ORLANDO, Fla. — The latest events in the PGA Tour/LIV Golf drama continue to show a game divided, one that Webb Simpson, a player director on the PGA Tour Policy Board, fully recognizes.
The former U.S. Open champion, who is playing in the Arnold Palmer Invitational this week on a sponsor exemption, admits that he once felt the tours could exist playing on separate paths.
But not so much anymore.
To push away from the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia—which funds LIV Golf and has allegedly been in talks with the PGA Tour about an agreement for some nine months—would be risky.
“Very dangerous,” Simpson said Thursday following his first round at the Bay Hill Club. “I think we’re in a position where we want to do the right deal. We don’t want to just do a deal because we’re afraid that the LIV tour might recruit more players. That’s certainly a fear. But I think it’s obvious. The writing is on the wall. We’re not in a position where we need to do a deal for money. We need to do a deal for the good of the game. And for the health of the PGA Tour long-term. That’s my hope.”
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Simpson, who has won seven times on the PGA Tour, is part of the six-player board that includes Tiger Woods, Adam Scott, Jordan Spieth, Patrick Cantlay and Peter Malnati.
On Tuesday, all six of those players along with a player liaison, Joe Ogilvie, were named to a 13-member board for the new PGA Tour Enterprises that will include commissioner Jay Monahan, another Tour executive and four members of Strategic Sports Group, the consortium of businesses that plans to invest some $3 billion in the new pro-profit entity.
Simpson acknowledged he has no idea what the new endeavor will look like but that he wants to see progress toward getting the game back together.
“One thing I’m certain of is fans, players, media, sponsors alike all feel strongly that the game is divided,” Simpson said. “The game has been divided for a year and a half now. The game misses the personalities of LIV. I think the game misses the personalities of LIV and the PGA Tour playing together. I miss a lot of my buddies out there—Charles Howell, Bubba Watson to name a couple.
“I don’t know what they (LIV and the PIF) want. I don’t know what the players playing for LIV want. I think they’re very happy where they are. I think they’re very happy with the decisions they’ve made. But I’ve heard from enough people who have grown a little distasteful with the current state of golf. Not pointing blame at LIV or PGA Tour or anyone.
“When you come to big tournaments like the Arnold Palmer Invitational, you want to know the guy who won beat most or all of the best players. Right now the PGA Tour still has more great players, but LIV has great players as well. I just think for the health of the game and longevity and for what fans are used to seeing ...”
Simpson then referenced next week’s Players Championship, which he won in 2018. It is the PGA Tour’s flagship tournament and held at its headquarters in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla. For years, it has been billed as the game’s “fifth major” and the Tour has leaned into the idea that it brings together the best field in golf.
While the latter might still be true, the tournament next week will be missing some of the best players in the world. A pair of major champions from last year, Jon Rahm and Brooks Koepka, won’t be playing nor will 2022 Players winner Cam Smith. A top-50 player such as Tyrrell Hatton also won’t be there. In 2022, LIV players Paul Casey and Anirban Lahiri were in contention at TPC Sawgrass.
“When you used to tee it up at the Players, it was the strongest field in golf,” Simpson said. “It still continues to be. But if you won that golf tournament, you could say you beat every great player in the world this week. Right now you can’t say that. You still won a big tournament against a lot of great players. But that’s where I’m hoping we can figure it out.”
Curiously, Simpson admitted that the player directors have not spoken to anyone from the PIF, including governor Yasir Al-Rumayyan, the director of LIV Golf. Woods and Cantlay have both said they’ve not communicated directly with anyone from the PIF.
“Honestly, we probably should have talked to them already,” said Simpson, who suggested that those talks likely have occurred among PGA Tour staff. “I think the idea was the focus was SSG and to get that done. And then I think the idea was once we solidified that and the board, we were really going to begin discussing what it looks like with PIF joining or not joining.”
To that end, Simpson said in order to move forward, there needs to be an understanding of who wants what.
“We have to have a conversation with them,”’ Simpson said. “What do they want? What does Yasir really want? What does Jon Rahm want? He carries so much weight. I think we need to listen. I think we need to collaborate. I feel much different now about coming back together than I did a year ago. I thought a year ago we could continue on our path and less guys would leave. More guys have left than I realized. I’m hopeful that we can solve this problem.”
When the original “framework agreement” was announced last June, it was announced that the now-named PGA Tour Enterprises would see Al-Rumayyan as chairman of the board with Monahan as CEO. Al-Rumayyan would also have received a spot on the PGA Tour Policy Board.
Without a deal, that has yet to happen. So, interestingly, has the fact that nobody from the DP World Tour, also part of an agreement, has been named to the board.
“If we did a deal with them, you’d certainly want him (Al-Rumayyan) to feel that he’s a part of these big decisions and collaborate,” Simpson said. “How do we do team golf if that is important to him? What is the schedule of the PGA Tour going forward? If we want to highlight the FedEx Cup and keep that the No. 1 goal ... what about the fall (schedule)? There’s a lot of work to be done. I think the most important thing is we hear from them and talk to them and hear what it is and what he’s interested in.”
