A key element of Masters intrigue exists outside the ropes. Will Greg Norman and Yasir al-Rumayyan appear at Augusta National next week? It has become increasingly futile for golf’s establishment to ignore LIV and its Saudi Arabian backers but Augusta’s custodians are extremely precious about potential distraction from the first major of the year.
If Norman and the governor of the Saudi Public Investment Fund are spotted under the famous oak tree at the Masters it will serve as the latest indication of the normalisation or legitimacy LIV has craved since it was merely a PowerPoint plan. This has been the most expensive foot-in-the-door project in sporting history; LIV continues apace in year three with $25m (£19.8m) events, even before the hundreds of millions spent on coaxing players in the first place is considered.
The Masters, given power and standing, should be playing a key role in elite golf’s potential unification rather than fretting about uncomfortable conversations on the clubhouse lawn. LIV is not going away. The head of a sovereign wealth fund is fundamentally more important to this sport now than Tiger Woods.
A notable absentee from this LIV stop in Doral is the property’s owner. Two years ago, Donald Trump played in the pro-am here while making frequent jibes about Joe Biden’s lack of golf ability. Trump has been in West Palm Beach this week but has failed to make the short trip to Miami. His book, The Art of The Deal, remains for sale at $28 in the club shop.
Trump branding is front and centre elsewhere; from ping-pong balls to mugs and T-shirts. Yet the man himself, normally such a fan of golf-related publicity, isn’t here. One gets the impression LIV’s tournament staff are far from upset about that. Doral staged LIV’s team championship last October. Quite deliberately, there will be no 2024 repeat; the same window would be close to the US election.
Doral’s recent history feels intrinsically linked to the chaotic state of men’s professional golf. It was a host venue for a World Golf Championship, a series of events created in part to fend off a rebel tour plan fronted by Norman in the 1990s. Sergio García spat in a hole here. Rory McIlroy flung an iron into a lake; only for it to be retrieved and put up in the clubhouse bar by Trump.
By the time the 45th president became too hot for the PGA Tour to handle, the WGC was shifted to Mexico City. The tournaments no longer exist but Norman’s dream, funded by endless petroleum pounds, later took off. Trump seized the opportunity to get his own back on the PGA Tour by welcoming LIV with open arms. Trump’s close links to Saudi Arabia have raised eyebrows in the US.