JOIN USLIV Golf lacks the buzz: Faldo
Nick Faldo is 65 years old but his passion for golf still burns bright. As the interview stretched beyond 10 minutes, he started to grow anxious. “Get it over soon guys, I need to hit a few balls,” he says with a laugh. But in the short duration he spoke, the six-time major winner was point blank in his assessment of LIV Golf Tour which has divided the sport and the changing mentality of young players who are content with a better pay check and at the cost of major spoils.
In the city for the Duncan Taylor Black Bull Challenge – an European Challenge tour event that tees off at the Karnataka Golf Association on Thursday – Faldo spoke about his contempt for LIV Golf, why they don’t deserve ranking points, etc. Excerpts.
As a golfing legend what are your thoughts on LIV Golf Tour which has divided the golfing world?
It’s a huge subject. It’s year two for them and it could be make or break. There’s very little interest, media wise or on television. Their last two events on YouTube had very little viewership, guess 16-17 thousand viewers. I think if they have another quiet year, the players would be disenchanted, the sponsors won’t be there, the TV won’t be there and even LIV Golf might look at the numbers. If they are spending 2.4 billion dollars to create a tour with no return, I don’t think there’s any company in the world that won’t be concerned about their ROI (return on investment). So I think it’s a crunch year for them.
If things go south for LIV, do you think some players, especially the major winners, may regret joining it?
I’ve said it before it even started, playing 48 guys – there’s only 20 of them we even know – I’d be bored out of my brains playing the same guys. I think some of them have already implied it -- where’s the excitement? If you are out playing and there’s no buzz, it’s hard. If you are playing the 14th hole and there’s nobody around, it’s hard work. Many of the major champions have played in fantastic arenas and golfers love the atmosphere. We love to play in front of an enthusiastic crowd and if there’s no buzz, you are gonna miss that. It’s flat right now and they have kind of disappeared. Nobody is really talking about them. I have no problem with guys who want to earn crazy money in a short span of two years but at the end of the day, you still play the game because you want the buzz, the excitement, and the atmosphere.
Your thoughts on LIV golfers demanding world ranking points?
They are not an official tour. And I think their commissioner is saying they need to grow up. It’s not a 72-hole event and they need to wait their time to get fully accredited with world ranking points.
In your days, golfers, in fact most sportspersons in general, wanted to compete in major events. While money was important, the biggest motivation was competing against the best. Some athletes now see it the other way and prefer work-life balance. Your thoughts on the changed mentality?
It seems like society has changed. Your are measured by your worth. Nobody knows how much I got in the bank, do they? In fact, even I don’t know how much I’ve got. But they all know I’ve got six majors. For me and players from that era, we played for trophies. The most important thing was to win the trophies, in fact the right trophies. The money takes care of itself. There seems to be a change in society where they all think ‘woah, what’s the least I can do for the most amount of money’.
If you look at the Michael Jordans, the Tom Bradys... they were nobodies when they were youngsters. They ground their b***s off, bled their hands or whatever to reach the pinnacle. Their motivation was just to play, play and play. If you are good enough to survive the pressure and win a major, it puts you in a different category. I think Bobby Jones said it, there are two types of golfers, ones who survive and can play well under pressure and ones who can’t. That’s the biggest thrill for me, playing well under pressure. I knew on a Sunday afternoon, I had a chance whereas many would know they don’t have a chance on Thursday morning. Every elite athlete wants to play their best when it matters.