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I played golf last week at TPC Sawgrass, just a 7-iron away from PGA Tour headquarters. I hadn't planned it that way, but my tee time coincided with not just the USGA and R&A's resolution to modify the golf ball but the peak of the rumor-mill lead-up to golf superstar Jon Rahm's decision to join the Saudi-backed LIV Golf League.
For all the stern memos and snarky tweets flying around, I expected the flags at Sawgrass to be at half-mast. The deepening schism between pro golf defectors and loyalists is terrible for those of us who enjoy lazy Sunday afternoons on the couch watching the world's best golfers hit shots we can only dream about. It would make sense for there to be a somber atmosphere at the home of the PGA Tour's flagship event.
But as soon as I was greeted by the nice people working the bag drop, I realized how foolish I'd been to think so negatively. No matter the depths of its ties to pro golf's establishment, TPC Sawgrass is, at its core, a public golf facility. People turn up, pay their fees, hit some shots, take some photos, celebrate small triumphs, agonize over their failures and go home. Sure, it's nicer than most and more expensive than almost all, but once I stepped onto the practice tee, there simply wasn't room to fret over what professional golf will look like in 2024 or beyond. I had to figure out how to fit a drive into the slender first fairway.
From that moment on, the only golfer I found myself thinking about was the one who, no matter who goes LIV or stays on the PGA Tour, will always be my all-time favorite golfer:
Me.
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