The merger of the PGA and the LIV. I'm suspicious of the outrage.

I am not a golfer.

Back in the sixties when attending Los Angeles City College I was required to take a gym class.

One semester I took badminton. Another I took golf.

Then I dropped out.

By the time I returned to college the P.E. requirement was no more.

I have friends who are big golf fans and love it.

I don’t get it, but I don’t have to.

But I am intrigued about the outrage I am seeing in the news today over the merger of the PGA and the LIV.

The LIV is a creation of the Saudis.

That the merger is purely a financial deal is without question.

But the reaction to it, that somehow the PGA sold out their principles in dealing with the Saudis, strikes me as ridiculous.

“They said it was about principles, but it was always about money,” writes New York Times sports reporter Kurt Streeter.

Well, yes.

Despite vows from the leaders of the PGA Tour that they would not permit their game to be sullied, men’s professional golf is now in thrall to Saudi Arabia, a nation engaged in a full-tilt attempt to distract the public from the abuse of its citizens through the glitz, gloss and worldwide appeal of sports.

Human rights, it turns out, are a bore, and an obstacle. “Sportswashing,” as it is known, is powerful and effective.

I may have forgotten the difference between a wood and and iron in the 50 years since I took golf in college, but I can still tell bs when I see it.

Some might wonder if the merger with the LIV isn’t a step up for the PGA.

Take the PGA’s premier event, The Masters.

First of all, it called The Masters and it takes place in the heart of the old Confederacy in Augusta, Georgia.

The Masters had a title prior to its current name when started in 1934.

But some thought the The Masters was not appropriate given the relation to slavery surrounding the course in Augusta, Georgia. As a result, the name Augusta National Invitation Tournament was adopted and the title was used for five years until 1939.

It is difficult to believe that changing the name to The Masters, a tournament held at a white male only club in the Confederate state of Georgia was done innocently.

Hell. Real estate agents don’t even call the main bedroom in a house a master bedroom anymore.

Augusta National wasn’t even as sensitive as a real estate agent.

The PGA originally had a Caucasian clause which stated that touring golfers could only be white. There was no integration throughout professional golf until this clause was eliminated in 1961.

The Masters didn’t invite a Black competitor to play until 1975, when the great Lee Elder finally broke the color barrier.

Augusta, which maintains strict secrecy over its membership roster, didn’t admit its first Black member until 1990.

Until 1983, the club held to a strict tradition that golfers use only club caddies, all of whom were Black. It was only in 2012 that the club allowed its first female members.

It wasn’t until 2019 when, after decades of welcoming elite male golfers, the club hosted the final round of the Augusta National Women’s Amateur tournament.

Okay.

I’m done.

I going back to ignoring golf.