Tiger Woods’ comments on LIV Golf expose league’s true ugliness
Sports Seriously: Andy Nesbitt and Mackenzie Salmon discuss the impact Tiger Woods’ comments on LIV Golf have on the sport going forward.
USA TODAY
BEDMINSTER, N.J. — An already lively crowd erupted with applause and chants of “Four more years!” and “Let’s go Brandon!” when former President of the United States Donald Trump made an appearance at the first tee before Friday’s shotgun start of the LIV Golf Invitational Series event at Trump National Golf Club Bedminster.
“What’s (PGA Tour commissioner) Jay Monahan doing right now? Crying!” yelled another fan.
The former president has faced a great deal of criticism for hosting the Greg Norman-led and Saudi Arabia-backed series, especially from a group of 9/11 families, who held an emotional protest Friday morning before the round began. For all the outside noise, the vibe around the grounds is similar to that of the last LIV event in Portland, Oregon, in that fans are pushing aside the controversy and embracing the golf.
“My first message to my brother was, ‘I think I’d rather watch it on TV,'” said Bob Teed, a local New Jersey resident with a laugh. “I had never seen a PGA tournament before. I golf a couple times a week and there’s nothing in this area that I could go to, and this was probably the closest I was ever gonna get.”
Teed’s comments point to part of the genius in LIV Golf’s plan to hold events not only opposite weaker PGA Tour stops, but in regions of the country that love golf and are starved for tournaments, like Portland, Chicago, Boston and Miami.
“I hate to talk politics and stuff like that, but they could say the same thing about China,” Teed said in reference to the 9/11 families criticizing Trump for hosting the Saudi-funded series. “This actually opens the game up to more people who can’t get out and see it.”
Dave Teed, a local firefighter who came to the event with Bob, said the Saudi association does bother him a little bit, but if China were the ones supporting LIV, “I wouldn’t be here.”
Dave cited President Joe Biden and his son Hunter and their connection to China as the reason for his stance. When asked if the same could be said for former President Trump and Jared Kushner’s connection to Saudi Arabia, he said, “I don’t know that much about that to be honest with you.”
“I just read a little bit about the connection with the golf tournament, the golfers and things like that, which does bother me a little bit because the PGA got these guys to where they’re at today,” Dave explained. “But it’s still fun to come out here, see the players, it’s local, which is great, which brings the money into the local economy. I think it’s a good deal. The Saudi Arabia thing I can deal with, but like I said, if it was China or something like that, no way. I wouldn’t be here.”
LIV Golf has long been criticized as a way for the Kingdom to sportswash its human rights record. Saudi Arabia has been accused of wide-ranging human rights abuses, including politically motivated killings, torture, forced disappearances and inhumane treatment of prisoners. And members of the royal family and Saudi government were accused of involvement in the murder of Jamal Khashoggi, a Saudi journalist and Washington Post columnist.
Michael and Richard Adams weren’t sure what to expect when they showed up on Friday after making the two-hour trip from Chester County, Pennsylvania, but they bought in to the atmosphere right away.
“As soon as we got here, we felt like it was a fun atmosphere,” said Michael.
“We like the crowd because it’s not overbearing,” added Richard.
The pair admitted their bias towards former President Trump, and when asked if they had any reservations about coming to the event due to the Saudi Arabia connection, the answer was an emphatic no.
“(America) has done a lot worse than they have,” explained Richard.
Fellow Pennsylvania natives Bertus Wessels and Eric Mahoney made the trip from Philadelphia and both compared LIV to the PGA Tour’s WM Phoenix Open, a fan-favorite event every year on the schedule.
“It’s definitely different than anything I’ve ever been to,” Wessels said. “I’ve been to other PGA tour events and it seems way less stressful and players seem to talk to each other. I mean, there’s music playing everywhere, they’ve got people skydiving, so it’s totally different, but I think good.”
“I watched the first two on YouTube. It’s difficult to watch and keep up,” explained Mahoney. “As Bertus said, it almost reminds me of the WM Phoenix Open. So it’s different, but it’s pretty cool.”
Much like their fellow Pennsylvanians, the Kingdom’s connection to LIV wasn’t an issue.
“(Saudi Arabia is) involved in other stuff, too. People just don’t want to see what they don’t want to see,” said Wessels.
GUADALAJARA, Mexico – Canada’s Marina Stakusic fell 6-4, 6-3 to Poland’s Magdalena Frech in the quarterfinals of the Guadalajara Open tennis tournament on Friday.
The 19-year-old from Mississauga, Ont., won 61 per cent of her first-serve points and broke on just one of her six opportunities.
Stakusic had upset top-seeded Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia 6-3, 5-7, 7-6 (0) on Thursday night to advance.
In the opening round, Stakusic defeated Slovakia’s Anna Karolína Schmiedlová 6-2, 6-4 on Tuesday.
The fifth-seeded Frech won 62 per cent of her first-serve points and converted on three of her nine break point opportunities.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
TORONTO – Alejandro Kirk’s long single with the bases loaded provided the Toronto Blue Jays with a walk-off 4-3 win in the 11th inning of their series opener against the St. Louis Cardinals on Friday.
With the Cardinals outfield in, Kirk drove a shot off the base of the left-field wall to give the Blue Jays (70-78) their fourth win in 11 outings and halt the Cardinals’ (74-73) two-game win streak before 30,380 at Rogers Centre.
Kirk enjoyed a two-hit, two-RBI outing.
Erik Swanson (2-2) pitched a perfect 11th inning for the win, while Cardinals reliever Ryan Fernandez (1-5) took the loss.
Blue Jays starter Kevin Gausman enjoyed a seven-inning, 104-pitch outing. He surrendered his two runs on nine hits and two walks and fanned only two Cardinals.
He gave way to reliever Genesis Cabrera, who gave up a one-out homer to Thomas Saggese, his first in 2024, that tied the game in the eighth.
The Cardinals started swiftly with four straight singles to open the game. But they exited the first inning with only two runs on an RBI single to centre from Nolan Arendao and a fielder’s choice from Saggese.
Gausman required 28 pitches to escape the first inning but settled down to allow his teammates to snatch the lead in the fourth.
He also deftly pitched out of threats from the visitors in the fifth, sixth and seventh thanks to some solid defence, including Will Wagner’s diving stop, which led to a double play to end the fifth inning.
George Springer led off with a walk and stole second base. He advanced to third on Nathan Lukes’s single and scored when Vladimir Guerrero Jr. knocked in his 95th run with a double off the left-field wall.
Lukes scored on a sacrifice fly to left field from Spencer Horwitz. Guerrero touched home on Kirk’s two-out single to right.
In the ninth, Guerrero made a critical diving catch on an Arenado grounder to throw out the Cardinals’ infielder, with reliever Tommy Nance covering first. The defensive gem ended the inning with a runner on second base.
St. Louis starter Erick Fedde faced the minimum night batters in the first three innings thanks to a pair of double plays. He lasted five innings, giving up three runs on six hits and a walk with three strikeouts.
ON DECK
Toronto ace Jose Berrios (15-9) will start the second of the three-game series on Saturday. He has a six-game win streak.
The Cardinals will counter with righty Kyle Gibson (8-6).
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
CALGARY – Mired in their first four-game losing skid in 20 years, the Calgary Stampeders are going back to Jake Maier at quarterback on Saturday after he was benched for a game.
It won’t be an easy assignment.
Visiting McMahon Stadium are the Eastern Conference-leading Montreal Alouettes (10-2) who own the CFL’s best record. The Stampeders (4-8) have fallen to last in the Western Conference.
“Six games is plenty of time, but also it is just six games,” said Maier. “We’ve got to be able to get on the right track.”
Calgary is in danger of missing the playoffs for the first time since 2004.
“I do still believe in this team,” said Stampeders’ head coach and general manager Dave Dickenson. “I want to see improvement, though. I want to see guys on a weekly basis elevating their game, and we haven’t been doing that.”
Maier is one of the guys under the microscope. Two weeks ago, the second-year starter threw four interceptions in a 35-20 home loss to the Edmonton Elks.
After his replacement, rookie Logan Bonner, threw five picks in last week’s 37-16 loss to the Elks in Edmonton, the football is back in Maier’s hands.
“Any time you fail or something doesn’t go your way in life, does it stink in the moment? Yeah. But then the days go on and you learn things about yourself and you learn how to prepare a little bit better,” said Maier. “It makes you mentally tougher.”
Dickenson wants to see his quarterback making better decisions with the football.
“Things are going to happen, interceptions will happen, but try to take calculated risks, rather than just putting the ball up there and hoping that we catch it,” said Dickenson.
A former quarterback himself, he knows the importance of that vital position.
“You cannot win without good quarterback play,” Dickenson said. “You’ve got to be able to make some plays — off-schedule plays, move-around plays, plays that break down, plays that aren’t designed perfectly, but somehow you found the right guy, and then those big throws where you’re taking that hit.”
But it’s going to take a team effort, and that includes the club’s receiving corp.
“We always have to band together because we need everything to go right for our receivers to get the ball,” said Nik Lewis, the Stampeders’ receivers coach. “The running back has to pick up the blitz, the o-line has to block, the quarterback has to make the right reads, and then give us a catchable ball.”
Lewis brings a unique perspective to this season’s frustrations as he was a 22-year-old rookie in Calgary in 2004 when the Stamps went 4-14 under coach Matt Dunigan. They turned it around the next season and haven’t missed the playoffs since.”
“Thinking back and just looking at it, there’s just got to be an ultimate belief that you can get it done. Look at Montreal, they were 6-7 last year and they’ve gone 18-2 since then,” said Lewis.
Montreal is also looking to rebound from a 37-23 loss to the B.C. Lions last week. But for head coach Jason Maas, he says his team’s mindset doesn’t change, regardless of what happened the previous week.
“Last year when we went through a four-game losing streak, you couldn’t tell if we were on a four-game winning streak or a four-game losing streak by the way the guys were in the building, the way we prepared, the type of work ethic we have,” said Maas. “All our standards are set, so that’s all we focus on.”
While they may have already clinched a playoff spot, Alouettes’ quarterback Cody Fajardo says this closing stretch remains critical because they want to finish the season strong, just like last year when they won their final five regular-season games before ultimately winning the Grey Cup.
“It doesn’t matter about what you do at the beginning of the year,” said Fajardo. “All that matters is how you end the year and how well you’re playing going into the playoffs so that’s what these games are about.”
The Alouettes’ are kicking off a three-game road stretch, one Fajardo looks forward to.
“You understand what kind of team you have when you play on the road because it’s us versus the world mentality and you can feel everybody against you,” said Fajardo. “Plus, I always tend to find more joy in silencing thousands of people than bringing thousands of people to their feet.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
