Genesis Invitational’s lack of buzz shows golf is at dangerous crossroads
PACIFIC PALISADES, Calif. Weird week. Then again, weird has become the norm at the Genesis Invitational in recent years.
Weird, too, is the best way to describe the state of professional golf at the moment, with the great divide between the PGA Tour and LIV Golf and that framework agreement that seems flimsier than the current state of Tiger Woods health.
When a PGA Tour event is going to be remembered more for the bizarre Friday scene of an ambulance outside the service entrance of Riviera Country Club waiting to take an ailing Woods to the hospital (he never got into the ambulance) than for who won the tournament Sunday (Hideki Matsuyama), this is a problem.
Its not the look the PGA Tour wants particularly for one of its signature elevated events.
In the end, the only thing that separated this tournament in its previous L.A. Open iterations from the current elevated event status was the elevated payouts doled out to the players ($4 million to the winner).
Woods withdrew with flu symptoms six-plus holes into his second round Friday.
3Tiger Woods is driven off the course after withdrawing during the second round of the Genesis Invitational on Feb. 16, 2024. APLater that day, Jordan Spieth, one of the most popular players in the world, was disqualified for inadvertently signing for an incorrect score on his scorecard and also was not around for the weekend.
Meanwhile, defending champion Jon Rahm arguably the best player in the world wasnt welcome here because he took hundreds of millions to go to LIV Golf. Nor was the 2022 winner, Joaquin Niemann, whos also playing on LIV.
Because of that bizarre circumstance, the ever-popular and always humorous Max Homa, who won the 2021 Genesis, joked before the tournament that he was the double defending champion.
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Speaking of the champion, Matsuyama and the thousands of spectators ringing the natural amphitheater of the 18th green were deprived Sunday of seeing Woods, whose foundation hosts the event, present the winners trophy.
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Tiger Woods’ withdrawal from own event is golf great’s latest bizarre episode
Woods was nowhere to be found, presumably back home in Florida recuperating from the flu.
I never question an athletes injury or illness because only the person whos injured or ill knows how bad he or she is feeling. But for Woods, two days removed from the flu diagnosis, not to be at Riviera on Sunday to present the trophy wasnt a great look. The sponsors who pump millions into the event to benefit Woods foundation could not have been happy about his absence.
I was a little disappointed that I wasnt able to take a picture with Tiger today, Matsuyama said after he won.
Its difficult to imagine Jack Nicklaus or Arnold Palmer not powering through the flu to make sure they were on hand to present the trophy to the winner of the Memorial or Arnold Palmer Invitational at the end of the tournament.
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Check out more newslettersThe Woods withdrawal and the ambulance drama, along with Spieths DQ and top-ranked stars like Rory McIlroy and Scottie Scheffler never making a true run added up to less buzz than there should have been for an elevated PGA Tour event.
The lack of buzz can directly be attributed to Woods early departure from the field and the divide in the game. Imagine what this week would have been like with Rahm defending his title and with Johnson, DeChambeau and Cam Smith also in the field.
It would have been a hell of a lot better. It would have felt like, ahem, what an elevated event is supposed to feel like. And the players on the PGA Tour who are honest with themselves know it.
3Jordan Spieth was disqualified from the Genesis Invitational for inadvertently signing for an incorrect score on his scorecard. APIts been a little strange, Jason Day told The Post, speaking of the agitated state of the game. Like, weve had an agreement with LIV and yet one side LIV is still poaching players and its like, Are we really agreeing? Whats going on?
We need to come back together at some point because we need the best players in the world playing against each other. Thats the best product. It just doesnt work this way. Weve just got to take all the emotion out of it and say, OK, whats better for the game?
If better for the game is bringing all the (LIV) guys back, then thats better for the game and isnt that a better product? Thered probably be a little bit of a disconnect at the start between some players, but give it some time and all of a sudden, things will be back to normal.
It wasnt too long ago as a PGA tour we were against LIV and now were in an agreement with them in what potentially could be a partnership. So, weve got to just sit down and take all the emotion out of it and make the best decision for golf.
3Hideki Matsuyama after winning the Genesis Invitational on Feb. 18, 2024. USA TODAY Sports Canadian MacKenzie Hughes, in a candid walk-and-talk interview with CBS this week, called it kind of unfortunate where we are in the game right now, adding, It seems that its just all about the money and, How much money can I make? Its kind of lost the spirit of the game in the process.
It seems like some guys have lost a little bit of sight of that and now were in a place where fans are just generally a little fed up with it. And those are the people that drive our sport.
Perfectly stated.
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