JCAGOLFReport

Golf news and analysis. [email protected]

[JCAGOLFReport @JCAGOLFReport]

You can drive to Benahavis city center (a white village) from were you are staying in La Quinta, takes like 15 minures. They have excellent restaurants at a decent price.

Let me know how long it takes you to get to Valderrama from La Quinta. Is it closer to 45mins or 35mins?

Enjoy the week!!!!

[JCAGOLFReport @JCAGOLFReport]

@nicko_316 After all that sucking up to Tiger for access and protecting the PGAT narratives while forgetting to follow the Journalists Code of Ethics. 🤷‍♂️

[Matt Vincenzi @MattVincenziPGA]

Open Championship spot on the line at LIV Golf Andalucia
https://t.co/6BRtR46F2F

[JCAGOLFReport @JCAGOLFReport]

@Millhill1962 That’s a different dept, broadcast. Although Zuel doesn’t bring anything to the table that Rachel couldn’t do. Talking about wasted money!

[JCAGOLFReport @JCAGOLFReport]

One of the biggest problems with the top 2 tours/leagues in pro golf is that they don't listen to their fans. They are set in their own ways and no matter what the fans, influencers, golf journalists, and independent golf journalists tell them, they continue to act in the same way.

One of the biggest failures of LIV Golf has been its comms, that's widely known. You would think that 5 years into it they would have figure it out. Nope, they haven't and they won't listen to anyone's suggestions. It has been a comedy of errors one after the other. There is a simple fix, they know it but for some reason they won't do it. If they can't fix that, then who's to say they will fix even bigger problems.

It's not complicated, a simple google search tells you why it's so important to know your audience/customers:

"Knowing your customer is crucial because it allows you to personalize experiences, build deep brand trust, and create products that directly solve their problems. Instead of wasting resources on broad, ineffective strategies, understanding your audience ensures smarter, highly targeted operations."

Take for example the case of Matt Vincenzi. He has been and continue to be underutilized by the comms dept. All LIV Golf fans want a pre and post show with Matt and other collaborators, everyone loves his picks of the week takes and no one in-house at LIV Golf (apart from players and teams) has more influence with fans in social media than him. But LIV for what appears to be "economic reasons" has chosen to leave him covering this week event (once again) from back home while other people at LIV that are a LOT less valuable, highly overpaid, and have absolutely no connection with their fans are flying to Spain's Costa del Sol to enjoy a week at Valderrama while acting like they are working and not producing anything of value to the fans or the league.

They are leaving back home their most fan influential member of their comms team for "economic reasons" because they couldn't find any way to cut $5-10K in any other tournament allocation expense for the week or didn't want leave someone less influential back home? Really!

Every week the LIV Golf comms team makes a mistake. Last week it was how they dealt with the cancelling of some of their APP functions. On top of that they released such a bad written press release/email to their subscribers that it was laughable. A recently comms graduate could have come out with something better. And that is a reflection of their leadership starting at the top of the comms/marketing teams.

Each tournament week LIV Golf finds a way to push farther away their own fans and lessen or take away from their own product, it's unbelievable! In the future there will be marketing or comms case studies about this, that's how badly this has been managed.

@ScottONeil
@chrisheck76

[Pro Golf Critic @ProGolfCritic]

@StryderJa39237 @DatBoyCanGolf69 @MattVincenziPGA @ScottONeil There are underpaid ppl not being utilized enough & overpaid ppl that I cannot figure out what value they bring. I thought Alix Partners was brought in to sort through that?
Hint: they need to utilize Matt more. Start there.
Connection with the fans is fractured. Build it back.

[JCAGOLFReport @JCAGOLFReport]

@djbigblack85 They are part of the problem and why some outlets will begin to disappear. They have forgotten or put aside the Journalists Code of Ethics. They have prioritized access over real journalism and ended up being fired anyways. All for nothing while losing all ethics in the process.

[Pro Golf Critic @ProGolfCritic]

@StryderJa39237 @DatBoyCanGolf69 @MattVincenziPGA @ScottONeil There are underpaid ppl not being utilized enough & overpaid ppl that I cannot figure out what value they bring. I thought Alix Partners was brought in to sort through that?
Hint: they need to utilize Matt more. Start there.
Connection with the fans is fractured. Build it back.

[JCAGOLFReport @JCAGOLFReport]

@BroncosOutside 🙌

[JCAGOLFReport @JCAGOLFReport]

Ernie’s LIV Golf Korea Final Thoughts. Don’t forget to like and follow Ernie.

👇👇👇

[Ernie @BroncosOutside]

LIV Golf Korea Final Thoughts:

1) In an event that featured much bigger and more energetic crowds than last year's tournament, Joaquin Niemann outlasted Talor Gooch in a playoff battle between 2 of LIV Golf's biggest success stories!

2)Joaco is now an 8 TIME CHAMPION on the LIV Golf League and it was great to see him back on top! Love seeing the enthusiasm from his wife as she ran onto the green to jump on him after the win, and then seeing Joaco's backflip after! No matter of LIV exists next season or not, the story of LIV will not be able to be told without talking about the great Joaquin Niemann. His 2nd shot on the playoff hole was pure class!

3)I somehow felt a little nostalgic seeing Gooch battling with Joaco. Talor is also such a massive part of LIV Golf history, and with the current state of the unknown of LIV's future it just felt right seeing these 2 guys at the top of the leaderboard!

4)Bryson Dechambeau gave it a great run on Sunday and came up just short individually, but he and his Crushers teammates came out on top for their record 10th LIV Golf team title! Australian Travis Smyth filled in for Paul Casey and was great and finished in the Top 10!

5)After back to back 70s to start the week, DJ fired 64-66 over the weekend to storm back to finish 4th! His game had been looking better and better lately and that's a good thing for golf and for LIV!

6)Cam Smith faded down the back 9 on Sunday, but he spent most of this event near the top of the leaderboard and his game is looking shockingly improved ever since his switch to Claude Harmon. Cam is one of my favorite golfers and the golf world is a better place with him in form!

7)I continue to admire the galvanizing spirit amongst the golfers ever since the announcement of the ending of the PIF funding. The vast majority of these guys love this league and absolutely love their teams. If LIV survives, I think the defiant spirit of these golfers will be the reason why. I think investors will notice this and will be impressed by it.

8) this was such a great and beautiful looking golf course and the crowds really showed up to support this year! I know the modern trend is to take trees out of golf courses, but I think that these courses like this one are just so much more beautiful! And the course really stood up to the test and was a worthy host! Korea is such a growing market for golf and it was awesome to see much bigger crowds this year! During the round, Rachel Drummond interviewed LPGA Hall of Famer Inbee Park, and Park mentioned that she had been to many tournaments in her life but that this LIV one was a great, special, and different atmosphere. There is a place for LIV Golf and I'm really hoping and optimistic that it will survive.

9)The realization that the Any Shot Anytime feature was removed from the app as part of the strategic new plan for financial viability was a hard blow for many LIV Golf fans. I personally didn't use that feature much, but plenty of my LIV Golf fan friends loved it. As is the case with many things in LIV history, the communication was not good from LIV about this one. I understand the need to scale back, but some of these changes are going to be tough pills to swallow. I just feel thankful that the awesome broadcast team that we have had for so many years, especially Arlo, Jerry, David, Su Ann, and Rachel, are still there and still giving us such a great broadcast.

10)I'm excited that LIV is heading to Spain for one of the greatest events of the year on one of the greatest golf courses in the world! I hope the Spanish fans show out this year and help make this one one of the great events like it should be on the tour!

#LIVGolf

[JCAGOLFReport @JCAGOLFReport]

@BroncosOutside No one does final thoughts like you, that’s why we promote and push yours. 💪

[JCAGOLFReport @JCAGOLFReport]

@StryderJa39237 @wingoz Someone is butthurt because Bryson hasn’t bent the knee yet.

[JCAGOLFReport @JCAGOLFReport]

It was just a matter of time for Joaco Niemann to win his 8th LIV Golf event. He beat Talor Gooch with a birdie in the first playoff hole.

Congrats to Joaco, well done!

[JCAGOLFReport @JCAGOLFReport]

I know for a fact the majority of golf federations want a world tour. But those leaders prefer to keep their access to Augusta, the other majors, and PGAT/DPWT. Access to those is the reason they don’t want to rattle any cages, they are valuing that access above of what should be better for the good of the game. They prefer not to say anything in public so they don’t lose their invitations to attend the Masters.

[JCAGOLFReport @JCAGOLFReport]

@jerichsen66 @GolfMonthly These people calling LIV players “big name” while another outlet calls them “stars.” Didn’t know LIV Golf had so many “big name” players and “stars.”

They don’t run out of digs when it comes to LIV.

[Conrad Golf Rankings @jerichsen66]

Conrad Golf Ranking - Week 21 Top 40

The Top 500 can be found-
https://t.co/TG2NBRJlBW

Winners' new rank (Spots gained)
55 Wyndham Clark (+54)
108 Richard Sterne (+130)
159 Yusaku Hosono (+54)
167 Doc Redman (+89)
347 Tapio Pulkkanen (+184)
410 Jiho Yang (+399)
518 Justin Walters (+248)
559 Joey Savoie (+645)
791 Shun Yat Hak (+431)
840 Jesper Sandborg (+261)
1312 Anthony Grenier (+3188)

Golf is good. More golf is better. More global golf is best.

[JCAGOLFReport @JCAGOLFReport]

ESPN is reporting that "LIV Golf is moving forward with its plan to take a new business model to potential investors" on Thursday. A source with knowledge of the situation told ESPN the league has received significant interest from potential investors.

Of the 10+ inquiries listed in the post below we already know that:

1. LIV is getting 500MM in sponsorship this year and expects revenue to increase by 100MM, per the Financial Times.

2. New proposed schedule includes only 10 events, per CNBC. CNBC also had access to the LIV Golf investor pitch. "The pitch also notes year-over-year growth in sponsorships, partnerships, ticket sales, retail and YouTube viewership."

3. Players will be offered equity in the league apart from teams and it won't be limited to captains only, per Financial Times.

[JCAGOLFReport @JCAGOLFReport]

Can't wait for all the posts and comments from people that have not seen the proposal to investors talking like they know when they actually don't know the particulars for which LIV Golf thinks 250MM is enough to save them.

We won't do our analysis until we know the following details:

1. End of year projected revenue.
2. How many events end up being profitable in 2026.
3. How much cash will be left at end of year.
4. Are players contracts for 2027 going to be restructured.
5. Status of the team franchises sales.
6. Projected 2027 revenues and new prospects.
7. 2027 purses.
8. Amount of events in 2027.
9. How much % those investors will get in exchange of 250MM.
10. Are the players going to take equity in the league (apart from teams and similar to PGAT) in exchange of current contracts and renewals.
11. Is the PIF going to write-off the losses?

And many other intricacies that anyone who hasn't seen the investor proposal doesn't know. So, anyone posting or commenting if 250MM is enough or not without knowledge of the above (at minimum), is simply guessing.

[JCAGOLFReport @JCAGOLFReport]

@ProGolfCritic @Luke_Elvy … and they have also discouraged it for decades giving them crumbs everytime there’s a movement from the players in that direction.

[JCAGOLFReport @JCAGOLFReport]

@djbigblack85 Thanks! 🙌

[JCAGOLFReport @JCAGOLFReport]

@Gottrocks Like it is scripted...😂

[JCAGOLFReport @JCAGOLFReport]

The usual suspects came out at the same time to push the 2028 PGAT proposed schedule...😂