LYNCH: Saudi backed breakaway tour “hurtling toward the decisive moment”
Golf media perhaps lacks the acerbic tongue of sports journalists from yesteryear but you can still count on Eamon Lynch to deliver the punch when required.
Eamon Lynch is one of the most important writers in golf right now and he’s pulled no punches on his thoughts and potential outcomes of a Saudi-backed golf Super League.
In summary, the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, with a bunch of other big investors have been trying to poach the world’s best golfers to form their own independent Super League of golf.
Sound familiar?
Golfers have been sounded out over the past few years to lure them across to the new franchise, and they’ll again be baited by an extraordinary amount of money again this weekend as organisers meet with players during the PGA Championship.
The potential implications are huge with some of pro golf’s governing bodies threatening to ban players from competing in future major championships and Ryder Cup events.
It’s all well summarized in a scathing piece by Lynch at GolfWeek that I urge you all to read.
Here’s is a sample to give you a feel for where Lynch is going with all this.
For most of us, that’s usually on the order of the bosses supporting causes or candidates with whom we disagree, but in this instance, it promises press conferences that raise awkwardness to an art form. Picture it:
“Bryson. Great win today. How did you manage to not get distracted by reports of last night’s airstrike that destroyed a hospital in Yemen?”
“Phil, congratulations on a terrific round. Will you unwind later by attending the public flogging in the town square?”
“Rosie, superb par save on the last. But tell me, do your wife and daughter need to surrender their passports over here, or is it just local women who are denied travel documents?”
Signing on as an accessory to the Crown Prince’s effort to sportswash his abysmal human rights record means that golfers long accustomed to toothless questioning will find themselves fielding questions from more aggressive news media on every Saudi atrocity and abuse.
