Just moments after conquering one of the better International teams ever assembled to claim the 2005 Presidents Cup, a notably cocksure US squad arrived at the media center late that Sunday afternoon with plenty to appreciate and a lot to talk about. American victories in four of the first five singles matches had basically put the champagne on ice, but before the boys could break out the bubbly, the perfunctory post-match press briefing loomed like a speedbump between the joy of winning and the celebration beginning.
All 12 golfers walked in together, entering media headquarters through the large workspace designated for writers. It was there that a half-dozen or so televisions had been switched over to a compelling, early-season clash between the New England Patriots and Pittsburgh Steelers. At least the players found it worth their while—every one of them grabbed a chair and sat down to watch. It took PGA Tour officials about 10 minutes to realize why the press conference hadn’t started and another five to nudge the fellas into the interview room. Several required additional producing.
Everybody’s a football fan, which is why pro golf slows to a crawl during the final four months of the calendar year. After several attempts to strengthen its presence in Asia, the Tour has whittled those excursions down to a single event in Japan. That tournament got lost last weekend in a barrage of sporting excitement featuring Tennessee’s wild win over Alabama in college football and an MLB playoff game that required 18 innings to break a scoreless tie.
With LIV Golf raising all that racket and a majority of the game’s best players showing little or no interest in the autumn menu, it’s easy to see how Camp Ponte Vedra could use an encouraging slap on the fanny about now. If there is no crying in baseball, however, there is no self-pity in the golf industry. Most of the Tour’s biggest problems are of their own doing—the repercussions of prolific success and the exasperating tandem of need and greed.
Speaking of which, I remember covering a Red Sox-Orioles game in Baltimore back in June 1988, which Boston won 15-7. It had already been a long afternoon when Roger Clemens casually approached the tiny TV in the clubhouse afterward and turned on Game 6 of the NBA Finals. As soon as Clemens returned to his stall, veteran Jim Rice got up, walked toward the TV with a greater sense of urgency and flipped the channel to ABC, which was deep into the final round of the US Open.
Golf beats basketball any day of the week, right? Clemens immediately headed back to the set and switched to what was a thrilling duel between the Pistons and Lakers. When Rice rose from his stool again, this time with an obvious sense of purpose, the entire room went silent. I remember thinking the world just might come to a halt. Two very big men, two superstars, two massive egos…
Strange vs. Faldo beats Magic vs. Isiah, 1-up. And Clemens vs. Rice was a better show than either.
No smoking in the theatre, even if it is the John Daly story.
Erin Woodiel/USA TODAY Network
> A movie on John Daly? The dude working the concession stand at the movie theater better dump some extra butter into the popcorn. Renowned actor Jonah Hill reportedly has begun working on the project in both the lead role and as producer, according to Abovetheline.com.
From there, things get sketchy, sort of like the lead character himself. Besides the notion that golf movies as a whole have limited mainstream appeal, Daly’s hedonisitic tendencies and self-destructive nature aren’t just really old news. The tales have been told at the point of exhaustion. Anyone who knows about Daly’s turbulent past is fully aware of the alcohol-related episodes and mindless decisions made without any regard for the consequences, which isn’t to say that the details actually matter.
There’s nothing unsavory about glorifying a guy whose fame was derived as much by all the things he did wrong as what he got right—that’s a true Hollywood staple. The question is whether Daly, who hasn’t done anything stupid or astounding in at least 20 years, is a legitimate cinematic concept in 2022. Since he’s no longer relevant as a player and has gone decades without adding to his radically unique legacy, the answer there is no.
Hill is obviously a talented performer with the credentials and artistic mindset to give it a shot, but this is a high leap into a very shallow pool. Theater of the absurd? Hey, it’s not my money.
> More than a month has passed since Greg Norman strongly suggested that LIV’s search for a television partner has generated “enormous” interest, that four networks had submitted offers because, in his words, “they can see the value of our product, they can see what we’re delivering. ” Those comments, like a lot of things Norman says, might qualify as a reason to question the limits of his credibility. A man with a strong sense of self—and a longstanding grudge against his primary rival—is more likely to overstate his perception of progress and interpret revenge as success.
Four networks? Offers on the table? At age 67, scorned by the Tour and armed with a very long memory, Norman has always been adept at working the media. He’s also smart enough to know he won’t get anywhere on his LIV Golf adventure unless he takes some risks and keeps the pedal to the metal in the hypemobile. It was reported in mid-September that Fox Sports had all but locked up the rights to televise the rebel league’s tournaments, triggering an internet aggregation of factual inaccuracy and the usual lack of accountability.
The problem with the media these days is that you can hide behind it. Norman emerges from behind the curtain and announces things that nobody investigates, no relevant party confirms and nobody remembers a week later. LIV Golf still hasn’t hit 200,000 viewers for a single tournament round on YouTube. That must be an awfully low table those offers are landing on.
> Those hearty enough to watch the final round of the Tour stop in Japan might have noticed some unfamiliar voices handling the telecast. Shane Bacon anchored the coverage alongside Sam Saunders, a former tour pro perhaps better known as Arnold Palmer’s grandson. The star of the show, however, was veteran on-course analyst Craig Perks, who has gotten dramatically better since going to work at the Golf Channel years ago.
The Aussie was, as NBC’s Gary Koch might say, rougher than most when he first picked up a microphone, seemingly unfamiliar with the players against whom he once competed and reluctant to dispense criticism. Goodness, how that has changed. Perks now sounds unable of appraising a shot at anything other than face value. He’s not mean, just honest, and with everyone at the top of the leaderboard having not won a Tour event in years, if at all, there were more poor shots to talk about than usual.
Tough but fair. That’s all a viewer can ask for, and Perks delivers. He has the edge and polish to work for one of the major networks, and given CBS’s affinity for guys with foreign accents, you just never know.
Editor’s Note: Sports Illustrated’s parent company, Authentic Brands Group, has a licensing and endorsement partnership with Greg Norman. SI is not a party to this deal.
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