No, never and if Jon Rahm were to say it in Spanish, it would be “Nada!” to the Saudis, their proposed alternative golf league and the pro-ported mega amounts of money they are alleged to be throwing out for consideration by today’s PGA Tour stars.
Jon Rahm is not interested and he made that perfectly clear before his first round at the Genesis Invitational.
“I made it clear to my team — not to bother,” said the world’s No. 1. “It’s just not for me.” Rahm pointed out that all anyone’s heard about this proposed league, back by Saudi money, is heresay from players. Kramer Hickok said last week he knows 17 players who are ready to head for the league. And the reasonable question there is — When did Hickok become privy to all this wonderful “insider” information. On the PGA Tour, he’s your basic outlier.
Jon Rahm isn’t.
“I’m in this for the love of the game and to be a champion,” Rahm said emphatically, pointing out how he watched Seve Ballesteros as a youngster and observed Seve’s love and passion for the game itself. “I don’t do this for the money,” Rahm added. “I’ve already made more money in my life than I ever thought I would make.”
And it’s Rahm’s stance that seems to be echoed by most of the young stars and without young stars, the fledgling Saudi-backed league is going nowhere.
Collin Morikawa, No. 2 behind Rahm, is of the same mindset and you’d get the same response if you went right down the world’s top 10.
Rory McIlroy didn’t pull any punches as he prepped for this week. “I’m so sick of it,” McIlroy said of the rumors and hearsay mega numbers some sources are throwing around.
Truth be known, for the young stars and rising stars, it would be a massive, possibly career-crushing risk.
One player who sounded very interested was Adam Scott. He might be the best the Saudis could land. But Scott’s best days are behind him. At age 41, he’s already playing a cut-back schedule. “I think the schedule they’re proposing is very appealing,” Scott said this week.
And then there’s Phil Mickelson.
At this point in time, those who have indicated interest in the “league” are on the downside of their careers and does Greg Norman and his Saudi cohorts want to start their own version of Senior Golf? Yes, that would be as exciting as a turd in the punchbowl.
Augusta National Makes Anticipated Changes:
When the 2022 Masters is played in April, there will be some changes to the course, many of which were anticipated.
First at the par four 11th, perhaps the most difficult hole on the course, the tee has been extended and up to 15 yards can be added to the hole’s length. The fairway was also re-contoured.
At the par five 15th, 20 yards has been added to the back tee. That came from the property that Augusta National acquired from neighboring Augusta Country Club. The fairway at 15 was also re-contoured.
In addition, the tee at the 18th was lengthened giving ANGC the ability to add another 15 yards to the length of the hole.
Disastrous Fire Destroys Historic Clubhouse At Oakland Hills:
The iconic clubhouse at Oakland Hills Country Club, outside Detroit, was extensively damaged by a fire that began around 9 a.m. Thursday morning and was still not put out as evening set in.
The wooden structure, built in 1922, had just about all of the roof structure destroyed. Fortunately, no staff members were injured.
Although much of the structure was destroyed, local firefighters were able to save many valuable memorabilia items from the various major championships that have been staged at the club.
“This is a gut-wrenching day for Oakland Hills. While we know that no one from the membership or staff was hurt, we have lost our iconic clubhouse, that housed our history and our place in Michigan and U.S. and international golf,” said Oakland Hills president Rick Palmer.
l
