Destination Coffee ☕

Destination Coffee's Coffee Hound is traveling the world sniffing out locally roasted coffee and barking out the best here on Twitter. ☕

[Sam Altman @sama]

going to try live-tweeting the GPT-5 livestream.

first, GPT-5 in an integrated model, meaning no more model switcher and it decides when it needs to think harder or not.

it is very smart, intuitive, and fast.

it is available to everyone, including the free tier, w/reasoning!

[Destination Coffee ☕ @Dest_Coffee]

@ERODenver 👏👏👏👏

[Elon Musk @elonmusk]

The @DOGE team just discovered that FEMA sent $59M LAST WEEK to luxury hotels in New York City to house illegal migrants.

Sending this money violated the law and is in gross insubordination to the President’s executive order.

That money is meant for American disaster relief and instead is being spent on high end hotels for illegals!

A clawback demand will be made today to recoup those funds.

[NUCLR GOLF @NUCLRGOLF]

🏌🏼‍♀️👜💸 That’s going to be expensive 😅

(Via: freshstartgolf/IG | @ziregolf)

[Elon Musk @elonmusk]

Any accounts doing engagement farming will be suspended and traced to source

[Destination Coffee ☕ @Dest_Coffee]

@4HumanUnity @RepMTG She needs to be impeached for incompetence.

[LIV Golf Insider @LIVTracking]

January 2022 OWGR:
Talor Gooch - 30

Since then:
- 3 Wins
- 10 Top 10s
- 5 Top 5s
- Two T20’s in Majors (Max Homa has ONE in his entire career)

2024 OWGR:
Talor Gooch - 449

Somehow this resume doesn’t warrant a major invite. You can see why golf fans are fed up with the system.

[Destination Coffee ☕ @Dest_Coffee]

@megynkelly #TruthBeTold

[Destination Coffee ☕ @Dest_Coffee]

@LouStagner Aiming for the middle trap with a slight draw... 6 iron ⛳

[Bob “Golf” Ball @bobball]

In the current negotiations toward a Definitive Agreement between LIV and the PGA Tour, there are three major forces pushing against each other for control and future direction of men's professional golf. Force One comprises the big money people. They include PIF, private equity, and other wealthy individuals.

FORCE TWO
Force Two consists of the PGA Tour and the Golf Establishment. The PGA Tour is currently at the negotiating table, but they are wounded. At the same time, they are trying everything they can to get a better position in the negotiations.

Jay Monahan has historically ruled the PGA Tour with an iron fist. He's built lavish headquarters buildings and flown around at will in the Tour's private jet at the expense of the players (a pretty good gig for the head of a 'non-profit trade organization'). The Tour grew under his leadership for years, but it was under the largesse of Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson. Over the years, any new ideas that PGA Tour execs couldn't control 100% have been shut down, and that’s now come back to haunt Monahan and the PGA Tour at the negotiating table. There are three big ideas he mishandled that have led to his weakness during the negotiations (and for that matter, why the Tour capitulated and bargained with LIV in the first place). One was how he dealt with the PGL proposal, which was essentially what LIV has become. Second, he was approached multiple times to create "Elevated Events," a clever way to increase compensation for the very players on whom the Tour's growth (and TV ratings) was reliant. Third, he mishandled the launch of the LIV Golf League, which was the mother of all mistakes. Greg Norman reached out to the PGA Tour via letters and emails (see released Senate hearing documents), correctly stating it was possible to have both LIV and the PGA Tour co-exist, even saying "what’s wrong with that?" when referencing players playing for both tours. In response to LIV, Monahan scorched players going to LIV, invoked 9/11 and survivor families against the Saudis, and then reversed himself, irretrievably affecting his credibility.

The current golf establishment includes the heads of the USGA, The R&A, PGA of America, the DP World Tour, and the OWGR (which is controlled by the heads of all the others mentioned). All of them have come out at various times and said negative things about LIV, or they have continued to use OWGR points (now lacking true credibility) as the barometer for players to get into their respective tournaments – all knowing they control the OWGR and therefore, the OWGR refusing to give LIV players points is an attempt to hurt LIV. The Masters (other than still using OWGR points to allow players in) has done the best job of staying out of the mess (at least publicly).

According to sources, Monahan has leveraged long double back-scratching behavior with the establishment to hold onto his monopoly and fight LIV. Sources reminded me that it was PGA of America chief Seth Waugh who hired Monahan to run the Deutsche Bank Championship, giving him a start in golf when he was a young man at IMG. Waugh ended up leaving Deutsche as CEO of the Americas after 10 years and scandals, including Deutsche Bank "paying $7.2 billion in a settlement that resolved all of the federal civil claims that Deutsche Bank misled investors in the packaging, securitization, marketing, sale, and issuance of residential mortgage-backed securities (RMBS) between 2006 and 2007," according to the Department of Justice. Sources also say Monahan then turned around and helped Waugh get the position at the PGA of America after Waugh left Deutsche. Fast forward, and it was none other than Seth Waugh helping trash LIV by saying, "[The PIF] can fund it for as long as they want to...but no matter how much money you have, at some point burning it doesn’t feel very good. I don’t see that they are accomplishing much." The Times of London also quoted him as saying, "Their logic about the team play being something significant that people I think can get behind I think is flawed.’’

That brings us to the negotiating table today. Monahan and the establishment initially ignored change and then tried to squash it. They hastily created new elevated events to compete with LIV and stop player defections but didn’t have the money to pay for them. However, all these last-minute and rash decisions put them in the position of needing capital to survive and compete. Keeping control of and manipulating OWGR points to keep television revenue pouring in can only last so long. This forced them to go out and get outside capital to bolster their negotiating position. In addition, everyone learned the DOJ might squash the Framework Agreement altogether without secondary capital, so the PGA Tour and its new capital backers now must walk a fine line.

Everyone needs to keep PIF in the deal to avoid monstrous competition (maybe that’s why Rory has come out and “sincerely” hopes PIF is part of any new landscape). At the same time, PIF needs to be ok with any new capital sources and the ownership percentages (under the spirit of the Framework Agreement). If PIF stays in the deal with new capital, this solves the DOJ problem, and everyone gets along. If the Tour doesn’t reach a deal with PIF and must compete against LIV, Monahan and his new capital partners have a big, long game problem. Monahan’s new capital, as patriotic as they sound, don’t want to invest in a sinking ship.

The Ryder Cup is a perfect example of their long game problem and a sinking ship. The Ryder Cup has been a money machine for the owners (the PGA of America and the European groups) for years. This year was tolerable to the fans without the best players, but barely. The Americans lost, but they clearly didn’t have all their best players there because of the fractures. If a deal doesn’t happen between PIF and the PGA Tour and LIV signs just a few more marquee players each year, in just a few years, the Ryder Cup (and all the majors, for that matter) will lose untold revenue and stature. Yasir Al-Rumayyan knows this because he’s smart. The fans won’t put up with it. The same will happen to the current ‘Majors’.

All of this gives PIF an upper hand to just sit back and watch how this unfolds.

Tomorrow will be FORCE THREE.

@PGATOUR @PGATOURComms @livgolf_league @LIVGolfComms @PIF_en

[Destination Coffee ☕ @Dest_Coffee]

Something to think about with your morning coffee ☕

Thoughts about ordering a Beluga caviar, sour cream donut with your morning coffee. ☕ 🍩

https://t.co/KwiVsNkBT8

[CNN @CNN]

Apple could be about to make the biggest change to the iPhone in 11 years https://t.co/dZyYRAdfVs

[Elon Musk @elonmusk]

To clear our platform’s name on the matter of anti-Semitism, it looks like we have no choice but to file a defamation lawsuit against the Anti-Defamation League … oh the irony!

[Destination Coffee ☕ @Dest_Coffee]

WOW....

[Lou Stagner (Golf Stat Pro) @LouStagner]

UNREAL!!

This is hail damage.

WOW!!!!!

[FOX31 Denver KDVR @KDVR]

Police are warning residents in Cherry Hills Village of recent attempted break-ins and car thefts. https://t.co/9cK2Bxplij

[Elon Musk @elonmusk]

You are free to be your true self here

[Destination Coffee ☕ @Dest_Coffee]

Friday afternoon espresso with coconut water ☕ 🥥

#CoffeeTime

[Tucker Carlson @TuckerCarlson]

Good evening

[Elon Musk @elonmusk]

Congrats @SpaceX team on an exciting test launch of Starship!

Learned a lot for next test launch in a few months.

[Dean Johnson @activrightbrain]

@SpaceX That’s an exciting motivational vision of the future @SpaceX @elonmusk - it’s blast off for #Starship 🚀

#StarshipLaunch #innovation #IoT #motivation #SpaceX