The First Call Inbox

Should LIV Golf be in the LPGA's future plans?

LPGA commissioner Mollie Marcoux Samaan is open to the idea of working with the upstart league. Readers of The First Call offer their opinions of such a possibility

LPGA Drive on Championship
The LPGA has said its open to having discussions with LIV Golf leaders.

Question of the week [Aug. 8-14): Is there anything that LIV Golf does that the PGA Tour could implement?

RELATED: The First Call Inbox archive

I would not support this for the LPGA. The backers of LIV Golf would love nothing more than to control women golfers and they would probably expect them to wear burkas. More money is not always a step forward.

Carolyn Holmes
Mattawa, Washington
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I oppose the idea of the LPGA partnering with LIV.  I would boycott any events or programs involved.

Eugenia Fangsrud
Ronan, Montana
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I do not believe the LPGA should partner with LIV. No need to rehash what LIV stands for, suffice it to say they murdered and dismembered an American journalist. The LPGA is an inclusive organization that has always done the right thing. Believe it or not, there are things more important in life than money. This is one of them.

I am hoping to hear from the new commissioner on this subject in the near future. 

Betsy Larey
LPGA professional
St. Augustine, Florida 
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Absolutely not. Greg Norman will lie to them just like he did to the men who were all told "the Tour couldn’t keep them out for a day." And given now we know LIV is not much more than an exhibition I could care less about it. 

Chris Brooks
Florham Park, New Jersey
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At some point the LPGA may want or need to form a relationship with LIV. However, I think that would be premature at this time given the Saudi's human rights record toward women. In my mind, neither LIV or its Saudi backers have established the sincerity of reform or the track record of success to warrant any form of partnership at this moment.

I’d prefer they wait 20-36 months.

Clay McKay
Dundas, Ontario
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My opinion is if the players on LIV want to play in the PGA-sanctioned tournaments, then the players on the PGA Tour should be able to play in the LIV tournaments. This can't be a one-way street.

Phil De Jong
Modesto, California
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Why would the LPGA partner with a misogynistic, anti-American, anti-humane regime? The social mores and ways of Saudi Arabia are not a fit.

Larry Guli
Waxhaw, North Carolina
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I don’t believe that any of the professional tours should accept LIV. Pressure is a vital part of tournament golf and taking away the money pressure significantly alters the dynamic. Not winning or missing the cut should have real consequences to how pros get paid for performance or lack thereof.

While I agree that members of the main tours should perhaps be guaranteed a small amount in order to cover some expenses, paying the kind of money that LIV guarantees takes away the very pressure that performance causes.

In this particular case, it could be reasonably argued that pros who support LIV don’t care about human rights, and I’m sure that we all know why.

Paul Sunderland 
Los Angeles, California
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I believe the PGA Tour golfers who transitioned to the LIV tour have sold out their values, unless, of course, they agree with how women and gays are treated in Saudia Arabia. I bring this up to help answer the question about the LPGA Tour teaming up with LIV.

How could they even consider this? Has our society reached such a low level that nothing matters over money? Oh wait, I almost forgot about the NBA and China. Perhaps I just answered my own question.

Very sad.

J.R. Roach
Salisbury, North Carolina
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No, the LPGA will always continue to struggle as long as the Tour is dominated by foreign golfers. I'm not sure why Americans are uncompetitive, maybe because there are so many distractions, but getting paid to eliminate competition isn't the answer. It's counterintuitive in a free market economy to eliminate competition and that is what LIV is based on, being paid for name recognition and not necessarily an ability to compete. All you have to do is look at Phil Mickelson to understand it isn't about ability to compete. The Saudi backers will eventually tire of paying the bills for no return.

Eric Schmehl
Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania
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Absolutely not. Why would any person who is appalled by atrocities the Saudis have done and condoned take their blood money? Have we as a civilized moral people lost our own sense of right and wrong? Or, is it just a pure simple act of greed with no thoughts as to how it affects others?

Don Moore
Warren, Pennsylvania
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Stay away from the LIV crowd, I think. The LPGA is growing by leaps and bounds on its own. One annual LIV event in a mixed-better-ball format might be OK, but anything more involved than that would be detrimental to the LPGA.

Craig Libhart
Bainbridge, Pennsylvania
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You’ve got to be kidding right?

I’ve been waiting for this to come up. With the Saudi‘s history of treatment and abuse of women, any female golfer who would consider joining a LIV Golf tour is absolutely a money-grabbing low life. The Saudis have been treating women as second-class citizens for eons. Nothing has changed and nothing will change. Playing in their events just legitimizes their violations of human rights.

Can’t wait to see who the first female is to jump on board and say, "I can make a difference, plus it’s growing the game!" 

Edmund Woronicz
Charleston, South Carolina

DRONES ARE FUTURE OF TV GOLF
The sample shot of Rory McIlroy's wedge shot [First Thought | August 8 edition] is the future. TV coverage of golf hasn’t changed much since the pioneering days of Frank Chirkinian. The only thing that would make this better is to do a split screen with the drone on one side and a camera on the ground showing a down-the-line view. Then you’ve got a new experience. VR headsets will also play a role in future coverage. Still, there’s nothing on TV that comes close to the experience of standing behind Tiger Woods and watching him launch one. Directors today are not using drones correctly. They are showing high altitude shots looking straight down. There’s a place for this in the show, but it needs to be used sparingly. 

Pete Kellos
Okatie, South Carolina
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The First Call invites reader comment. Write to editor Stuart Hall at shall@morningread.com. Your name and city of residence is necessary to be considered for publication. If your comment is selected for publication, The First Call will contact you to verify the authenticity of the email and confirm your identity. We will not publish your email address. We reserve the right to edit for clarity and brevity.


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