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McCARTHY Greg Norman gambling again on world golf tour Optimism for RBC Canadian Open

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    Jon McCarthy Greg Norman is the CEO of the new yet-to-be named golf tour. Greg Norman is the CEO of the new yet-to-be named golf tour. Photo by XAUME OLLEROS /Getty Images Article content

    The widely speculated Saudi-backed breakaway world golf tour is back making news, and it’s continuing to collect some of the top straw hat talent in the industry.

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    After luring Greg Norman off the beach as CEO of the yet-to-be named tour, on Tuesday it hired former PGA Tour rules guru Slugger White out of retirement.

    Norman, whose dream of a rival world tour began decades ago, was recently tapped by LIV Golf Investments to head up a potential deep-pocketed challenger to the PGA Tour (although the company’s publicly stated mission is to “holistically improve the health of professional golf.”) This week the group added White and his trademark panama hat, as well as several sports media execs with long and impressive resumes. During Norman’s announcement it was also explained that the group is partnering with the Asian Tour and committing $200-million over the next decade to fund 10 annual tournaments that will be on that tour’s schedule beginning 2022.

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    After years of speculation this is certainly the closest we’ve been to this venture becoming a reality, but now the hard part begins.

    To launch a worldwide golf tour you need players. To rival the PGA Tour, you will need top stars. There have been reports of meetings with roomfuls of agents, because when you are talking about money, agents are paid to listen. Landing a handful of PGA Tour stars is still incredibly unlikely; landing the dozens necessary to be a viable world-class tour still seems impossible.

    And remember, the PGA Tour is yet to fire a single bullet.

    The closest the folks in Ponte Vedra have come to reacting is the $40-million Player Impact Program, a bonus fund split between the top ten Tweeters on tour, or something to that effect. But that doesn’t mean PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan hasn’t taken notice.

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    This would-be tour has definitely identified some weaknesses in the meritocratic structure of the PGA Tour. The notion that every player is equal on Thursday morning is romantic but falls a bit flat in this age of sport celebrity, especially when the tour markets its top players almost exclusively.

    The best golfers see athletes such as the Raptors’ Goran Dragic making $20 million to sit on the bench in the NBA and want a bigger slice of the PGA Tour pie. That might be apples to oranges but try convincing that to a roomful of your best employees.

    Sure, the breakaway tour’s idea of no-cut events with only top players sounds promising, but the most likely scenario is still the PGA Tour simply stealing the format. Golf fans want to see more of the game’s best playing head-to-head. The tour already has the players, already has the tournaments, already has relationships with deep-pocketed sponsors. The tour likely wouldn’t have a hard time convincing its partners to pony up â€" even significantly more â€" for a limited series of annual events featuring only the world’s best in a fan (and sponsor) friendly format.

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    Norman’s original gamble on a world tour more than a quarter century ago ended with the PGA Tour flexing its muscles and the development of the World Golf Championship events. Sooner or later, the Shark is likely going to find history repeating itself.

    CANADIAN OPEN AT LAST

    Golf Canada CEO Laurence Applebaum expressed great optimism that after two years lost to the pandemic, the RBC Canadian Open and CP Women’s Open will be all systems go next June.

    “All indications look like we are trending in the right way,” Applebaum said during a state of the golf industry roundtable on Wednesday.

    Applebaum was asked about the potential hurdle of vaccinations among PGA Tour players, and whether it could lead to difficulty attracting the strong field that the Canadian Open is hoping will be an annual occurrence in its new spot on the PGA Tour schedule directly before the U.S. Open.

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    “We have an exceptional grouping who has historically played this event, along with our partners at Team RBC,” Applebaum said. “I don’t feel that concern or worry for a number of reasons, including that we have seven or almost eight months ahead of us before the championship.”

    Applebaum also mentioned that representatives from the PGA Tour were in Toronto in October for a site visit at St. Georges and to work on the plan for next year’s event.

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    CHIP SHOTS

    Not all holes-in-one are equal. LPGA player Austin Ernst made an ace during a practice round for this week’s Pelican Women’s Championship and won a two-year lease on a Lamborghini … Canadian LPGA player Brittany Marchand recently announced her retirement. I remember the Orangeville, Ont., native as a tiny junior golfer when I was a member at Brampton Golf Club. Looked it up and I’m happy to see that Marchand is just 29 years old, because for a second I was worried I had gotten old … As Canadian golfers we are always hoping for warm fall days, but my golf club is closed now so the sun is just annoying. How many days until spring?

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