alliance News?

We knew the sides were talking months ago. Then news on a mega-tour merger went silent as the focus turned to merely getting 2020 golf tournaments off the ground.

Then we got the Friday-after-Thanksgiving news.

Belaboring the cynical timing of Friday’s “landmark strategic alliance” announcement could grow tiresome, but it’s also hard to filter much of anything out of the detail-light European Tour-PGA Tour release without returning to the odd rush to share so little detail.

This much is apparent: Jay Monahan joins the European Tour Board of Directors and with it, he brings a check of an undetermined amount to own a stake in their impressive television production operation. Less apparent: how much of that is an investment in a media operation versus a quick way to help the European Tour’s finances?

In a call with UK writers, ET Chief Keith Pelley refuted the idea that this was about finances:

.@EuropeanTour CEO Keith Pelley on "strategic alliance" with @PGATOUR :"Emphatically, this is not a merger. I read 1 tweet that said a takeover is inevitable because of the situation that we are in. We are categorically not in financial difficulties, that is simply wrong."

— Phil Casey (@pcaseysafc) November 27, 2020

But as the AP’s Doug Ferguson writes: “The announcement comes toward the end of a devastating year financially for both tours. The PGA Tour has lost more money than Europe because of its size, though it had more in reserve to handle the crisis.”

Setting the finances aside, this looks like the PGA Tour blocking a European Tour acquisition/merger/strategic partnership/just friends/whatever-you-want-to-call-it deal with the Raine Group. They are holders of the proposed Premier Golf League that was declared dead back in March.

The dance of living dead!

Golfweek’s Eamon Lynch exclusively declares today’s announced deal another nail in a coffin purportedly already six feet under when the pandemic loomed. Lynch writes:

The historic alliance announced Friday between the PGA Tour and European Tour came after months of tense negotiations, and fended off a rival bid to take a stake in the European circuit by the private equity group fronting the Premier Golf League, multiple sources have confirmed to Golfweek.

Back in March Lynch wrote the PGL “scheme” was “condemned to failure”, which begs the question, why the need for today’s fending off deal? Lynch explains this way:

The prospect of Raine Group — and by extension, Premier Golf League — gaining a foothold through the European Tour caused dread among executives at the PGA Tour, which views the PGL as a potential existential threat should it successfully lure major stars away with the promise of huge paydays.

There is life after death!

A number of sources said the Raine Group proposal was always unlikely to win favor with the European Tour’s board and was being used as leverage to secure better terms from the PGA Tour, which was keen to ensure the PGL did not secure the infrastructure and tournament network from which it could launch its own rival operation.

After checking in with sources who have knowledge of the Raine Group’s efforts, negotiations between the private equity firm and European Tour had advanced considerably this summer.

Around 50 meetings had taken place this year.

Zoom’s with the player board and Board of Directors had taken place after Raine was given full access to European Tour financials, including the Ryder Cup. That was a risky leverage bluff by Chief Executive Keith Pelley but it does appear to have led to a last-minute deal where the PGA Tour wrote a check to stave off a rival. A dead one at that.

But as one source put it, “To paraphrase Mark Twain: reports of the PGL’s death are greatly exaggerated.”

Beyond the questions of financials and dead proposals, what does this mean for players, fans and sponsors?

For now the alliance appears to be a survival move with benefits TBD. Fans might eventually get a better world schedule that will undoubtedly be streamlined due to the pandemic. Players, however, will face the prospect of a monopoly that some like Rory McIlroy openly lamented with the Premier Golf League’s more controlled franchise infrastructure. And sponsors? Perhaps there is a better solution to the WGC, Rolex, Race to Dubai and FedEx elements that seem to clash instead of delivering better golf tournaments.

Until more exciting details come forward, Andy Johnson’s take sums things up:

The PGA Tour bought a competitor with the same product and from a financial side, a worse one. The PGL has always bet on providing a different product. The positive spin for the PGL is that the Tour has doubled down on the same existing product.

— Andy Johnson 🍳 (@the_woke_yolk) November 27, 2020

This would be like if when Google came out, Yahoo bought up a smaller worse search engine. Google smoked Yahoo because it provided significantly superior products.

— Andy Johnson 🍳 (@the_woke_yolk) November 27, 2020

Stenson On PGL Push: "We'll see what happens in the future really."

His name mentioned as a player who has received an offer letter, Henrik Stenson was asked about the Premier Golf League’s prospects Wednesday in Memphis where he’s playing the WGC FedEx St. Jude Classic.

Q. I'm going to straight for the jugular. Your name's been mentioned as one of the players that's may be involved in the Premier Golf League. Can you comment on that, please?

HENRIK STENSON: I think we've all kind of seen--we've seen some of the things in the press and, yeah, I know a little bit what's going on behind the scenes and I'm following it closely, like a lot of other people. Yeah, we'll see what happens in the future really.

Q. Can you say now whether you've been approached or not, or is that sort of under cover?

HENRIK STENSON: Well, we'll--

Q. You've been approached then.

HENRIK STENSON: All right. Thanks for adding that.

Nice non-denial denial.

This is all amazing since we were told it was dead and killed by the top “stars” according to the game’s sharpest analysts.

Guardian: Premier Golf League Delivers Player Offer Letters, European Tour Talks Continue

There were glimmerings of possible Premier Golf League activity recently when Jon Rahm was overheard discussing something team-driven to Viktor Hovland (perhaps influencing why the world No. 2, on the cusp of moving to No. 1, did not make the Memorial Featured Group coverage).

Now The Guardian’s Ewan Murray reports several interesting developments: formal offer letters have been sent to players, the European Tour issued a soft non-denial denial over possible partnership discussions, hundreds of millions in guaranteed money are on the table despite the global pandemic, and Murray even references the PGA Tour’s new TV deal possibly funding “commercial incentives” to players.

Those who have been linked with the breakaway include Phil Mickelson, Adam Scott, Henrik Stenson, Brooks Koepka, Justin Rose, Rickie Fowler and Paul Casey. The PGL declined to comment on recent events when approached. Yet whether the PGL can convince elite golfers to offer a commitment against the PGA Tour in particular remains to be seen. As part of a recently agreed broadcasting deal, the PGA Tour agreed to offer commercial incentives to players who provide the greatest value.

The idea of directly paying some players would be a new path for the PGA Tour after remaining principally an independent contractor-driven organization.

Meanwhile in Europe, Chief Keith Pelley has been largely dismissive of the concept even though his Tour and the PGL seem like a potential partnership fit, particularly now that the pandemic has hit the Tour especially hard. This week’s British Masters is playing for 1,250,000 Euros.

As recently as June Pelley told the McKellar podcast that partnership conversations with the PGA Tour have never been stronger.

Intriguingly, Raine is also understood to have held talks with the European Tour. This at least infers an increased willingness to involve golf’s existing stakeholders in the PGL plan. When asked about such discussions, a European Tour spokesperson said: “For the past couple of years we have been proactively sought out by a number of private equity companies, all of whom recognise the strength and influence of the European Tour across golf’s global ecosystem.”

Hardly a denial.

The heightened efforts of the league’s backers were first reported here at GeoffShackelford.com in January and have been declared dead on arrival at various points after Rory McIlroy, Brooks Koepka and Jon Rahm all pledged their preference to play the PGA Tour.

Meanwhile, another Raine Group-backed enterprise, the Premier Lacrosse League, makes its second season debut tomorrow in the United States on NBC.

CBS Partners With NASCAR Disruptors For Races With "The human being controlling the machine, not the machine controlling the outcome"

SBJ’s John Ourand explains the new partnership between CBS and SRX, a NASCAR disrupter led by hall of famers Tony Stewart and Ray Evenham.

The parallels with the Premier Golf League are hard to ignore, from claims of wanting star drivers and to not threaten NASCAR (right!). There are also short-track races, tighter prime-time TV windows, tighter sponsor integration, but one huge difference: an effort to return emphasis on driving skill over technology.

Go figure.

From Ourand’s story:

SRX is most excited about the way drivers will compete on those short tracks. Evernham will design, prepare and build traditional stock cars that are capable of running on different surfaces and different types of tracks, such as paved or dirt.

“We want to make that machine be a big part of it, but it’s got to be the driver, crew chief, the human being controlling the machine, not the machine controlling the outcome of the competition,” Evernham said. “That combination of driver, crew chief and machine, no computers telling you what to do, no simulation. It’s really about the competition, how well that driver and crew chief can make that machine go against one another.”