Final confirmation for me came during the Sunday singles play at the Presidents Cup, at the 15th hole, when Si Woo Kim calmly sank a 7-foot putt to halve the hole with Justin Thomas. Kim put his index finger to his lips and made a point that the whole partisan crowd could see. He ensured Thomas saw as well, before the American stormed off to the 17th tee, shaking his head and chuntering.
‘Honestly, at the time, I was pretty pissed off,’ Thomas said, as the American celebrations kicked in following their win over The Internationals at Quail Hollow. ‘No, it’s one of those things, I think when you’re in the moment – when you’re on the other side of it – it’s something that gets you motivated, gets you pumped up a little bit.’
Kim went on to beat Thomas 1-up and injected a few jitters into a noisy pro-USA crowd. Ultimately, Team USA stretched away to retain the trophy by five points, but the scoreboard didn’t tell the story. ‘When you consider that we were 8-2 down on Friday evening, this team is no joke, and I’m sick and tired of it being spoken of as a joke. We love this event, we love our team and we cannot wait to run this back and have another shot,’ Trevor Immelman, the Internationals captain, said after the USA had stretched their dominance in the event to 12 wins, 1 defeat and 1 tie.
However, a depleted International team played a full part in the week’s excitement and every member of the squad, plus caddies, officials and Wags came out with heads held high. It wasn’t until the last hours or so of Sunday action that the USA could start uncorking the champagne.
It showed why team golf can be such riveting viewing, and why the Ryder Cup is one of the great sports shows on earth. Every player involved in the Sunday singles at the Presidents Cup spoke of the pressure they felt. Some reckoned they had never felt as much pressure, even when winning regular events on the PGA Tour.
And, in the cauldron of battle came the answer to the question all of golf has been asking: How can the sport unite again after the Saudi-backed LIV Series split the game down the middle, instead of growing the game, as the lame excuse was put forward by those who defected, especially in the early stages.
LIV Golf has a team competition within their 54-hole no-cut invitationals, and they are on to something. But, few will ever be drawn to LIV team golf. Most ardent followers can’t still tell you all the team names.
The way forward is to have a team competition between the PGA Tour and LIV Golf. Three days of foursomes, fourballs and singles, 12 players on each side.
Do you want chest-thumping? Do you want a noisy crowd? Do you want players who have personal scores to settle? Do you want bragging rights between the PGA Tour and LIV Golf? Do you want to see Greg Norman as LIV team captain? Do you want to grow the game and increase viewership and social media interaction?
The solution is right before us. Of course, there would be no money at stake and those who cashed in on the breakaway circuit did so because they wanted to play LIV golf for more money, right? Well, hopefully, they could be convinced to sacrifice a little, just this one, for the greater common cause.
Now, get the power-brokers together and let’s do this. Find a place in the 2023 calendar and make it happen. It would be the sporting blockbuster of the year.
– This column first appeared in the November 2022 issue of Compleat Golfer magazine. Subscribe here!
