Golf wars LIV and golf's bitter battle for power and identity

Iain Carter

Book - 2024

"Golf is at war. PGA vs LIV. Establishment vs upstart. This is the compelling story of how golf was ripped apart. The battle for the future of professional golf has been blazing. The Saudi-backed organisation LIV Golf has struck at the very heart of the golfing establishment, setting up rival tournaments with enormous prize pots and pitting the game's most famous players against each other. Led by legend Greg Norman, it has enticed the likes of Sergio García, Ian Poulter, Lee Westwood and Jon Rahm, parking its tanks on the manicured greens of the traditional game. Its tagline: Golf but louder. With LIV now in its season and little sign of the struggle abating, BBC Golf Correspondent Iain Carter delivers the fascinating - and on...going - account of a sporting upheaval. Golf Wars spotlights the key players, both on the course and in the boardroom, exploring how the PGA Tour and other traditional organisations are fighting back. Carter covers every twist and turn, hearing from influential figures including Rory McIlroy, Jay Monahan, Greg Norman, Keith Pelley and Tiger Woods. Through expert and up-to-date analysis of all sides of this bitter conflict, Carter reveals how the saga is unfolding and what it means for golf's future. Has the controversial Saudi Arabian state essentially bought the game? Is LIV just a sportwashing series of glitzy exhibition tournaments? Or is it a welcome challenge to the golfing hegemony and a long-awaited refresh of tired traditions? This epic tale of fierce internal warfare has shaken golf to its core and marks a seminal moment in sporting history."--Dust jacket.

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1 copy ordered
Subjects
Genres
Case studies
Études de cas
Published
London : Bloomsbury Sport 2024.
Language
English
Main Author
Iain Carter (author)
Item Description
Title appears as Golf War$
Physical Description
xx, 252 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm
Bibliography
Includes bibliographic references (pages 246-251).
ISBN
9781399410168
  • Prologue
  • Introduction
  • 1. LIV Origins
  • 2. Greg Norman: Born to Conquer
  • 3. A Serious Business
  • 4. Hostilities
  • 5. LIV Goes Live
  • 6. Big Guns and Big Money
  • 7. The Trump Card
  • 8. Meetings, Money and Change
  • 9. Masters Diary
  • 10. Fines, Bans and … Accord
  • 11. US PGA Diary
  • 12. Deal Done?
  • 13. US Open Diary
  • 14. Regrets and Recrimination
  • 15. The Open Diary
  • 16. Build-up to the Ryder Cup
  • 17. Ryder Cup Diary
  • 18. Massive Disconnect
  • Epilogue
  • References and Sources
  • Acknowledgements
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review

BBC golf correspondent Carter (The 150th Open) delivers a propulsive account of how the establishment of LIV, a professional men's golf tour created as an alternative to the PGA, upended the sport. He chronicles how English businessman Andrew Gardiner, convinced professional golf wasn't living up to its potential, proposed a new tour in which each participant would compete in every tournament and play on teams that "could become lucrative franchises." Gardiner's dream was realized when LIV's first series kicked off in 2022, but not without controversy. Saudi Arabia served as an essential financier, raising concerns that the country was using the tour to rehabilitate its public image and distract from its human rights abuses. Lucrative prize money drew high-profile golfers to LIV despite the bad press, causing the PGA and European tours to issue warnings that bans or fines would be imposed on players who participated in the new venture. Carter artfully chronicles professional golf's shifting landscape, and his transportive dispatches from LIV matches detail how the tour's brash style is challenging the historically restrained sport ("Torrents of beer, plastic glasses and cans rained down. Thunderous cheers from the packed crowd echoed across the course," Carter writes of the pandemonium that followed an impressive shot by Chase Koepka at a 2023 event in Adelaide, Australia). A tale of "arch disruptors," big money, and murky ethics, this is Accidental Billionaires for the golf world. (May)

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