Harrington on the Saudis, Phil, winning the Masters and Rory's patience
KIAWAH ISLAND, SC - MAY 21: Phil Mickelson and Padraig Harrington of Ireland on the third hole during the second round of the 2021 PGA Championship held at the Ocean Course of Kiawah Island Golf Resort on May 21, 2021 in Kiawah Island, South Carolina. (Photo by Darren Carroll/PGA of America)
PÁDRAIG HARRINGTON understands Phil Mickelson's "gripe" about media rights and reckons the PGA Tour must "lock up" its biggest asset— the players—if it is to fight off Greg Norman, the Saudis or even a venture capital fund looking to create a rival league.
Before Norman and LIV Golf Investments announced an Invitational Series of eight 54-hole events boasting total prize money of $255 million, Harrington told Garrett Johnston on the Beyond the Clubhouse podcast it's imperative the PGA Tour locks in its players with a non-compete clause.
The Dubliner (50) insisted he had "no allegiance" to any leagues but said threats from either the Premier Golf League, the Saudi-backed league fronted by LIV Golf Investments or big-money investors in the US require the PGA Tour to act now.
"It's great that people want to put money into golf," Harrington said. "But I do feel the PGA Tour have to be wary going forward because ultimately if Amazon Prime or somebody came in and said we want to start a league with 15 events and we have $2-4 billion, they could buy the main assets of the PGA Tour, the main assets being the players.
"The PGA Tour need to lock up the rights of the players. Nobody wouldn't sign to play with the PGA Tour if they said right, you have to sign a two-year non-compete.
"As much as we are independent contractors, we actually have to lose that in order for somebody not to come in and buy us out."
Harrington believes opposition to the Saudi league is based on "moral grounds", but that doesn't protect the PGA Tour from "a US venture fund coming in and doing this."
“Hang on a second here, that guy is not as good as me and for an average week he’s after making €500,000, and I’ve made 50 grand.”
While Rory McIlroy declared the SGL "dead in the water", the Saudi-backed LIV Golf Investment Series announced a series of eight 54-hole events yesterday.
They boast total prize money of $255 million, starting from June 9-11 at Centurion Golf Club near London before moving to the United States for four events.
Seven events will have $25 million purses to be divided among 48 players with the season-ending individual championship worth another $30 million and the team championship worth $50 million divided among four players.
"I believe players will increasingly make progress in achieving their right to play where they want and when they want," Norman said yesterday. "We will help in any way possible. But in the interim, we see a global pool of talent we can tap into to develop and promote.
"In many ways, we're a startup enterprise. We have a long-term vision that will start modestly and grow. "Mark my words: Players, including the game's biggest names, will increasingly join us. And make no mistake: We are here for the long term."
Greg Norman. Picture: Great White Shark Enterprises
The move was not unexpected for Harrington, who thought they should always have targeted a "build it and they will come" model.
"I played in the Ras al Khaimah tournament opposite the Saudi event and played for $2 million that week and the Saudi event was $5 million," he said. "That made no difference to me. I wasn't looking over the fence and thinking, oh, they're playing for $5 million and I'm playing for $2 million. But if they were playing for $20 or $25 million and I'm playing for $2 million, I'm going to go, hang on a second here, that guy is not as good as me and for an average week he's after making €500,000, and I've made 50 grand.
“Phil wants to be the new innovative guy; he wants to be out in front. That’s his personality, ”
"So build it, and they will come with attract lower rank players to start off with, but as I said, all of a sudden people will be going, he's not as good as me and he's making $5 million a year and I making $1 million.
"I think the PGA Tour have to be wary of somebody else coming in and buying the main assets for probably $2 billion, maybe a little bit more. So it's simple. The PGA Tour has got to lock it up somehow and make sure nobody can just step in and take what they have built."
As for Mickelson's complaint that he can't earn a cent from his iconic shots, Harrington said: "I can understand Phil's main gripe. Phil likes to be the centre of what's going on, and he said he wants to be involved in NFTs (non-fungible tokens).
"Phil understands his most iconic moments he doesn't own. What's interesting about that is his most iconic moments are not with the PGA Tour; they are actually with the majors.
"His jump at the Masters is his branded logo, but he doesn't actually have the footage of that from the Masters, so he can't make an NFT out of that unless he comes to some agreement with Augusta.
"Phil wants to be the new innovative guy; he wants to be out in front. That's his personality, and the NFTs have certainly irked him a bit. So maybe that will change. The PGA Tour has talked about changing down the road, and maybe there should be some sort of revenue share between the players in that if you create an iconic moment, you can make an NFT out of or something like that down the road."
Harrington sees prize funds such as the $20 m purse at The Players last week and the advent of the PIP fund, and the promise of new formats from the PGA Tour have been prompted by external threats.
"As much as it's disruptive, disruption leads to better times," he said.
That threat has now arrived in the shape of the LIV Golf Investment Series, and PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan has said any players joining the league would face banishment from the PGA Tour.
As for the Premier Golf League, they have written to the PGA Tour and PAC chairman Rory McIlroy prosing an 18-event series with 12 teams of four players competing in team and individual championships that run simultaneously throughout the season.
Purses would be worth $20 million, with an additional $1 million going to the winners of the team event. A winner-take-all prize of $20 million is also up for grabs to the winner of a season-ending team event.
The PGL also plans to allocate 100 million shares to PGA Tour, Korn Ferry Tour and DP World Tour players in a tiered system, but according to Global Golf Post, the letter received brief consideration from the PGA Tour and was dismissed.
Harrington, meanwhile, is getting ready for his first appearance in the Masters since 2015 and he's going there to win.
Ireland’s John Carr looks on as Rory Mcilroy speaks to the media prior to the Masters at Augusta National Golf Club, Tuesday, November 10, 2020.
"I'm not going to make up the numbers," he said, insisting he must go with the belief he can win. "I believe that. It doesn't make any difference what the reality is. I have to create my own reality and believe it. In my head, I am visualising and getting ready to win. There is no reason for me not to think like that. It doesn't make any difference whatsoever what the betting will say or what the reality of the situation is. To get my best performance that week, I've got to believe that I can win.
"Physically, I'm in the same category I've always been in on tour. Length won't be an issue at all. It'll all come down to how I putt during the week and how well I do my routines on the rest of my shots.
"I've got three or four weeks now to get ready, and if I do good preparation, I know I know mentally I can get my game where it needs to be."
He's in a different position to Rory McIlroy, who will again be trying to complete the career Grand Slam and his advice to the Holywood star is to be patient.
"He's in a tough position," he said. "There has to be a fourth one when it comes to the Grand Slam. There's always going to be a last one to win and Augusta is it."
"He has done well there in the past, so as an outsider looking in, it's always very easy to tell him to be patient. He's probably going to play another 20 Masters, so he's got plenty of time. He just needs to understand it could be a case he doesn't win for the next five years and then wins three in a row. Who knows?
"It's hard though to be patient and wait, but that's what he has to do. That's the only reality. He can't force it. He can't push it. I know he has tried many different routines going in there and that's not a bad idea, to try different preparation and approaches to give himself a different feel, but it will fall in place at some stage."
The PGA Tour moves to Innisbrook Resort's Copperhead Course for the Valspar Championship, where Norway's Viktor Hovland can become world number one if he claims victory.
Shane Lowry will be looking to press on after five top 15s and a tie for 24th in his last six starts worldwide.
Despite fading to tied 13th in The Players, he declared himself "happy" with his week at Sawgrass and that hole in one at the iconic 17th.
He's joined in Tampa by Graeme McDowell, who showed signs he's on his way back to form with his tied 13th finish in the Arnold Palmer Invitational.
On the DP World Tour, Jonathan Caldwell is the lone Irishman in the Steyn City Championship in Johannesburg while in the LPGA's second-tier Epson Tour, Olivia Mehaffey makes her seasonal debut in the Carlisle Arizona Women's Golf Classic in Arizona.
The former Arizona State star, who lost her father Philip to cancer last year but still clinched her card at the LET Q-School, has received a massive vote of confidence from pal Leona Maguire.
After Maguire claimed her maiden LPGA win she told Mehaffey that her own LPGA title will come "sooner than you think."
"That meant a lot to me," Mehaffey told Golfweek. "We go so far back."
LIV Golf Invitational 2022 schedule
June 9-11 Centurion Golf Club – London
July 1-3 Pumpkin Ridge Golf Club – Portland
July 29-31 Trump National Golf Club Bedminster – New Jersey
Sept. 2-4 The International – Boston
Sept. 16-18 Rich Harvest Farms – Chicago
Oct. 7-9 Stonehill – Bangkok
Oct. 14-16 Royal Greens Golf Club – Jeddah
Oct. 28-30 Team Championship – TBD
