Concerning Jon Rahm's Hypocritical Selling Out to LIV Golf (A Rant)

C.W.: Some language 

The news of Jon Rahm defecting from the PGA Tour to the Saudi-backed LIV Golf had been rumoured for weeks. Rahm had gone incognito (seemingly) since the Ryder Cup, where he had helped Europe win back the trophy 16.5-11.5. He hadn't bothered to play the Hero World Challenge, though he would have definitely been eligible as one of the top five in the OWGR. And earlier this week, despite being the holder of the title at the American Express, he wasn't listed as a participating player for next month's renewal of that event. None of that matters now that Rahm has signed for at least $300 million--possibly $500 million--with LIV, for rumours have become reality. And though it seemed increasingly likely, I stepped out of the office at my workplace to let out a primal scream of rage.

In my opinion, Rahmbo's prior defence of proper tour golf seemed especially eloquent, more so than Rory McIlroy (whose own native tongue is English, for crying out loud). Rahm invoked legends of Spanish golf, both living (like Jose Maria Olazabal) and deceased, in so doing. He never said anything about blood money, wisely focusing on the format--only 54 holes, no cut and parallel team and individual components. Needless to say, when Rahm signed with LIV yesterday, something within me died. It was arguably because Rahm was a terrible hypocrite to defect.

Traitor.

In contrast, for all his demons, Rahm's fellow-alumnus of Arizona State University, Phil Mickelson--also a multiple-major-winning golfer on his career who's defected to LIV--was at least upfront about his desire to alter the nature of tour golf. His interview with golf journalist Alan Shipnuck showed his honest feelings about the dual nature of collaborating with the Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF). Though the Saudi government was willing to help Mickelson's endeavour, he knew their penchant for killing LGBTQ+ people and their involvement in the murder of Washington Post contributor Jamal Khashoggi, calling them "scary motherfuckers" to deal with. But he at least showed no qualms about his priority of redesigning tour golf, especially the PGA Tour, in justifying his eventual break with the established ecosystem to join the Saudi-funded one. Furthermore, Mickelson was approaching the end of his career as a mainstream golfer when he left for LIV. Rahm is only 29.

On a personal note, I am part of the generation that saw Tiger Woods rise to glory and fall from it, then come back for a while late last decade and win a few more big-time events. Growing up, then, I had believed in tour golf because of its meritocracy. The idea that you need to do well enough out of the gate at each tournament to earn official prize money, which only comes by making the cut. The idea that, if you win an event, you should get more job security than those who don't win events. The idea that, without a tournament win, you need to do well consistently to keep from being demoted or terminated. Even the events without a cut, such as the Tournament of Champions (now the Sentry), have come with strings attached, such as a win since the last edition or a high standing in the world or in the tour's order of merit. I mentioned Rahm invoking Spanish golf tradition. I swear the moment Rahm signed that contract with LIV, Seve Ballesteros turned his grave vault into an electric power turbine.

Earlier this fall, I gave up on college sports because money is driving out tradition and the sound institutions that made it great in the first place. I just hope that Rahm's departure for LIV will not cause me to lose my appetite for golf sooner or later. The whole conundrum of his treason against proper tour golf breaks my heart more than any result in any sport.

Edward the Scop

Tosti, You're Toast, Part I: The Incident Itself

 Hitherto I've dealt primarily with Upper Midwest connections in the world of tour golf. After all, I am a cradle Upper Midwesterner, having been born in Grand Forks, North Dakota and lived the rest of my life in Minnesota. But this is a story that relates to a theme I've covered before here, and that's the integrity of the game. Thankfully, no Umcees were hurt (or otherwise involved) in the incident or the making of the present report or any sources on which it's based.

If you follow the Korn Ferry Tour on any level, odds are you've heard of the phrase "Tour-bound." This means a given player on the Korn Ferry Tour has accrued enough points (formerly money) to earn his PGA Tour card, which is obviously the goal of all KFT members. For the first few years of the points-list era, 900 was the failsafe threshold needed to be assured of said goal. Of course, this year PGA Tour cards are also available to some degree via Q-school for the first time since 2012, so the KFT Finals were converted into a four-event conclusion to the KFT season from now on. No longer do you have interlopers from the PGA Tour taking advantage of the yo-yo opportunity to bounce back from a disappointing season or seasons. Instead, it's all about the next wave of players, from the rank and file to the stars. Hence, the threshold is now 1100 points. So far, seven players have achieved this milestone. Most recently, Belgian star and Illinois Fighting Illini alumnus Adrien Dumont de Chassart cracked this threshold at last week's Magnit Championship by reaching 1132 to be exact, assuring he'll play PGA Tour events next year--not necessarily signature events, but most events of up to full-field status. For the record, his sole win thus far came at the BMW Charity Pro-Am on his pro debut fresh off his college career.

Another golfer who's reached the threshold is Alejandro Tosti of Rosario, Argentina. Tosti went to Florida for college and has had a somewhat checkered career. As with ADDC, Tosti broke through on the KFT this year...after five years in the pros. Two weeks ago, he won the Pinnacle Bank Championship in Omaha to secure his PGA Tour card, and he finished the regular season with nine straight cuts made. Next year, he'll finally take his talents long-term to the big tour, where he made the cut in all three events he played there as well, highlighted by a T10 at the Mexico Open...or will he? That is the crux of this article.

Yesterday as of this writing, Tosti opened with a 67 at the Albertsons Boise Open, which is not only one of the four remaining founder KFT founder events from the 1990 Ben Hogan Tour (as it was known then) but serves as the opener to the KFT Finals. It goes without saying that it's a big event, as only the 156 leading available players according to the points list get to play it. (There was one Umcee involved--#43 Frankie Capan III of North Oaks, Minnesota--but he was expected to MC.) According to Golf Digest, though, the round featured several concerns about Tosti's behaviour, and he was forced to WD.

That's not all. Ryan French of Monday Q Info noted various "alleged incidents" on Tosti's part this year, which have combined to incur a suspension from the Korn Ferry Tour.

Monday Q Info on X: "Breaking: According to sources, Alejandro Tosti who is in points, on the KFT has been suspended after an incident yesterday. This comes after numerous alleged incidents throughout the season that have lead to him being suspended. Full story coming." / X (twitter.com)

Without regard to how many such incidents he perpetrated, Tosti did make unwanted headlines at the LECOM Suncoast Classic earlier this season by freeloading on a cart. The Model Local Rule in question states that golf carts may only be used to enforce stroke and distance penalties or in playoffs. However, Tosti got an unauthorized volunteer to drive him from the 18th green to the 1st tee box in violation of this rule. (He had started his round on the 10th tee.)

I can only assume Tosti is strong and fit, as well as of a sustainable weight. For comparison, I am strong and fit but grossly obese, and yet I have generally pulled my own bag rather than relying on motorized transport during golf rounds. That said, I will have to await more word from sources, including the aforementioned Monday Q Info, before suggesting a punishment for Tosti.

To be continued...

Edward the Scop

You know what they say...all toasters toast...TOSTI!!!

Re: Justin Doeden, Part II: The Incident (and Suggested Punishment)

UPDATE, 24 JULY 2023: Justin Doeden has reopened his Twitter feed, and the first thing he tweeted was below.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">I am here to confess of the biggest mistake I have made in my life to date. I cheated in golf. This is not who I am. I let my sponsors down. I let my competitors down. I let my family down. I let myself down. I pray for your forgiveness. John 1:9 <a href="https://twitter.com/acaseofthegolf1?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@acaseofthegolf1</a></p>&mdash; Justin Doeden (@jdoeden11) <a href="https://twitter.com/jdoeden11/status/1683501137905762304?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 24, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Just to be clear, I am all for people acknowledging mistakes than can affect their careers. I still believe he should be suspended for some time, but his relatively prompt response to Ryan French's article (as cited in the original version of this post) two days after the article broke is a good sign of the contrition I was talking about. Furthermore, were he to back up his apology in some tangible way, I would suggest a lighter punishment than what I recommended at first.

Some of the info in this second part of my rant on Justin Doeden is adapted from Ryan French's article on the matter. I have followed Ryan's work on lesser-known tours and players on Twitter, although that era will end on Wednesday when I delete my feed and leave Twitter for good, as promised. I still intend to subscribe to his website since Lord knows he needs the money!

Anyway, when I found out Doeden had withdrawn from the Commissionaires Ottawa Open on PGA Tour Canada yesterday, he had been fluctuating between -1 and -3. The cutline of -2 was based on the low 60 and ties, according to PGA Tour Canada regulations. I initially thought it was a data-entry error that had raised my hopes of following Doeden this weekend and later theorized he had withdrawn due to injury or illness.

Well, neither was the case. According to the linked article, Doeden was even through seventeen holes at -3 and needed only a par or even single bogey to make the weekend. But his second shot hit the water and his fourth hit the bunker by the green, and he couldn't get up and down to save bogey, taking a tap-in 7 to finish -1.

But it is believed that sometime between the last tap-in and the official scoring of his round, Doeden altered his 7 from the last hole to a 5. When rules officials confirmed the actual score, Doeden announced his withdrawal from the event.

It's one thing when a golfer who happens to be an Umcee melts down on course after a bad shot, as happened with Doeden's fellow-alumnus of the U of M, Erik van Rooyen, at the 2021 PGA Championship. But tee markers are replaceable. Divots from anger over a topped shot are replaceable. What isn't remotely as replaceable is sporting integrity lost to cheating. The only hope is that this incident isn't serial a la Patrick Reed when he was on the PGA Tour (and God knows if it's continued in his LIV era). For now, it brings me no pleasure to suggest the following sanctions against Justin Doeden:

1. That he be banned from PGA Tour Canada for the rest of the season. Wherever he goes the rest of the summer, Doeden would be followed by the allegations of cheating. Not having any hope of a paycheck until at least September would encourage him to think about the consequences of breaking the rules next time the lust for money earned doing so overwhelms him.
2. That until the ban is lifted, Doeden be not allowed to enter any qualifiers, including pre-qualifiers for PGA Tour events, nor seek any sponsor's exemptions for the PGA Tour and the Korn Ferry Tour. This would affect the next two PGA Tour events--the Wyndham Championship and the Fortinet Championship (the latter part of the FedEx Cup Fall). It would also apply to the last four events before the Korn Ferry Finals: the NV5 Invitational, the Utah Championship, the Pinnacle Bank Championship and the Magnit Championship. He wouldn't be allowed to enter any further pre-qualifiers until the ones for the Sanderson Farms Championship. This would close a competition loophole that he could otherwise exploit to get around the ban, which would enable him further, possibly.

I am not sure a life ban is the answer, especially if he proves contrite. If not, though, that may have to be an option. Furthermore, since Doeden's 16th place finish in the Totalplay Cup for PGA Tour Latinoamerica guarantees him a trip to Second Stage of Q-school, and that doesn't take place until November, he'll have sufficient time to show contrition before he is guaranteed to play again.

Again, these are just my suggestions. Feel free to suggest your own takes and punishments by commenting if you like.

Edward the Scop

Re: Justin Doeden, Part I: Background to an Incident

Any time a golfer or anybody whose career revolves around golf does something that tarnishes the sport, it's reason for pause. We've been bombarded with stories about the PGA Tour clashing with breakaway golfers forming the LIV Golf League, lured by Saudi money without apparent strings. Then came the hypocrisy of imitating LIV with designated events run strictly by the PGA Tour rather than in collaboration with other tours as the similarly no-cut WGCs had been run. (The only difference is these designated events will have 72 holes, not 54.) And to top it all off, the PGA Tour acquiesced to the Public Investment Fund to make peace with LIV after pretending to stand for the integrity of the game.

All this is well-documented. But at the end of the day, it doesn't compare with an actual breach of the rules of the sport. Whereas PGA v LIV is a matter for the sport's professional governing bodies to sort out (with a little help from the politician-friends of said bodies), the incident described and the punishment I recommend in these next couple posts is related to playing the game itself. And the player who broke the rules, sadly, happens to be an Umcee.

Justin Doeden of Prior Lake, MN has had a quiet but respectable career grinding on PGA Tour Canada since graduating from the University of Minnesota in 2018. He was forced to go back to Q-school for that tour in 2019 but managed to finish 36th in the money list that year, earning full membership for 2020. Only, Covid-19 intervened, killing PGA Tour Canada for two years. In the meantime, Doeden continued to plug away on the LOCALiQ Series in 2020, even taking the 54-hole Classic at the Club at Weston Hills for his first PGA Tour pyramid win. As Covid continued to close the Canadian border in 2021, Doeden participated on the one-off Forme Tour and finished 27th, missing out on a First Stage bye for Q-school by just seven points. That said, he made it through First Stage and squeaked through Second Stage to earn conditional Korn Ferry status, though he wasn't able to capitalize at Final Stage. Last year was a step backward, but he still mustered a top-50 finish in the new Fortinet Cup, which is a points-based metric that has replaced the money list for PGA Tour Canada.

Justin Doeden in happier times.

After sitting out last year's Korn Ferry Q-school due to injury, Doeden qualified for half a season on the other third-tier circuit in the PGA Tour pyramid, PGA Tour Latinoamerica. He struggled early on, missing the first two cuts, but then made it at the Chile Open in mid-December. He cracked the top-60 threshold needed for survival to the second half of the season with a T12 when it resumed at the Rio Hondo Invitational in March in Argentina. By the time the reshuffle followed the Brazilian Open in early April, Doeden had secured enough points to play the second half of the Latinoamerica schedule. His first top-10 finish on the Latinoamerica was a T6 at the Kia Open in Ecuador in early May, but his best showing was in the all-time finale of the PGA Tour Latinoamerica at the Bupa Tour Championship on Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula.

Doeden was one of two losers in the playoff to decide the winner of the event, along with France's Jeremy Gandon. (Chandler Blanchet won all the marbles.) This PT2 lifted Doeden to a final Totalplay Cup (points system for the Latinoamerica) standing of #16, good for a long-awaited Second Stage direct entry. Given such a track record, one would think he could suddenly do little wrong that mattered, right? Wrong! One month or so after his strong showing in Mexico, Justin Doeden committed an incident that could epitomize a good golfer gone foul...

To be continued,

Edward the Scop