Long-time LIV Golf critic Brandel Chamblee has offered his full verdict on the PGA Tour’s $3bn deal with Strategic Sports Group.
Brandel Chamblee suggests that the PGA Tour should refrain from engaging in the actions desired by the Saudi Arabian government, as he expresses a negative opinion about the $3 billion agreement between the North American organization and Strategic Sports Group.
Over the past two years, Chamblee, an analyst for the Golf Channel, has consistently expressed his opposition towards LIV Golf, which is supported by Saudi Arabia.
The ex-professional golfer who used to play in the PGA Tour has engaged in multiple arguments with Phil Mickelson, the prominent figure of LIV, on X. He has even demanded that the hall of fame exclude the six-time major champion.
His criticism of LIV has been so prominent that it didn’t take long for the now 61-year-old to find himself at the centre of one of the most stunning about-faces we have seen in sports history.
We are of course referring to the PGA Tour’s ‘framework agreement’ with Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund that was announced on 6 June last year.
No sooner was the announcement made did LIV’s Brooks Koepka post on X gleefully: “Welfare check on Chamblee.”
Chamblee’s take back then wasn’t surprising in the least. The saddest day in professional golf, he said, pointing the finger of blame at the Tour’s leadership.
Since that day the Tour and PIF have been negotiating – we were led to believe – a deal that would effectively end golf’s ‘civil war’.
But the future seems messier than ever after the PGA Tour announced a private equity deal worth around $3bn with the aforementioned SSG.
PGA policy board member Jordan Spieth recently suggested the Tour no longer needed PIF investment, which perplexed Rory McIlroy.
“If I were PIF and I was hearing that, the day after doing this SSG deal, it wouldn’t have made me too happy,” said McIlroy.
Fellow policy board member Webb Simpson stated thinking about PIF involvement wasn’t a priority.
When considering the fact that the PIF is valued approximately $700bn higher than SSG, engaging in such a game appears to be risky.
This leads us to Chamblee’s most recent opinion.
He is displeased with the concept of offering rewards to PGA Tour members based on their loyalty. In his opinion, the PIF has only purchased a temporary period with LIV.
Chamblee wrote on X:
“The idea of paying current players for their loyalty and giving them equity is, in my opinion, blind to what the PGA Tour is.
“It is an entity that is the sum of the toil of players, executives, sponsors and volunteers over the course of more than a century.
“Each one was a part of something that predated their participation and it was their responsibility to try to make it better and pass it on.
“Paying current players for their loyalty and giving them equity ignores the very legacy the PGA Tour claims to want to protect and in essence gives false credit for the creation of something today’s players merely contributed to.
“The Saudis in their ignorance have merely bought a moment in time, but the tour has something they cannot buy, a pipeline of players that will replace those poached.
“Just the ones who’ve come out in the last year can likely beat 9/10ths of the LIV tour.
“The PGA Tour needs to stop playing the Saudis game of buying players and get back to playing their game of producing great players and stories.
“The PGA Tour may not be able to compete when it comes to buying players (although the SSG could mitigate this in creative ways) but the Saudis can’t even come close to producing them.”
The SSG deal has prompted a response from LIV Golf. Ahead of LIV Golf Mayakoba, Chief executive Greg Norman conveyed a strong message to golfers, demonstrating resilience.
Chairman Yasir Al-Rumayyan has indicated that the tour is proceeding with their plans beyond the year 2024.