Anyone who follows the golf news has read about the recent flap with pro golfer Phil Mickelson. Phil, not widely known for controlling his mouth any better than he controls his tee shots, opened a world-wide can of worms. Mr. Mickelson apparently decided to decline an invitation to play in upcoming Middle East golf tournaments citing his concerns for human rights abuses. The fact that Phil’s skills are waning a bit of late and he didn’t think he could fare well against the global competition is probably the real reason he’s staying home. But, by denouncing the human rights abuses as his reasons, he incurred the wrath of the Middle Eastern tour promoter, Greg Norman, who has a huge investment in the success of that tour. Enter the US Professional Golf Association Commissioner Jay Monahan. He immediately saw the danger of having the foreign tour siphon off the best US players and jumped on the human rights abuse bandwagon. Recently Mr. Monahan has forbidden any US pro golfer from playing on the Middle Eastern tour under a threat of banishment from the American tour. It’s not about human rights; as usual it’s about money. Advertisers will not pay for lower ranked unknown players on US TV nearly as much as they would for the higher ranked better players. Networks lose revenue and the control over the players–who create the money machine–would slacken. This is simply unacceptable–hence the Monahan decree. In reply, Greg Norman has threatened to have the last word in retaliation for the US PGA position. Stay tuned, this will get messier.
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