Golf Thread

[Fernando]

Spieth being such a horrendous putter now is killing me. His game is back to being near elite, any time he has a decent putting week he's competing for wins. It's painful to watch.

[nepg]

Originally Posted by Rob S

Yeah this Tiger start is a massive buzz kill.

Yeah. The only reason I'll ever tune in to golf is if Tiger is in it on Saturday & Sunday. And that has been the case my entire life.

[iowatreat]

Sucks that Tiger is out, but not unexpected as he is basically coming in cold. Anyone who bet on him was a sucker, though.

Speaking of suckers, all 4 of my bets are at or below the cut line.

[Fernando]

Dustin Johnson being in the final pairing is really too delicious to not happen. I hope he wins and he just shrugs his way through all the press conferences.

That said, the Camerons might need to stop shredding up the course in order for that to happen.

[Kyle]

This kind of course seems perfect for Smith with his mediocre driving but elite short game. He might be tough to beat this weekend.

[iowatreat]

I'm a Cam Young guy. Wish I would have thrown $5 on him.

I too hope for a Camerons duel because I like them both.

[iowatreat]

Absolutely insane round by Smith, especially the back 9.

Glad I put a few bucks on him last night 12/1 and got my money from the weekend back.

[Fernando]

God was pulling for Rory so hard but dude just couldn’t make a putt today. Cam shooting a 30 was bananas.

[iowatreat]

I believe they said Rory had 36 putts today, and only went -2. Just not his day.

[badger]

Originally Posted by iowatreat

I believe they said Rory had 36 putts today, and only went -2. Just not his day.

Yeah, he hit every green in regulation. I was seriously hoping for a 3 way tie at -19 with the Cams and Rory, but it wasn’t meant to be.

[Fernando]

Originally Posted by badger

Yeah, he hit every green in regulation. I was seriously hoping for a 3 way tie at -19 with the Cams and Rory, but it wasn’t meant to be.

His par putt on 17 and his putt off the green on 18 for Cam just solidified the kinda day he was having. He was just not missing today.

[Damix]

Cam Young crushing that eagle on 18 only to be eliminated 15 seconds later by Smith sucked.

[badger]

I'm pretty sure the LIV lawsuit is the start of the end of the PGA Tour. I'm sure they'll end up with some kind of settlement and limp along for a little bit, but pretty much all of the top guys will go when the OK is given for them to do so without losing Tour opportunities. Eventually it's just going to be a development league and we'll be stuck with Let's Go Brandon chants at the biggest non-major events.

[Fernando]

Originally Posted by badger

I'm pretty sure the LIV lawsuit is the start of the end of the PGA Tour. I'm sure they'll end up with some kind of settlement and limp along for a little bit, but pretty much all of the top guys will go when the OK is given for them to do so without losing Tour opportunities. Eventually it's just going to be a development league and we'll be stuck with Let's Go Brandon chants at the biggest non-major events.

We'll see how strong the antitrust arguments end up being. Both sides have the best attorneys money can buy telling them that they're right.

I really don't know why the tour didn't just negotiate with them in the first place, and let them get their tournaments in during their "off season", but the tour was greedy and wanted to keep a year long rolling calendar.

It wasn't until LIV came along that they decided to go back to a season schedule, increase purses, have limited field events.... almost like they could have done it all along.

[badger]

Originally Posted by Fernando

We'll see how strong the antitrust arguments end up being. Both sides have the best attorneys money can buy telling them that they're right.

I really don't know why the tour didn't just negotiate with them in the first place, and let them get their tournaments in during their "off season", but the tour was greedy and wanted to keep a year long rolling calendar.

It wasn't until LIV came along that they decided to go back to a season schedule, increase purses, have limited field events.... almost like they could have done it all along.

I've gone back and forth on it a little, but honestly I think the Tour was screwed no matter what and needed to throw all their eggs in the basket like they did and hope LIV's product was so bad that they gave up. The Saudis aren't investing all of this to be an off season product...if the Tour gave an inch at the beginning (or more now after a settlement) LIV would continue to grow and eventually steamroll the Tour once it got rolling.

NLU's most recent podcast is pretty good at breaking down parts of the lawsuit. It's going to be a long process if both sides play it all the way out, but LIV definitely seems to have a legitimate case.

[iowatreat]

Is there a separate suit from the one by Gooch, Swafford, and Jones? Because that one is a bit of a joke, especially the grounds in which they brought it for the playoffs. It will probably hold up at least through this week to allow them to play but long term doubt they have a chance to win *this year*.

Long term it probably has ramifications but at the end of the day I'd be shocked if the PGA contracts didn't have language that amounts to breach of contract, which will be changed in the future as a result.

[Fernando]

Originally Posted by iowatreat

Is there a separate suit from the one by Gooch, Swafford, and Jones? Because that one is a bit of a joke, especially the grounds in which they brought it for the playoffs. It will probably hold up at least through this week to allow them to play but long term doubt they have a chance to win *this year*.

Long term it probably has ramifications but at the end of the day I'd be shocked if the PGA contracts didn't have language that amounts to breach of contract, which will be changed in the future as a result.

Sort of. The Gooch suit is a temporary restraining order so they can play in the FedEx playoffs. The hearing for that is today to see if it'll be granted.

Mickelson and just about everyone that didn't voluntarily give up their PGA card has filed against the Tour in a anti-trust suit, alleging non competitive behavior by the PGA Tour, which based on a lot of opinions, has a lot of legs.

[badger]

Originally Posted by iowatreat

Is there a separate suit from the one by Gooch, Swafford, and Jones? Because that one is a bit of a joke, especially the grounds in which they brought it for the playoffs. It will probably hold up at least through this week to allow them to play but long term doubt they have a chance to win *this year*.

Long term it probably has ramifications but at the end of the day I'd be shocked if the PGA contracts didn't have language that amounts to breach of contract, which will be changed in the future as a result.

Those guys just filed a temporary restraining order to play in the FEDEX Cup. They're part of a larger lawsuit of 11 guys, I believe.

The problem as I understand it is the contract language can still be an anti-trust violation even if it was agreed to by the players. The comparison they gave on the podcast was to a college fraternity as a member run organization. All of their requirements for membership must follow the law, so they can be prosecuted for hazing even if all the members agreed to it.

One of the most damning things talked about on the podcast was that the Tour didn't give Andy Ogletree a release to play LIV...when he wasn't even qualifying for Korn Ferry events.

[iowatreat]

Originally Posted by Fernando

Sort of. The Gooch suit is a temporary restraining order so they can play in the FedEx playoffs. The hearing for that is today to see if it'll be granted.

Mickelson and just about everyone that didn't voluntarily give up their PGA card has filed against the Tour in a anti-trust suit, alleging non competitive behavior by the PGA Tour, which based on a lot of opinions, has a lot of legs.

Got it, yeah the bigger one definitely makes sense. It'll be interesting because not knowing how the PGA is structured with contracts, it would be curious that they wouldn't have a non-compete requirement with golfers. Golf is way different than the NFL, but I'm pretty sure an NFL player wouldn't be allowed to play in the CFL or XFL, so will be interesting to see how they interpret PGA employment vs other sports leagues.

[Fernando]

Originally Posted by badger

Those guys just filed a temporary restraining order to play in the FEDEX Cup. They're part of a larger lawsuit of 11 guys, I believe.

The problem as I understand it is the contract language can still be an anti-trust violation even if it was agreed to by the players. The comparison they gave on the podcast was to a college fraternity as a member run organization. All of their requirements for membership must follow the law, so they can be prosecuted for hazing even if all the members agreed to it.

One of the most damning things talked about on the podcast was that the Tour didn't give Andy Ogletree a release to play LIV...when he wasn't even qualifying for Korn Ferry events.

Yeah, it's pretty simple and a lot of people still can't understand. You can't enforce a contract that has non-enforceable clauses to it.

Everyone keeps pointing to the clause that says the PGA Tour must approve any releases to play outside events, and doing so without their approval is subject to suspension, but that in itself is the language they're challenging. Suspending independent contractors because they want to play other events is non competitive, and therefore not enforceable as a contract.