LIV Didn't Have to Fail. Jon Rahm's $300 Million Takes 4,000 Years to Pay Off | Ep. 23

No More Lies · 9 ноября 2026 г. · 33 мин

The lie: LIV was doomed to fail from the start and was a terrible idea all around. With LIV 2.0 reportedly gone after BC Partners pulled next year's funding, Brian Manzella, Golf Digest's No. 14-ranked teacher in America, and Sam Osborne, 12 years a touring pro, sort the good ideas from the horrific ones. The good: another tour for a game with more tour-quality players than ever, a world tour at elevated-event money, the shotgun start, walk-up music, above-board appearance money, and anything new on TV. The horrific: hostility toward the other tours, the world ranking points bait and switch, an unwatchably bad TV product, and the money. The Manzella Open, first prize $3,000, is Jon Rahm coming? No. Rahm's reported $300 million would take 4,000 years to earn back, because he's a great player and not a draw. You went after players with money, so the tour had to keep them with money, so it killed itself. Same dough, what would you do? Sam: buy the European Tour. Verdict: it went down the toilet, but it didn't have to fail. Chapters 0:00 Cold open: show the proof 1:16 LIV 2.0 and BC Partners, as reported 1:56 The Lie of the Week: LIV was doomed from the start 2:27 Greg Norman's mid-90s world tour 4:11 Sam's good ideas: competition, shotgun start, teams 6:21 Another option, not a rival 8:16 More tour-quality players than ever 8:54 The David Toms tour school story 11:43 The 60th guy on the 1990 money list 14:11 The shotgun start and the weather draw 15:52 Everybody knows TV golf blows 17:36 The horrific ideas: hostility toward the other tours 18:35 The world ranking points debacle 19:49 Brian: pro-LIV, or pro the idea 21:34 The TV product: unwatchably bad 22:58 The time machine: same dough, what would you do? 23:25 Sam: buy the European Tour 28:21 The Manzella Open: is Jon Rahm coming? 29:36 You went after players with money, so you killed yourself 31:47 Verdict: it didn't have to fail