Tiger Woods Returns-Jon Rahm Goes to LIV-Fairways of Life w Matt Adams-Wed Jan 3

We welcome everyone to 2024 as an incredible amount in golf took place over the holidays. Tiger Woods made his competitive return to golf, what will it mean for 2024, plus Jon Rahm made the surprising move to LIV Golf. The USGA decided to universally rollback the golf ball and PGA Tour Enterprises negotiations are heating up. So much ground to cover!

Welcome to the most listened to golf in the world the fairways of Life show on air online and around the world with the most candid interviews Unforgettable stories taking you beyond the ropes here’s your host New York Times bestselling author and golf channels Mass Adams and it is an absolute Delight

To welcome you into the fairways of Life show our first show of 2024 yeah it’s been a minute it’s been a couple actually since we were together last we traditionally break after the RSM classic remember we broadcast live from the RSM classic it’s right before Thanksgiving and then enjoy the holiday

Season but the game of golf continued to churn on through that period with some major events that took place over the course of the last few weeks consider the fact that John Rah announced that that he was joining Liv Golf and all the reaction that came from that we’re going

To be hearing from John ROM on today’s show also the RNA and the usgaa announced the details of the golf ball roll back we’ll get into that a little bit uh as well so that you understand what those details are and from a I guess a PR standpoint think about how

Well it played out for the USGA and the RNA they made their announcement and it was less than a week later John Rah announced that he was joining a l and that knocked everything else off the front page so from a PR control standpoint it was perfect for the

Governing bodies in terms of getting the announcement out there and then it didn’t linger and become a huge thing negative or positive it just was Swept Away by the big news of John Ron but also big news during this period was Tiger Woods he who just recently turned

48 years old does that make you feel old Tiger Woods is now 48 but he played twice During the period that I was just referencing at the Hero World Challenge and the PNC Challenge and tiger spoke afterwards about how he was feeling how his body’s feeling what he thinks about

Moving forward can he win again you know a lot of things are are aching a lot more than my ankle which is uh the way it goes um I I’ve been able to to walk and play um we’ve been working out hard be able to recover we’ve been training every day

Which is great and uh uh it’s been nice to knock off a lot of the rust that uh and some of the doubt that I’ve had uh cuz quite frankly I haven’t hit a shot that counted in a long time so having to post a score and hit shots on the right

Number and uh hit shots with consequence uh it’s been nice well I think that if given the fact that if I’m able to practice and and and do the things that I know I can do and prepare I know that I I can still do it I can still hit the

Golf ball it’s just a matter of of of prepping and get enough reps in and get enough work in and and being right physically and the and the the endurance capability of it I mean I I haven’t had the leg good enough where I’ve been able to compete and play a lot

Of rounds um I’ve had a lot of procedures over the years and that’s just part of the part of it and if if I know if I can practice I know I can still do it I can still hit the golf ball I can still chip I can still pot um

Granted it’s also putting off together for 72 holes and um that know that’s the the challenge the challenging part of it so for Tiger Woods the thing that I wonder about with with tiger when he played those two events and and he had said many times during the course of

That run over the course of these two events the sound you just saw of course from the PNC that he’d like to play at least once a month and in a second I want to take a look the Signature Events and see if we can kind of pick and

Choose where we think tiger might play accordingly but first I I want to ask you guys this question when you think about Tiger Woods and who he is arguably the greatest golfer of all time the only other person that we can compare him to in terms of the greatest

Professional golfers are Jack Nicholas right but by the time Jack Nicholas was 48 years old he was two years past having won that remarkable Masters at Augusta National in 1986 at the age of 46 but Jack Nicholas and I think by his own admission he would tell you this too

He was no longer fully vested in the game competitively that doesn’t mean that when he teed it up he didn’t try to play the best that he that he could and we saw that well into deep into his 50s that he was contending in big events including Majors no what I’m talking

About is that by that time Jack Nicholas was focusing on his golf design business he was focusing on his various other business interests and golf as a competitive life vocation had really kind of taken a back seat that does not appear to be the case with Tiger Woods

Tiger Woods seems to thirst for the competitive scenario the whether we’re talking about the PGA Tour where I just mentioned he wants to play at least once a month and we’re going to get into that with a little detail in just a second or recently we heard that he fully intends

To play in the PJ tour Champions which I think is fascinating and great plus you can use a golf cart on that so tiger looked okay in those in those two events he certainly didn’t seem to be as physically labored as he had previously we’re talking about again lots of times

With tiger it’s a little bit about reading clouds he didn’t seem to be limping as much as he had been previously now as to the Signature Events 2024 is a brand new season on the PGA tour and I say that with intent because previously FedEx cut points for the last

Decade plus it came carried over from from the fall into January well this is absolutely a fresh start everybody starting from zero so when you look at the Signature Events see if you can figure out where tiger would play now I would say the Genesis Invitational right

I could see tiger playing in the Genesis Invitational I’m undecided on whether he would go Arnold Palmer Invitational players because obviously he’s going to be at the Masters I wonder if it’s going to be a three event run there because he’s won at the at Bay Hill what eight

Times uh he’s won the Players a couple of times and of course his history with the Masters is very well known so we’ll see how that plays itself out from there I know he loves the Wells Fargo Championship uh then you see the PGA Championship we know he’s going to play

There will he play at Jack event at the memorial US Open uh at Pinehurst we know he’s going to be there then of course you see the open and the FedEx Cup playoffs I’m not sure what tigers Position will be on that or if he’ll be

Eligible to get into that based upon his play on the buildup now when he was talking about his body and this part is absolutely remarkable this graphic is courtesy of Golf Digest where we get into the rigors of what tiger has gone through some of his own making and some

Just because there’s a lot of miles on the chassis so when you hear that Tiger Woods is 48 years old it’s different parts of his body at the very least uh seemingly are quite a bit older than that 30 major injuries 12 of which required major surgeries he’s

Had nine back issues alone of which seven times it required surgery seven left knee issues and oh by the way remember he has broken both legs one of them a stress FR fracture and one of them from a horrific car accident that he continues to come back from so

All of these questions surround a Tiger Woods I think from a Fan’s perspective are you still vested in Tiger Woods does it excite you that you get to see maybe the goat play golf again is tiger and does tiger still move the needle I think it’s

A rare treat in any sport when we get to see one of the game goats continue to play Contin continue to compete especially with Tiger Woods where so many times during the course of his career we asked the question of can he will he would he even be able to with

What he is going through and he has gone through so so very much with his body we shall see how that plays itself out as I mentioned John Rah going to live golf was absolutely huge it caused all kinds of reactions back in in fourth and when

We come back you’re going to hear from the man himself John Rah explains how and why he went to live as the fairways of Life show continues relax easy now find your happy place the PGA tour super store it’s all in the hips where every swing is possible just tap it in yes

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Was that was from the off seon we did Donna wanted to do this tour of Christmas markets I don’t know I wasn’t I didn’t really know anything about Christmas markets I’m not sure if you guys knew what Christmas markets are but we went we went through Germany Austria and Switzerland and

Visited all these different places right this is this is that’s actually a photo that Donna took it reminded me D those photos you took when you guys were in that national park because it looks like something you’d get in a poster but this was just taken wandering through the

Town and there was a matter horn in the background so we saw obviously incredible sites we went up there this was outside of Munich the newstein castle that we visited toured it it was it was incredible it it got nicer at the end of the day but when we

Went up in the morning it was like a freezing rain and you have to go up the side of this mountain to get there that was interesting and Oh there’s uh Stan man that’s uh my Dutch son as I call him we were we were we visited him and his

Girlfriend when we were uh traveling through Switzerland they met us by train and so we had a fun we we had we were actually the formal part of our group which is interesting because most of the photos I showed you were not part of that they were just when we were on our

Own cuz we were there for for a few weeks but the formal part we were with this group and they had us on a big coach bus it had 52 seats on it every seat had a fanny in it because there was so many people on this trip and they

Took us to really cool places again if there was a castle if there was a palace we saw it uh incredible churches we saw um um a lot of history you know obviously that that you would do and then we toured all these Christmas markets and I would describe Christmas markets as

Basically I guess it would be equivalent to a country fair except there was snow everywhere there was record snowfall where we were there blizzards when we were there which we were prepared for we had the clothing but you know each there’s like a booth and the booths

Maybe 15 feet long and they’re either selling food booze Christmas ornaments uh there’s there’s and then different Christmas markets have different themes one of them we went to had a had a Medieval theme believe it or not so you could you could literally buy there were multiple of those boots that were selling

Clothing from the Middle Ages and I’m I’m not sure who’ want to buy you could buy helmets and swords and all kinds of stuff I’m not sure who that client would be but if you’re into the Middle Ages and wearing clothes that they wore at

The time you can get them so it was it was very very cool and as I was mentioned in the last segment which you guys finally got to see we were able to do it in its entirety so today is officially our first show of 2024

Where so much took place so while I’m on the road D I got my phone and you know I can see what’s going on with Tiger play and I can see uh what was going on with the USGA and the RNA you know coming out with with their

News I I mean you can see it in this little graphic that Dom has up there Matt goes to Europe Dom goes to Florida we’ll get to Tiger returns to golf uh golf rollback 2023 pip results and then Nate Lashley lashed out uh with that we

Might I’ll get into that if we have time if not maybe tomorrow uh live offseason moves right and it’s not just John Rah it’s about their schedule and all the rest uh tgl remember they had the the collapse of the facility but it was kind of one of these facilities that was like

If you guys go to a driving range uh we used to have one right around the corner from was when I I worked up at Northwestern golf in Chicago it’s held up by air you know you hit balls and stuff in it but it’s like

A big tent and well that’s what they had and it collapsed and and so they’ve pushed everything off for for a year uh Luke Donald coming back for a second time as Ryder Cup captain for uh Team Europe Etc all kinds of stuff that was going on so I’m following it all

And from that standpoint I have to tell you I felt a little bit like I was in a gilded cage because all of this stuff was happening we thought and for years it generally is Dom a very quiet time of year for us to go away and do stuff and

It wasn’t quiet at all it was almost it was a little bit like a torture that all this was going on when when neither one of us were in a position to do anything about it I wonder what we would have done differently but uh your trip was

Definitely defitely one that was very different than mine uh where I went off to the snow you came down to the sunshine I drove 2,152 miles in December with my family we went all over the place uh obviously I’m in the Carolinas happy New Year by

The way good to see everybody and it’s good to hear from folks are coming out we’re already getting happy New Year messages what picture ni to be back those are the mangroves in the Everglades um looks like a bunch of dead sticks really incredible really it was

Really special if you’ve been down there I’ve never been Tour on the absolute bottom of Florida and also in the Everglades Andrew you can bring that in that is uh manatees there’s not a lot of them left anywhere in the world really and we got to see them they’re like literally right

They’re like hanging out in the marina and they are ginormous and of course the kids love this stuff you know what I mean and we also went up a little bit further uh into Cape Canaveral we saw the um Kennedy Space Center which I’d never been to which is incredible that’s

A picture of the shuttle the Atlanta shuttle anybody that hasn’t been I am not a space guy like I’m not a space geek that is not who I am and I was blown away by it I was super impressed it was super interesting and we we went

To the beach uh to to you know explore the beach be on the beach and Florida threw 55 m per hour it looks a little rough so there are my kids depressingly looking at the water that their parents have told them they may absolutely not go into because the waves were like 15

Feet high every morning we walked out there and they’re just standing there in the wind you can world is stiff in the breeze yeah we’re like we can’t go out there and they’re like why it’s not so bad it’s like you could die you understand you could die you cannot go in that

Water I will say this the the one thing I will say and I think it’s a testament to how much we love our job I was texting Matt over the break he’s in like Germany I’m in Florida and you know John ROM goes and I’m like I want to go on

The air right now and you’re like I want I want to go on the air right now we’re both stuck on vacation I’ll tell you dude it was so I I I love my job and I am thrilled to be back and excited to talk about all the

Moving Parts going on right now in in the game of golf and we’re going to get to some of it today and over the coming weeks we’re going to try and break down you saw that list of stuff that happened we can’t do coming up today he spoke

With David far there’s so much to talk about I mean I I’ll be honest with you by the end of the trip you know when Donna would say well they have another Christmas Market I was done I was done with the Christmas Market there was all this going on the

Announcement came out about the golf ball roll back and you’re like yeah you’re on the road you’re with your wife it’s this it’s this huge anniversary trip and and you know she wants to do all these special things and go to this stuff and and I’m just like

You know and I’m trying to explain to her that this equipment announcement is really massive news it’s it’s not that we have all the details we’re going to share details with you in just a little while this morning uh and and discuss what it all means but at the

Time time that it was happening just a few weeks ago where the announcement was coming out and it was definitive that amateur golfers were not being separated or non- Elite golfers as they Define it were not being separated from everybody else everybody is going to uh

Bear the burden For Better or For Worse depending on uh people’s perspectives on all of this uh all of this was going on and I I was I was trying to explain that from a golf equipment perspective I can’t think we’ve had technological developments that have been as important going from wood to

Steel going from steel to Titanium for example if we’re talking about drivers going from in the early 2000s with the with the Prov from Titus was a seismic shift in in golf ball performance uh in terms of equipment changes even even if you will going backwards uh in terms of performance uh

The European ball going to the 1.62 us ball the US ball didn’t travel as far but it was adopted as the the standard as a standard ball in the late 1960s maybe it’s a little later than that 1970s now that I think about it Dom

You can check me on that if you have a chance to if you put it 1.62 golf ball us ball it’s going to it’s going to bring up what I’m talking about um that’s that’s the that’s that’s what in terms of timing that’s the only thing I can think

Of in terms of uh a comparative so-called roll back what was the year that it that was adopted as definitive ball oh I don’t know the year I was just giving you the other information uh standby I just want to confirm the year that that took place because that’s the

That’s the next thing that I would compare this to you know in terms of it it’s so much happening right now that you have to look through periods of the history of the game toine comparisons it so happens that in that late 1960s into the early 1970s we are finding comparisons to

Today when the PGA Tour although it wasn’t called that then but the PGA Tour effectively broke away from uh the the tour players division of the PGA of America and formed their own league in which the PJ of America did not want to let them go but it was offal

Upate in the rules Matt didn’t happen until 1990 sorry to interrupt official until when the RNA the RNA in 1974 said that the smaller ball could not be used in the British Open but they didn’t actually change the rules until 1990 yeah but it became the ball of of the

Professional competitions is what I’m saying the American ball was adopted and so if you look at that late 1960s period and with that huge development the splitting of the tour players away from the PGA of America which to this day confuses people that there’s a who were

You telling me Don one of the one of the TV sports guys you watch and he kept using PGA and you could tell he wasn’t aware that the PGA of America the PGA Tour are two different groups I can give you one example but the the the truth is all of

Them um for those of us watching this show right now you and I people in the game right we know all the differences the the the value and importance that each hold in the game all the stakeholders all the governing bodies the average sports fan doesn’t know what

The RNA and USGA is they don’t know the difference between the PGA of America and the PGA Tour and generally speaking I have found on all sports shows globally practically everyone just calls golf the PGA that’s what they call it so whenever they’re talking about a go even

The Masters they’re like let’s see what happened at the PGA they don’t know they don’t know there’s two differences they don’t know that the PGA is also the PGA Championship they don’t know anything and so it’s what I sorry for rant what I find enjoyable is that I’ll turn on a

Sports show to see what they think about what’s going on in this golf tournament and immediately their credibility is destroyed immediately it’s like oh my God I know more than this guy forget it why am I even watching this well the observations have Merit though because I think in it’s not that

Complicated is it it’s really not that complicated I don’t think uh it’s it’s too complicated for a sport as small as ours right that you have they they call it golf stakeholders which which I always get somewhat amused by because I’m always wondering I it’s like when

When Liv first came out and they started using the terminology of of golf’s ecosystem that was the phrase then and that made me kind of smile too because whenever someone talks about something you know especially when there’s something new floating the periphery and people start to talk about the current ecosystem of

Whatever it is industry Concepts whatever in this case golf they were talking about golf’s ecosystem and I always I kind of smiled about it because it it sounded to me like code for how things are right now and we don’t want them to change so that ecosystem implies oh we

Don’t want to mess up the ecosystem now this is the ecosystem look if you mess this up look at all these horrible things that could happen dinosaurs would come back so you know what you know what I’m saying so I those kind of phrases I I always

Get a a bit of a kick out of but it’s it’s like the one observation I’ve had more recently with with all of this is that when you look at when you look at what’s going on in the world of of sport right now like I think that I think the NFL this

Season has been and is incredibly compelling uh I know that you’re mad about how the college football playoffs are are playing out there’s a lot of people that are that are saying there needs to be changes there they’re going to expand it they’re going to do this they’re going

To do that uh but just you know that game and I and I don’t have a dog in this fight but when Alabama lost to Michigan the other night maybe I shouldn’t have been surprised but I’m not an expert at it so I was surprised that that that happened and I’m thinking

Gee that sport right the NHL has been great the the Premier League is great Liverpool’s top the table right now uh uh NBA games you name it so I just think it’s interesting that sport for us right I think it was Michael Murphy who wrote golf in the

Kingdom that he said that Sports is Western meditation in other words it takes us away from everything else that’s happening in the world that’s generally so ugly unfortunately with the game of golf is that there’s been a lot of of ugly I think it’s on the road to getting better

But there’s been a lot of ugly over the last couple years and fighting amongst people at times fighting at when they didn’t need to um but so that instead of golf being our our escape from the ugliness that we see plenty of happening around the world it somehow became a place that

Also was about disagreement in in conflict in in judgment and finger pointing and we’re better than you etc etc I’m that if I if there’s something I’m hoping for in 2024 I’m I’m hoping that that starts to heal itself so that the game of golf for all of us again and I

Say this completely selfishly becomes a place that we can become immersed away from the horrors that are in other parts of life that it can be our refuge from those places I am too Dum very interested what we’re hearing from the people on this Tuesday what’s coming in

Today oh an an unbelievable amount of stuff is coming in I don’t have time to go through all of it I’ll try and jump around a bunch of happy new years’s happy New Year to you guys as well uh it’s been a very long break the golf world Michael says seism seismically

Moved while we were off yeah no kidding um the the list of things that we have to go over it’s going to take us weeks to to comb through it all uh in a good in a good way there’s just a lot to unpack we can’t just say oh the SGA did

This oh John ROM went to live like it’s so much more uh important deeper there’s so many things we could there’s so many things to unpack so many layers to all of this it’s incredible and we also also have updates on what they’re calling now PGA Tour Enterprises you know J J

Manahan sent out a memo on New Year’s Eve we’re going to go through all of this stuff um so newco is off any fur transfers say that again I said newco is going to officially be PGA Tour Enterprises now I believe that is yeah that’s that’s the current trajectory but

You know things seem to be in flux so it wouldn’t be shocking if that changes again uh Tiger Woods has more Hardware in him than a local Ace store Andrew put that graphic back up I think there are 30 things on that graphic I know it’s

Small so you probably can’t read all of it but it’s pretty obvious you can look at the line going to his back and be like well that’s like 12 things that happened to his back or that’s like nine things that happened to his left knee I mean that’s

The that’s a broken professional athlete that’s what that is that’s incredible that’s unbelievable there’s some people going back and forth obviously about the story with tiger there D that that I’ve heard it touched on but I’ve never really heard it fully fleshed out that amount of injuries from Tiger

Woods are not just because he’s a professional athlete Tiger’s not playing a contact sport so how much of Tiger’s injuries would have happened regardless just on a normal Arc of a tour player and how much of those injuries are D I talk about the car accident because

That’s obviously a car accident but how much of his injuries are directly related to decisions he made in terms of his training and had he not done that meaning the training that led to the injuries but regardless of that result had he not done the training

Would he not be the Tiger Woods of historic proportion right that whole that whole gumbo that whole mix I I I would love to if that somebody wrote a book on it or or got a chance to really talk to him about it I want I wonder

What honestly I wonder what tiger would have changed in how he prepared and what he did if it caused go ahead Andrew you can throw that back up there again if it caused this right do you know anybody that has this amount of of 30 major injuries it required 12 major

Surgeries nine issues directly related to the back that ALS that required seven of those surgeries he’s had seven issues with the left knee alone and again you have to separate out of that the operations and and I think the injuries that were caused by the car accident uh but outside of that there’s

Still a lot of wear and tear in that body that was directly related to decisions and not my my my view that he made about how he was going to train and what it led to but would he be who he was if he didn’t do that right curious

What you guys think about that too sorry Dom go ahead Derek says I drove from Slovakia to southern Spain through Austria Italy France the Alps in Australia and Northern Italy are spectacular we’re obviously going through Matt’s trip showing some pretty pictures the the Christmas markets in

Germany are the best they are der says wow what a trip that’s all exciting uh there’s a lot of people going back and forth about lives off seon there seems to be some consensus about the with the people watching they’re surprised that there weren’t more people signing up bigname

Signings there was obviously some movement right you like Gran McDow switches teams the Four Aces picked up some people I think Harold Varner in addition to having a an issue with the law also I think switched a team he got picked kep signed Andy ogry got signed

By uh Phil mikkelson’s team there was movement Harold picked up for uh DWI I believe it was just a night or two before uh New Year’s correct yep there you can see the for boing mug shot and uh representing the bald folks love it and uh he was charged with DWI

And this was around the Charlotte area he’s obviously from the Carolinas so I don’t know what that’s gonna mean for his status with anything I don’t know if there are are punishments for something like that I know on the PGA tourat they keep a lot of that stuff sort of hidden

Like I think there are punishments handed out for certain things obviously he’s not on the PGA tour but there’s no transparency there so I think there’s some things we we don’t know when someone just curiosity that’s an interesting subject you brought up what what would be and we’re going to get

Back to messages coming in what would be the consequences to use your phrase what would be the consequences if you were in other major Sports when when when something like this has happened how does that play itself out in terms of how the league or the team reacts suspensions typically the league OB

Obviously it’s a little bit specific as to what you’re talking about and I’m not as familiar with like the bylaws of the Premier League in Europe but in England but in the NFL and the NBA traditionally the league has league rules like an umbrella that every team has to abide by

And something like that would result in in just a suspension essentially uh and if nothing happens a lot of times a team will also take action on their own and say well the league doesn’t want to suspend you but we do because you know that’s not representative of our team

And our values so you can’t play for five games or whatever it is now depending on the action or what took place what what law was broken or laws were broken the uh punishment could be more severe than that it it it changes with every league with every player with every specific

Thing I mean John Morant in the NBA missed like a huge chunk of like 20 something games or whatever in the first part of the season for going on Instagram and you know motioning with a gun and and and just doing some silly things that a 19-year-old would do and

He was suspended for like 25 games so it just depends it also depends For Better or Worse Matt it depends on the eyeballs and the platform right if you’re the fifth if you’re the 15th player on the bench no one cares no one will notice they could give him a one game

Suspension it wouldn’t matter because he would never play anyway but when you’re a name of of note usually the punishment can be a little bit harsher because they’re trying to set an example so it’s obviously a little bit complicated but I don’t know I don’t know if he’s going to

Have any you know I don’t know what’s going to come of it but I think in most sports there would be some sort of punishment for that and I think on the PGA tour even though it’s not made public there’s also a punishment would you agree with that of some kind yeah I

Would tend to but it’s a good question especially when it comes to Liv because Liv part of what Liv has has built their league on is saying to players this is a players call it rights uh players benefits well however you want to phrase it league right wasn’t that part of what

Phil’s whole thing was and if that’s the case does the league still play the heavy when they have to and do they have to it’s a good question too anyway what else you got coming in there’s so much stuff coming in I I’ll I’ll read one more thing

Because it’s interesting but it speaks to what we’re trying to unpack here for the next couple weeks as we get into the PGA show which we’re also very excited about lots of new equipment hitting the scene this year what does the Sports Group strategic Sports Group is who he’s

Referencing hope to get from investing in the PGA Tour and is their involvement in the proceedings upsetting piff and extending the formation of the new Co I.E pgr Enterprises that is an extremely complicated question that does not have a simple answer but it is precisely the

Kinds of things that we want to talk about on the show in the next coming weeks what kind of impact this is going to have on golf as a whole as a sport on the PGA tour on live golf tour on the DP World Tour and how they’re going to

Sort of MH together assuming something comes together at all they’re they’re talking about doing an agreement the talks have been extended we will talk about that later and and read some of the memo and and get into the fine details of that but it shows you that

The folks watching are are just as concerned about these things as we are Matt yeah very I don’t want to get into that I don’t want to get into it right now because I want to get to I’ve been promised you guys John RAM and I want to

Get to John Ram uh but in today’s show we will talk about that uh the the SG as they’re called the the Strategic Sports Group and give you a definition of exactly what that is who’s behind it what role they could be playing and speculate as to the benefits of the same

And what that might mean for everybody that is involved do you have anything else Dom you want to add with h with what you have coming in before we go to break here and go to John ROM no there’s not enough time for me to

Read it all but I love it keep it coming um I’m trying to track it as best I can and we will be talking about this in day after day we we’re going to keep talking about this stuff guys there’s a lot to unpack yeah definitely and in the world

Of I speak least the golf world of ever changes we have some big news waiting in the wings for you guys too we’re working on the details of right now if it all comes together as we anticipate uh We’ve we’ve got some great things to for us to

Share with all of you and and hopefully you guys will celebrate and be along for the ride with us uh the ride will not end on this Tuesday when we come back as promised John Rah announced that he is on his way to live he sat down he spoke

With lives David fary and that conversation in its entirety is coming up next I guess hello world huh and with one subtle hello tiger began an amazing and Unthinkable [Applause] career I’ve done it for 20 years now with with br Stone allows me to play an aggressive style around the greens and

It’s allowed me to win a lot for Bridgestone Golf proud to be part of your journey Bo golf provides the ultimate world class golf destination with 10 Championship caliber courses spanning three Resorts centered in Michigan’s Northern lower Peninsula the courses are the products of some of the gamees Masters including Robert Trent Jones

Senior Arthur Hills and Donald Ross from the all-inclusive vacation packages Elite instruction with the bo Golf Academy tournaments and so much more boing golf truly offers an unrivaled Michigan golf vacation experience just log on to Bo golf.com I think when you’re training for other sports or

You’re what why most people go to the gym is so that they can like have muscles and you know be strong and be healthy and a lot of the reason why they struggle to play golf is their body doesn’t move properly for them to be

Able to hit a golf ball and when you’re training for golf it’s a little bit different because you’re focused more on flexibility and mobility and being uh strong in motion when you’re able to kind of have a warm-up and have a workout routine and kind of gradually

Build up to where you’re training your body to move properly yeah you’re going to get a lot of big dividends on the golf course relax easy now find your happy place happy place the PGA TOUR Superstore it’s all in the hips where every swing is possible just tap OT

Yes find all the latest gear apparel and personalized Club fittings is this goodby we’ve only just begun shop with the pros at golf’s happy place the PGH Superstore what if we started a company and the company was under no time constraints no Financial constraints the one constraint is their clubs had to be

Exceptional performers and much better than any other alternative I was told time and again it’ll never work it worked like a house of fire and I’ll tell you what I think our customers love it bxg nobody makes golf clubs the way we do period zero friction introduces the

Wheelpro push cart golf bag with its revolutionary 3 in-one design supportive legs that spring into action a comfort grip handle with three locking positions accessories for the modern golfer enhanced by seven pockets for more storage and removable allterrain Wheels which slide right into place the new zero friction wheelpro golf bag checks

Every box for every golfer push carry your cart the decision is yours thanks to zerof friction head to zerof fr.com today as we welcome you back to the fairways of Life show pleasure to have you company from wherever you are joining us Matt Adams here with you

Andrew and Dom are behind the glass today so when John ROM announced that he had joined Liv there was massive reaction and we know that the PGA Tour the DP World Tour the public investment fund which owns live we know that they’re involved in negotiations to become as

One we do know because there was a memo sent out by Jay Monahan just before uh New Year’s which we’ll get to a little bit later on in the program that they’ve extended the period in which uh they are seeking to come to an agreement and

Yet when John Ram went to live it seemed to flare up a lot of the same emotions that we have seen over the course of the last year and a half this kind of almost trench digging on each side respectively I’m not 100% certain why that happened because there was all

Kinds of speculation people those that were that were inclined to criticize John ROM to say don’t tell us it was about growing the game this was all about money and I’m thinking to myself wait a minute we’re talking about professional athletes here when I think about that in the context of almost any

Other sport do not those professional athletes that have the luxury of making decision of where they’re going to play generally go to a team or a league that’s going to pay them the most John R spoke with Liv golf’s David fary and in this in this interview he

Explained why he made the decision John welcome to the Big Apple it’s a big day thank for you yeah it’s it’s a yeah it’s a very important day and and you’re from a a small village in The Basque region of Spain and you you come uh to Arizona

State you you don’t speak a whole lot of English uh yet you get a degree in Communications but did you ever envisage a day like this in your career back then uh I no I mean there there was no way to think of anything like this or

Envision a future like this right uh so no it was never really a part of it but it’s it’s very exciting that now it is a possibility in a reality well you’ve been the subject of rumors for uh a long time now what was it that finally made you make the

Leap God yeah it’s uh I’ve been hearing some things for a few years now um I think the innovation in in the vision of live golf is what push me over to at least give it a chance and and hear the pitch out and uh ultimately ended up

Being what uh I guess I wanted to hear right uh I believe on the growth of the game of golf uh I’ve largely spoken about how seevi improved the game of golf in Spain and I’ve always said how I would like to do the same thing over

There and if I can reach a bigger audience it would be amazing and uh I do believe this process will help me do that was there one aspect of the live Gulf League that you know helped you across the line you know it’s even though it’s not

Part of this sport um it is now though it was the team aspect of things yeah right some of the biggest sporting events for the most part people are following their teams and I myself growing up being a massive athletic Bill bout fan uh I

Realized that you know that has a bit of an appeal right much more than than I give a credit to even in golf and uh it’s something that I’m passionate about and something that hopefully I can learn a lot about and and and and improve when your sons are old enough to

Understand what’s Happening Here how do you explain this decision to them uh I don’t even know if they’ll ever care to be honest as long as dad comes home and and keeps buying them trucks to play with I think they’ll be happy uh and so far they only care the

Dad is Dad right they really don’t care what I do they just want to see me be happy and I want to see them be happy but if I had to put it into words I would tell them I essentially did did what I thought was best for me them

Their mom and the future of her family you speaking of kids we’re attracting uh a younger audience and it’s uh it’s a global audience how do you feel about that very happy uh I’m very much looking forward to seeing some venues overseas it’s it’s one of the appeals right again

To see new places new audiences new crowds new golf courses it’s all something that very few Sports can facilitate and golf can so I’m really looking forward to that and uh getting to experience some of the very very good highlights that I’ve seen online do you think people uh underestimate the way

The players are invested in the team concept I believe so yeah I don’t think it’s spoken about enough I think uh you have some of the best players in the world who are also now leaders of their own team partners of the league in a in a massive business that’s global that is

Ever growing right so it’s an aspect of the game that I myself looked over that now is a it’s a reality and I can’t wait to get into it and learn more and and hopefully evolve my team and my brand how much uh did the Mickelson’s Phill

And Tim U influence did they have on you uh with this decision and also you know you’re represented by Steve ly MH the same there was no player that actively tried to convince me to Sweet and and take this step right uh they were always happy to answer my questions whether it

Was Tim whether it was Phil whether it was uh Sergio people I’m really close with uh a pat Perez who plays golf at servative with me very often I never had anybody actively pitch me changing my career path uh but everybody was very willing to answer the

Questions that I had I’m a curious guy and wanted to learn about it and you know slowly the love um started to grow all right that is part one from David far speaking with John ROM as to what went into the decision of John ROM deciding to join Liv he specifically

Mentioned the innovation of Li Liv golf the fact that he wanted to grow the game on an international basis and he even referenced sevie bis Bas doing the same thing he did mention and he did it multiple times that the team aspect of Liv golf was something that was unique

And that he’s very much looking forward to even mentioning that he thinks that it should be talked about a lot more in terms of and I think that’s part of the Innovation that he was of referencing there too I liked when David asked him how would you describe this to your

Children when they’re old enough to understand what you did and he basically said I did what was best for me uh and then David also spoke to Liv go with their stated goal that they’re trying to get to a younger demographic and of course a global demographic and at times

I think people forget that John ROM is an international player you can see uh the world rankings graphic that is next to me there you see John ROM number three on the list the next highest uh is Brooks kka at number 17 and and bear in

Mind a live golf is still not getting world ranking points which I still believe is something that they need to figure out that they have to find a way for a Liv golf to get some world ranking points but John Ram wasn’t done in in

Terms of what he did how he did it why he did it here is part two of his conversation with David does it feel like a change in your career path or just a a part of the evolution honestly I’ve I’ve made changes in my life uh

That maybe now seems small but at the time were big right I went from an old Basque High School to Madrid to a Golf Academy all Spanish which it might seem small but it’s still a different language and uh and I left my home right

So I was 15 at the time that was big change then going to Arizona State with never been in the US they know what college golf was all about had no idea really where I was going on what I was doing in limited English so this almost seems like just another one of

Those steps uh in which I’ve grown so much and have improved my game so much so as far as I’m concerned I just want to be the best golfer I can be and uh this is a good platform for it did you ask advice from any other Live players other than Sergio and

Phil no not really uh no this there’s one player whose caddy was my college teammate which is Pooch he cadd Alberto is was a college teammate a roommate of mine for almost four years so obviously I ask him the same questions and I’m curious to see how the Cades get treated

As well and how other players that maybe are not captains get treated but um I never singly act U you know seek for advice uh but there were again they were always very happy to answer the questions well the rumor started weeks ago I guess you know but what is the uh

Reaction you’ve received to the the people that you have let know what you’re doing it’s it’s been a very close circle of people that have actively let know what what was going on uh and even the people that heard the rumors that wanted to give me their

Opinion uh it’s it’s all been extremely positive um I’m very lucky to have the friends and family that I have and they just want to see me happy so that’s always the answer that I got whatever makes me happy and a lot of them supporting the the possible career

Path well players at the very top of the game like yourself you know have commercial attachments have sponsorships that kind of thing are any of yours you know ready to make this leap with you yeah this is uh this is important I mean my sponsors I I choose them carefully

And luckily they’ve they’ve chosen me back yeah uh and I want to have connection with the sponsors that I have to be able to represent them the best I can and uh I can say as of right now that after meeting with with u with Callaway and some of their uh Executives

They do want to continue this partnership with my transition to live golf so so yeah I’m excited to be able to announce that what have you learned about yourself throughout this this whole process how much time do we have to answer that question um I think the number one thing I like

Learned is that I love the game of golf and I’m on the side of golf right when I ever go on discussion I want golf to succeed and the second that at the end of the day a man’s going to make a decision what’s best for him and his

Family right is that simple which is what this boiled down to what do you think the biggest adjustment is going to be for you I don’t know um do you feel like you’re stepping into the unknown a certain extent a little bit it’s it’s a different environment right like it is a

Different I’ve play golf at home with music on I’ve never played a tournament with music on so I think it’s going to be an adjustment period uh but it’s an exciting adjustment right like I’m looking forward to it it’s something different it’s something that is on the

PJ tour in some events has been talked about before so uh just looking forward to actually seeing it in action we’re looking forward to seeing you in action too congratulations thank you very much thanks for joining me here thank you so John R speaking with David far

That was courtesy of Liv golf and I think about it from the perspective if you were John ROM and you were offered what we’re hearing were massive massive sums of money to join Liv golf with full knowledge that the public in investment fund that owns Liv is actively engaged

In negotiations with the PGA Tour and the DP World Tour to bring all of these tours together so you’re facing the very real Prospect right that you could be playing in the events that you want to play in on the PGA tour in some maybe not so distant future the

Likes of Rory mooy has already came out and said well we need to change the criteria for the Ryder Cup to get someone like John ROM on it paraphrasing I’m not so sure if the vast majority of people would not have made the exact same decision that he made and

Then through the course of the interview you just watched you heard more reasons that were part of the decision process that he went through to decide Liv golf is the right decision for me right now lots of things to think about and we are not done yet on the fairways of Life

Show the USGA and the r have decided to roll back the golf ball details of the same came out recently we’ll talk about that coming up on the show and as to the negotiations between piff the public investment fund and the PGA tour we had news from the commissioner of the PGA

Tour J Monahan that ahead relax easy now find your happy place happy place the PGA TOUR Superstore it’s all in the hips where every swing is possible just tap it in yes find all the latest gear apparel and personalized Club fittings is this We’ve Only Just Begun shop with the pros

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Donald Ross from the all-inclusive vacation package is Elite instruction with the bo Golf Academy tournaments and so much more Bo golf truly offers an unrivaled Michigan golf vacation experience just log on to Bo golf.com welcome back to the fairways of Life show pleasure have you company folks

So in the time period when we were enjoying the holidays the news broke from the USGA and the RNA that the roll back details are now known they are out there and one of the things that was was I think surprising at the very least to many was that it will include

Recreational golfers this is usj and RNA roll back of the golf balls details the revised ball testing conditions will be as follows 125 mph Club head speed it’s equivalent to 183 MH ball speed a spin rate of 220 RPM in a launch angle of 11 degre the current conditions which were

Established 20 years ago are set at 120 miles per hour equivalent to 176 miles per hour ball speed 2520 RPM with a 10 degree launch angle the analysis of ball speeds among golfs longest hitters in 2023 shows that the fastest 10 players had an average ball speed of 186 mph while the average

Ball speed of the fastest 25 next 25 was 183.2 milph with the very fastest average 190 miles per hour okay so the first thing that I want to have happened here is I want for you guys to be able to hear from the USGA and the RNA because the

USGA and the RNA have said that the impact on distance is going to be far less dramatic than what people maybe previous viously have fought and I’m not blaming anybody on what their thoughts were before details have been released because how would you know there wasn’t

Any real there was an argument made that the game was getting too long and I think there was Merit to much of that at least at the very elite level in terms of the stated objective that the governing bodies had in terms of 20 years 30 years 40 years 50 years down

The road right uh but let’s take a look at this graphic in terms of what dist is and what impact you can expect depending upon what level you play the game there you can see the very very top in terms of performance relative to distance 9 to

11 yards is what they’re estimating it will impact the best players in the world the best female players in the world five to seven yards and then the average male they’re saying 3 to five yards and the average female one to three yards let’s first start then with

Thomas Pagel of the United States Golf Association explaining how they arrived at this solution the average Club head speed is 115 miles an hour on the PGA tour we’d expect the average PGA Tour or average Elite male to have an impact of 9 to 11 yards when we get to those

Players that achieve that ball speed of 183 or higher they’re going to have a greater impact we’re going to see closer to that 13 to 15 yard range um and so yes it’s going to impact golfers differently but but what we also see is based on uh impact based on spin based

On these other uh variables around hitting a ball by the time you get to your five iron this is even at the elite level we would expect there would be no distance change so this really is about drivers just like the rest of the industry a lot of people like to to

Suggest or think that it’s the governing bodies and we’re sitting back in our offices and we’re just collaborating USG and R it’s a cross industry collaboration we’re having weekly if not daily conversations with manufacturers with with the tours uh with people like Mark Ro to better understand the subject

And frankly understand all um All Views all perspectives and make a balanced decision all right so that was Thomas Pagel from the usgaa as to the details and how it will impact the game of golf and you specifically when it was announced in December 6 remember it was

December 6 2023 already last year it will take effect in 2028 for the top tier of the game for recreational golfers that will not kick in until 2030 the ball testing limit as mentioned 125 milph and what needs to be stated there is that this robot testing the ball going from 120 to

125 the distance maximum distance is the exact same so you can see that if you were up against it at 120 you’re going to push Beyond it at 125 uh the overall distance reduction there is it’s a little bit hard for me to pin It Down based upon the graphic that the usgaa

Sent to us uh we have heard 5% used which would be a different figure uh We’ve we’ve we’ve heard 15 yards used at the top tier of the game uh we’re waiting for more information on that as as they continue to get more data the governing bodies have said they will

Continue to monitor the performance of the drivers and I’m assuming what they’re referring to there isi which stands for moments of inertia which is stability at the moment of impact particularly on off center hits and the performance that you get in distance that you generate therein I think

They’re also referring to size obviously they’re referring to Wayward spin so there are things that they’re still looking at in in terms of of the game and then what they’re looking for as well is what they’re phrasing as is long-term stability in the game now Mike

Juan is the CEO of the USGA and Mike spoke about the very difficult position that golf’s governing bodies are in because you’re going to have people that passionately are on one side of this argument or another and what does the the governing bodies do in order to find

A pathway somehow between that we think this strikes the best balance and um and I will say uh there’ll be no doubt that over the next week days years they’ll be alarmist and there’ll be people screaming about distance losses that are just quite frankly unfounded relative to

The truth as Martin said this is going to have a zero to five yard impact on the driver of of our average recreational golf depending on how much ball speed they can generate I say zero because about a third of the golf ball models that are already on our

Conforming list today will still be on our conforming list in 2028 so if you’re a golfer who’s already playing that front te and you’re using a ball to kind of help you get as much as your game as you can that ball is more than likely to

Still be approved in 2028 and so we would see Zero impact but even if you go to something different we’re talking about something less than you know less than five yards on your driver and we see no impact from five iron down no matter what level player we’re seeing so

I just don’t want the alarmist to take over the day um we’ve been from the very beginning and Martin’s been the loudest to his credit from every time every meeting every call every proposal if it had an impact on the on the recreational game that we thought could reduce the

Either the excitement The Joy or the desire to play this game it’s been off the table inevitably this is a balance and inevitably half the people will think we’ve not done enough and half the people will think we’ve done too much but I think the usj and the RNA have

Listened We have dealt with our responsibilities um in regards to this and we we’re totally focused on the future of golf and the long-term health of uh our sport we don’t have ball contracts I don’t have a club deal um I I’m not I don’t have members with a

Retirement account I’m trying to address we are put in these positions so that we can govern without bias look at the game long term and do what we think could really be great for the game knowing that everybody else has to look through a different lens when it comes to change

And as Martin said I use the term a lot governance is hard tonight we’ll both go open up our computers and we’ll have thousands of emails from people saying I can’t believe you did that and we’ll have the same number of emails from people saying I can’t believe that’s all

You did and they’ll both be written with the same level of passion um and they’ll both be right I understand that but this is this is us about finding the finding a great balance so that our kids and our kids inherit a game that is at least as

Good as the game we inherited so all of that sound that you just heard was courtesy of Golf Channel when the announcement was made I think it’s too early to put any kind of judgment on this harsh or otherwise because we just don’t know I mean you just heard Mike

Juan the CEO of the USGA say that the impact on the average recreational golfer is going to be between zero to five yards which is different than the graphic that we saw and I’m not saying that as a point of criticism I’m saying that as a point of we just don’t know

Yet between now in 2028 I think one of the things that I anticipate is going to happen is they’re going to start to Salt the proposed ball or the definitive ball I’m not even sure what the status is on that out into the marketplace so people can actually get

Data about what’s happening and maybe they’ll modify the ball there is a lot of you know many of the manufacturers have come out and said that they’re not in favor of this rule because what’s the number one reason that most people buy golf balls I’m not talking about people

That don’t pay for the golf balls I’m talking about you guys what’s the number one reason that you buy most golf balls in distance is either number one or it’s close to number one the better players want a little bit more control so it may Edge above it but vast majority is

Distant so that’s why the manufacturers are saying I don’t think they’re thinking this all the way through yet uh distance is an important factor here but what they’re saying is is they think that they have a combination technically in a golf ball where for the vast majority of amateur golfers and I assume

It’s because you’re not generating enough Club bed speed to compress the ball to a point that it makes a difference will not see a discernable difference in the distance that they hit versus the distance that they hit it with the so-called new ball my sense is

Is that the more power that you have the more speed that you have the more it will be impacted uh adversely in terms of where you are currently so I think part of this is data driven part of this is getting more information uh part of

This which I think is also important to realize here is that as people are starting to draw lines as to where they feel what side they feel that they’re on with this issue I think it’s important for people to realize that I think it’s important for people

To realize that when they say that the you know a person is on a side of a manufacturer or not on the side of the manufacturer or on the side of rolling back distance for the game overall I think it’s critically important that people realize that ultimately manufacturers with whatever happens here

And the governing bodies are Resolute this is the rule this is the direction that they are going what what I’m not convinced on is that they have all the data yet to determine exactly what the ball will be that will fit within the confines maybe they do and I look

Forward to learning more about that because if it is the ball that they’re saying where it says it has a minimal impact on on the the golfers who are out there you know playing once or twice a week okay but they want to slow down the

Very very best players in the world for the long-term uh health of the game all right I don’t I don’t know too many people that could arly argue with that however when people have the argument of diminishing someone’s perspective because they say wow they’re only going to shield for the manufacturers

Perspective on this you have to remember folks the manufacturers are not going to suffer the manufacturers are concerned about what you do sure early but think about it from a manufacturer’s perspective as the clock ticks closer to these deadlines how many golf balls you think they’re going to

Sell how many are you going to stack up on of the so-called old golf ball right and then once you get past that line will you be losing less golf balls because the golf ball may be slightly less efficient if you some somehow pick up a tremendous amount of Club head

Speed so what I’m saying is the manufacturers are going to be okay the question that remains with all of this simply comes down to in reality and based upon actual performance have they found the golf ball to fit the formula that they want to have they seem

Confident that they’ve done it and from that perspective from from for the good I guess to say for everyone I hope that’s the case more coming up on the fairways of Life show when we come back let’s talk a little bit about where we stand with the PGA Tour piff who owns

Liv and other entities including the DP World Tour and a Consortium of perhaps major investors changing the game of golf at its highest level I guess hello world huh and with one subtle hello tiger began an amazing in and Unthinkable [Applause] career I’ve done it for 20 years now

With with bridgstone allows me to play an aggressive style around the greens and it’s allowed me to win a lot for them Bridgestone Golf proud to be part of your journey Boy golf provides the Ultimate worldclass Golf destination with 10 Championship caliber courses spanning three Resorts centered in Michigan’s

Northern lower Peninsula the courses are the products of some of the game’s Masters including Robert Trent Jones senior Arthur Hills and Donald Ross from the all-inclusive vacation package is Elite instruction with The boying Golf Academy tournaments and so much more Bo golf truly offers an unrivaled Michigan

Golf vacation experience just log on to Bo golf.com I think when you’re training for other sports or you’re what why most people go to the gym is so that they can like have muscles and you know be strong and be healthy and a lot of the reason

Why they struggle to play golf is their body doesn’t move properly for them to be able to hit a golf ball and when you’re training for golf it’s a little bit different because you’re focused more on flexibility and mobility and being uh strong in motion when you’re

Able to kind of have a warm-up and have a workout routine and kind of gradually build up to where you’re training your body to move properly yeah you’re going to get a lot of big dividends on the golf course relax easy now find your happy place champ place

The PGA TOUR Superstore it’s all in the hips where every swing is possible just tap it in yes find all the latest gear apparel and personalized Club fittings is this Kai We’ve Only Just Begun shop with the pros at golf’s happy place the PGA Superstore what if we started a company and the

Company was under no time constraints no Financial constraints the one constraint is their clubs had to be exceptional performers and much better than any other alternative I was told time and again it’ll never work it worked like a house of fire and I’ll tell you what I

Think our customers love it bxg nobody makes golf clubs the way we do period zero friction introduces the wheelpro push cart golf bag with its revolutionary 3 in-one design supportive legs that spring into action a comfort grip handle with three locking positions accessories for the modern golfer enhanced by seven pockets for more

Storage and removable allterrain Wheels which slide right into place the new zero friction wheelpro golf bag checks every box for every golfer push carry or cart the decision is yours thanks to zerof friction head to zerof friction. today Fairways of Life show I am Matt Adams so I found this article at pgatour.com

Which the intent of the article was to give a synopsis on on where it stands between the PGA Tour between negotiations with piff between DP World Tour and the SSG group as they’re calling I’m going to read this to you and see if it fills in some of the

Blanks it’s credited to the staff from the PGA Tour uh what you’re looking at in your screen that was from Rex hogard from Golf Channel the memo that was sent out by J Monahan and this reads PJ tour provided its players with an update in negotiations with strategic Sports Group

SSG the public investment fund piff and the DP World Tour via a memo from PGA Tour commissioner Jay manahan last Sunday the memo covered three primary points first manahan noted that quote we have made meaningful progress close quote in negotiations with SSG and are currently working towards finalization

Of terms and draft cting necessary documents secondly within just hours from December 31st and the expiration date of the framework agreement with the piff in the DP World Tour the memo spoke to an effort to extend the deadline into this New Year based upon progress made to date mon

Monahan cator categorized the piff and the DP World toward discussions as quote active and productive close finally the memo restated the tours goal relative to all negotiations which is to bring SSG piff and the DP World Tour on board as minority co-investors in PGA Tour Enterprises in 2024 Monahan said quote

These Partnerships will allow us to unify innovate and invest in the game for the benefit of players fans and sponsors close quote several players were already in caloa for this week’s event where FedEx Cup champion Victor havin and world number one Scotty Sheffer amongst the headliners at the

Century which will kick off the 2024 PGA Tour season this week also marks the tour’s return to a calendar year schedule the tour has been negotiating with piff since June’s framework agreement was announced it has since announced a host of other interested investors the list was formalized in early December when the board

Unanimously agreed to further negotiate with s SG a Consortium of us-based professional sports team investors led by Fenway Sports Group okay so I thought that that article kind of summarized pretty well what the status is I guess the next question is and it answers uh something

That we were asked about earlier the why question to all of this I think the first question with the SSG uh in the why to this the this Sports uh Consortium uh it’s first of all to understand that that Fenway Sports Group uh is a major owner of Major League

Teams it includes the Pittsburgh Penguins it includes the Boston Red Sox it includes uh for example Liverpool in the in the Premier League but you have to ask the question for someone willing to put up in this group is a Consortium of such groups for them to put up a

Massive sum of money right the first question has to be why if they’re going to do it they owe it to themselves certainly to look upon it as an opportunity to make a profit on that investment right it isn’t just about benevolence it isn’t just because they have a CEO say that

Loves the game of golf this is about investing somewhere where you feel like there’s going to be a return so from that standpoint it’s very healthy for the game of golf it’s healthy for everyone collectively that someone’s willing to commit men and write a massive check not unlike piff is willing

To do from the political side is it a benefit to piff in the PGA Tours negotiations that other sources of investment are willing to step in it absolutely is because remember not only do they have the Department of Justice lurking around this transaction but they also have members of the Senate that

Have become actively involved in holding hearings as to whether or not this is something they want to do and the in uh Senator blumenthal’s statement on it he called the PGA Tour a cherished American institution and their concern was uh that the uh Saudi Royal Family’s public

Investment fund was taking on such an investment uh so from that standpoint it may take the heat off the transaction from the perspective of piff and the uh the live golf Etc I think they’re they have a reason that they want to be involved in this from the beginning

There’s a reason why they agreed to the to the framework in June and negotiating towards the same I think they’re looking upon it as saying look what do they want to accomplish they want to grow live as big as they possibly can they want to have the best players in the world

Involved in it the signing of John Ram when presumably it was in the in the middle or or uh perhaps at some percentage we don’t know what percentage deep into these negotiations uh was that was that firing across the bow of the PGA Tour to say let’s let’s keep going

On this stuff because if it doesn’t work we have the wherewithal to bring on the players that we want pretty powerful negotiating strategy wouldn’t you agree but in terms of bringing it all together I think the PGA Tour it seems as though again you’re talking uh we’re on the

Outside looking in it seemed as though for the PGA Tour they seemed that at least in my view a surprise that there was there was so much interest from other parties to invest in golf at its highest tier competitively and the fact that that interest is there now while they’re

Having discussions with the public investment fund and the DP World Tour to be able to bring all of these entities together which brings us back to the concept that we were introduced to from them in June to say this is a way to settle down the game of Go at its top

Tier what would that mean in terms of the diversity of competition that’s available out there what will that mean in terms of players that are are in in one League or another having more opportunities to play against each other we don’t fully know the answer to all

These details yet uh but it will be very interesting uh to see how all of that plays itself out at least what we do have right now is more information as to how things are progressing now there was some other news uh that came out During the period in which we were on

Hiatus for the holidays included a big interview with Patrick Klay that was done with golf.com and I just I thought it was an interesting array of comments from Patrick Klay in terms of uh his perspective on how things are going because remember Patrick Klay was one of the voices that was strongly rumored

That he was on his way going to live he’s now on the the board of the PGA Tour and he says here’s a quote from it I care a lot about the PGA Tour I grew up wanting to play at the PGA Tour and win tournaments in the PGA Tour and I’ve

Been fortunate enough to have done that so when I joined the board I viewed that as a responsibility it was important for me to take that very seriously and I’ve taken that very seriously he spoke to his goal on being on the board he says my goal being on the PGA tour policy

Board is to represent all members both current and future to the best of my ability and so that’s what I’ve been trying to do and that’s what all player directors have been trying to do and then he said we’ve been working really closely over the last many months as a

Unit to make the best Collective decisions that represent the interests of all the members with a membership as wide ranging as the PGA Tour it is expected that there are different perspectives close quotes uh from Patrick cantlay and remember uh Jordan spe has replaced ran Rory maroy on the

Board Rory maroy removed himself uh from the PGA tour policy board what does it all mean well we have the pleasure of saying to all of you that we’re going to be here for every step of it as we continue on through 2024 will 2024 be the year in which the game of

Golf actually does settle down will it be the year in which at its highest levels will it be a year in which we see more clarity as to what’s going on with the game and maybe less risk for some or maybe maybe more opportunity for others

How it will play itself out is something that will remain to be seen we love that you’re here with us thank you so much for being with us along the way so far over the last few years that we created the television side in Earnest uh the

Fairways of Life show we’ve got some exciting things coming up for you to share uh in 2024 but mostly we want to share our Collective appreciation gratitude for you guys and what you’re doing so until we are together again we wish you guys to be well and when we’re

Together again maybe we’ll have more information what’s going on all this at the very least we’re going to have more information on what happened with the the century amongst others until then bye for now