How money is talking as Fitzpatrick turns up volumeMedia caption, Fitzpatrick beats Scheffler in play-off to win Heritage titlePublished29 minutes ago13 Comments
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How money is talking as Fitzpatrick turns up volumeMedia caption, Fitzpatrick beats Scheffler in play-off to win Heritage titlePublished29 minutes ago13 Comments
“Golf but louder” has been LIV’s tagline as it tried to become a big noise in the sport, but the decibel level was appreciably higher when Matt Fitzpatrick brought down Scottie Scheffler on the PGA Tour last Sunday.
While a disco thrum gave LIV a familiar soundtrack in Mexico City, it paled compared with the partisan support for Scheffler, albeit in vain, at Harbor Town where Fitzpatrick picked up his second win in three weeks.
The Englishman collected $3.6m (£2.7m) for his play-off win over the world number one, while in Mexico Jon Rahm banked $4m, plus a share of $3m because his Legion XIII line-up secured the team jackpot.
They have become ludicrous sums on both sides of golf’s great divide. And if last week’s reporting on LIV is accurate, the money tap from their Saudi Arabian benefactors might soon dry up.
Rahm won by six strokes, his second LIV victory of the season on a circuit where he has finished outside the top two only once in six tournaments this year.
Indeed the Spaniard has never finished outside the top 11 in 31 completed tournaments on LIV. Finishing 11th on LIV is worth $380,000.
For much of LIV’s four and a bit seasons, observers have become inured to the riches of its 14 tournaments. But given intense speculation that the flow of cash is about to end, the amounts involved suddenly feel more relevant.
Consider that Scott Vincent received $1m for finishing fourth last Sunday. Cameron Smith and Sergio Garcia each received $131,625 for a share of 40th place and Richard Bland pocketed $126,000 for coming 46th out of 57.
And then remember that Bryson DeChambeau reportedly wants $500m to remain with a league that has burned through an estimated $5bn (£3.7bn) of Public Investment Fund (PIF) cash since its inception in 2021.
LIV’s chief executive Scott O’Neil has assured players and staff that the money is in place for the rest of this season, but acknowledged that further investment will then need to be found.
That uncomfortable issue slipped out in an interview with LIV’s British broadcast partners TNT, a social media clip of which was quickly taken down. Nevertheless LIV did announce plans to return to Mexico City’s Chapultepec Golf Club in 2027.
How such a promise can be made with confidence appears open to serious questioning, even though the newest tournament had a decent atmosphere and LIV have proved they can stage successful events at a local level in places such as Adelaide and Johannesburg.
Whichever way you look at it, men’s professional golf needs backers with the deepest pockets to sustain such levels of largesse. And where are such figures to be found when even the once bottomless pit of PIF cash seems under threat?
Fitzpatrick’s parents on win against world number one Scheffler
At least the climax to the PGA Tour’s RBC Heritage provided a gripping finale to follow the previous week’s thrilling Masters. The past fortnight has shown why pro golf can be a very attractive sporting product.
On both occasions Scheffler banked multiple millions despite the frustration of finishing second on bogey-free weekends.
But credit Fitzpatrick for withstanding last Sunday’s charge from the American four-time major champion. Sheffield steel shone through as partisan US support brought a Ryder Cup atmosphere to Hilton Head.
“I’m paid so much money to be out there in front of those crowds,” Fitzpatrick mentioned. “Having them chanting at you every week, it’s a great feeling.
“However, there’s no better feeling than coming out on top against that.”
Fitzpatrick had been on the receiving end of similar noise when Cameron Young hunted him down during the Players Championship in March.
He withstood even louder vitriol to grab a crucial half against a spirited DeChambeau fightback in the Bethpage Bearpit at last year’s Ryder Cup.
And after the brilliant shootout birdie that beat Scheffler for his most recent win, Fitzpatrick borrowed an analogy from his other sporting passion, football.
“It’s kind of winning away against your biggest rival,” mentioned the avid Sheffield United fan. “Nothing to do with Scottie or the players; it’s the fans that have spurred me on there.”
It was a sporting spectacle that was well worth watching, although whether it justifies such inflated rewards is open to debate. PGA Tour purses would not be so grand had Saudi not pumped so much cash into the rival LIV tour.
Oil money has driven rampant inflation that has made millions for so many golfers, especially in the men’s game. But it has also benefited, to an admittedly much lesser extent, the female side of the sport.
The Ladies European Tour’s PIF Global Series includes five events in three continents, with tournaments in England, Las Vegas, Seoul, Shenzhen and Riyadh where prize funds total $15m.
And this week a Texas oil giant dips into its reserves to fund the Chevron Championship in Houston, the first women’s major of the year, to the tune of $8m.
Loose change to the likes of Rahm and DeChambeau, but perhaps more realistic sums than those that have made so much noise in the men’s game in recent years?
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