At this point, you are probably aware of the ongoing legal situation and war of words between the PGA Tour and all of the players who defected from the world’s top golf circuit to join the controversial LIV Golf Series. A departure from the PGA Tour because its tournaments are 54-hole, no-cut events, LIV Golf is mainly controversial because it is financed by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund.
Thanks to its backers and the overall reputation and conduct of CEO Greg Norman, LIV Golf has largely been ignored by the masses and has had trouble securing a TV deal in the United States. But for the players who’ve joined the upstart circuit, including stars like Cameron Smith, Phil Mickelson and Brooks Koepka, LIV has been a breath of fresh air. As it turns out, it’s not just the players who defected from the PGA Tour to the Saudi-backed series who have enjoyed the move as an unnamed caddie who made the jump called it “the best experience of my career” in a piece for Golf Digest. In fact, the freshly minted LIV Golf caddie said joining the new tour has been “f*cking great.”
Here are five more takeaways from the anonymous LIV Golf caddie’s piece for Golf Digest.
- Norman is a man of the people: “CEO Greg Norman has something personal to say to everyone, not just ‘Hey there,’ or ‘Have a good day, boys.’ To be seen means a hell of a lot. You know how many times a PGA Tour executive did that in all my years on tour? Twice, and both times it was because someone needed a hook-up for football tickets.”
- Ignoring the noise about Saudi Arabia is part of the job: “I’m a globetrotter, and I’ve seen the best and the worst of people across the world. If I didn’t work an event because of what country it was in or what club it was played at or who was sponsoring it, well, I wouldn’t have a schedule.”
- Thus far, the state of play is meh: “The competition right now is not great. The atmosphere is dead. Even during final rounds there are crowds, but they don’t know what they’re watching.”
- As advertised, LIV is all about the money: “My player and I have an agreement, and it’s not the standard 8 to 10 percent of winnings in professional golf. I got nothing of his signing bonus to join LIV, either, but I’m still taking home life-changing money and will get a cut of all the team and season-ending bonuses. If things continue to go the way they’ve been going, I’m going to make more in this shortened LIV season than I have in the past three years combined on the PGA Tour.”
- Expect more players, and their caddies, to defect: “I respect the opinions of those who want to stay away from LIV because of its complicated and controversial ties. That said, out of my dozen or so closest caddie friends on tour, half of them are doing everything they can to find a way to LIV. To a lot of us, it’s an opportunity we can’t afford to pass up.”
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