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      PGA Tour Suspends Players Who Joined Saudi-Backed LIV Golf Series

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      The PGA Tour commissioner said pros taking part in the new LIV Golf Series were now ineligible for his tour’s events, and he warned others thinking of joining that they would face the same discipline.ST. ALBANS, England — It was only after they hit their first shots on Thursday that the professional golfers taking part in the new Saudi-financed LIV Golf Invitational Series would have learned how high the stakes they were playing for really were.Moments after the players set off down the fairways for the first time at the exclusive Centurion Club just outside London, the PGA Tour suspended 17 of them and declared they were “no longer eligible to participate” in events on the American-based tour or any of its affiliates.The punishment had been expected, but it also served as a warning: Any player that joins the nascent league in the future, the PGA Tour’s commissioner said in a letter to the competition’s members, could expect the same sort of banishment.“These players have made their choice for their own financial-based reasons,” the commissioner, Jay Monahan, wrote in a two-page letter to tour players that oozed contempt for the rebel tour and its players. “But they can’t demand the same PGA Tour membership benefits, considerations, opportunities and platform as you. That expectation disrespects you, our fans and our partners.”Before the event at the Centurion Club, a majority of players who had signed on with LIV Golf, including the PGA Tour veterans Dustin Johnson, Louis Oosthuizen, Kevin Na and Sergio García, said they had resigned from the PGA Tour, perhaps to avoid a suspension or lifetime ban. But Monahan’s letter said they faced excommunication anyway.LIV Golf organizers, who are expecting another wave of players to sign on to what is now the richest golf tour in history before the next stop of the eight-event series, in Oregon, later this month, quickly fired back with a statement of their own.“Today’s announcement by the PGA Tour is vindictive, and it deepens the divide between the Tour and its members,” the LIV Golf statement said. “It’s troubling that the Tour, an organization dedicated to creating opportunities for golfers to play the game, is the entity blocking golfers from playing. This certainly is not the last word on this topic. The era of free agency is beginning as we are proud to have a full field of players joining us in London, and beyond.”Some of the LIV Golf players, still completing their rounds after the event’s shotgun start sent every competitor off at the same time, only found out about the suspensions as they headed back toward the clubhouse.Britain’s Ian Poulter insisted that he and the others in the field had not done anything wrong, despite participating without the PGA Tour’s waiver. “Of course I’m going to appeal,” Poulter told reporters. “It makes no sense how I’ve played the game of golf for all this time, I’ve had two tour cards and the ability to play all over the world. What’s wrong with that?”Phil Mickelson, whose participation has aroused the most interest, and much controversy, refused to comment, saying he was not ready to discuss the PGA’s actions. Others, though, were more forthright, convinced that their banishment was related to golf’s established powers fearing competition. Graeme McDowell, who resigned from the PGA Tour 30 minutes before striking his first ball in the new tournament, said he had begun consulting lawyers in anticipation of what was to come.“We’ve spoken to the lawyers. We have the LIV legal team which are fantastic. We have our own legal team. Some players have decided out of an abundance of caution they were going to resign and just stay away from any litigation,” McDowell said.The PGA Tour memo acknowledged that many questions remained, such as whether it would eventually restore the eligibility of the players who have been lured to the LIV Golf circuit or those tempted to join them by the new tour’s huge appearance fees and a format that guarantees every entrant six-figure payouts at each event.Justin Thomas, No. 6 in the world, said he was “pleased” with the PGA Tour’s response.“Anybody that’s shocked clearly hasn’t been listening to the message that Jay and everybody’s been putting out,” Thomas said after his round Thursday at the Canadian Open. “They took that risk going into it, whether they thought it was a risk or not. Like I’ve said the whole time, I have great belief and great confidence in the PGA Tour and where we’re going and where we’re continuing to grow, and those guys just aren’t going to be a part of it.”The event itself, a curious mix of team and individual competitions, drew a crowd not dissimilar to other golf events, with many spectators dressed in golf attire and largely middle-aged or retired. A significant portion of the crowd took advantage of hundreds of free tickets that were given away by organizers.“Look at your audience here; it’s pale, male and stale like most sporting events in the U.K. So how is that growing the game of golf?” Robert O’Siochain, a sports marketing executive, said, questioning the claims made by the LIV Golf commissioner, Greg Norman, and others about how the new tour would revolutionize the sport.The buildup to the event has been overshadowed by questions over Saudi Arabia’s motives for investing $2 billion in the series, with players forced to defend themselves from accusations they have traded their reputations to burnish the image of Saudi Arabia in exchange for the biggest payday in their careers. Those issues were being volubly discussed by fans around the first tee, where the event’s two star attractions — Johnson and Mickelson — were preparing to find out just what they had gotten themselves into.Lee Westwood on the first day of the LIV Golf Invitational Series event outside London.Adrian Dennis/Agence France-Presse — Getty ImagesMickelson’s involvement has proved to be the most controversial. He provoked outrage in February when it was reported that he had praised the series as a “once-in-a-lifetime opportunity” even as he called Saudi Arabia’s record on human rights “horrible” and used an expletive to describe the country’s leaders as “scary.” Mickelson took himself out of the firing line, saying he would be taking a break from golf, before confirming his participation days before the start of the first LIV event. The impact of his behavior could most clearly be seen in his course attire. His trademark black outfit was missing the usual sponsor patches after most ended their agreements with him.Also stalking the first tee was Norman, the former world number one player who is LIV’s chief executive. Norman, accompanied by Majed Al Sorour, chief executive of the Saudi Golf Federation, embraced players after they had struck their first shots.For all of the discussions about Saudi Arabia’s involvement, there were very few signs of the kingdom’s relationship with the event. Instead, organizers, perhaps in an attempt to shift the attention away from the backers of the tournament, had dressed Centurion Club with British symbols. A military band dressed to resemble the red-coated guards stationed outside Buckingham Palace played popular standards, while a fleet of London’s famous black taxi cabs was hired to ferry players to and from the course.“We pick ’em up, drop ’em off and go home,” said John Davis, who has been driving cabs for 25 years. He said they had been recruited by a public relations company.The novelty of the event was apparent, with staff on site stressing they had just eight weeks to prepare. On the first hole, security staff and course volunteers were required to usher scores of spectators off the fairway as they trooped behind Mickelson after he had played his first shot. Others had difficulty following on-course developments because of a shortage of scoreboards, while even some of the most well-known names, including Lee Westwood of Britain, struggled to draw much of a crowd. Fewer than 50 people ringed the green as Westwood prepared to putt on the first hole.Despite the obvious growing pains and the opposition, the scale of Saudi Arabia’s investment suggests the established order is unlikely to see the back of the upstart anytime soon.“Eventually it will all go this way, the Saudi way,” said Tony Campbell, a retiree and a regular at international golf tournaments. “Why? Because they’re richer. Whoever is richer usually gets whatever they want.” More

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      Saudi Arabia’s LIV Golf Series Upends Genteel World of Golf

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      By promising top players multimillion-dollar paydays to join its new tour, the kingdom moved beyond investing in a sport and instead made a play for control of one.LONDON — The golf champions were settled in their chairs at a news conference to promote their new Saudi-financed tournament when a reporter raised the uncomfortable question of the oil-rich kingdom’s human rights record. The 2010 U.S. Open champion, Graeme McDowell, to the obvious relief of the players sitting alongside him, took it on.“If Saudi Arabia want to use the game of golf as a way for them to get to where they want to be, and they have the resources to accelerate that experience,” McDowell said, “I think we’re proud to help them on that journey.”That journey, though, is the point: The Saudi-funded project, called the LIV Golf Invitational Series, which kicked off Thursday at an exclusive club outside London, represents nothing less than an attempt to supplant the elite level of an entire sport, taking place in real time, with golf’s best players cast as the prize in a high-stakes, billion-dollar tug of war.On Thursday, the PGA Tour answered that threat by suspending every player who is taking part in the London event and, in a move surely aimed at dissuading further defections, by vowing to do the same for any pro who joins later. In a letter to tour players laced with contempt for the renegade pros, the PGA Tour’s commissioner, Jay Monahan, said they were “no longer eligible to participate” in events on the tour or any of its affiliates.Unlike the vanity purchase of a European soccer team or the hosting of a major global sporting event, Saudi Arabia’s foray into golf is no mere branding exercise, not just another example of what critics say is a reputation-cleansing process that some deride as the “sportswashing” of its global image.Instead, Saudi Arabia’s sudden entry into golf is part of a layered approach by the kingdom — not just through investments in sports but also in spheres like business, entertainment and the arts — to alter perceptions of itself, both externally and internally, as more than just a wealthy, conservative Muslim monarchy.Those investments have accelerated rapidly since 2015, when Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman began his ascent to become the de facto ruler and spearheaded a massive overhaul aimed at opening up the kingdom’s economy and culture. And while it remains unclear to what extent they will be financially profitable — the new golf series has no obvious pathway to recovering its investment — they provide a number of other benefits. For one, high-profile endeavors, in sports especially, put Saudi Arabia’s name in the news in ways not connected to its dismal human rights record, its stalemated military intervention in Yemen or the murder by Saudi agents of the Saudi dissident Jamal Khashoggi in 2018.“It is consistent with the way the Saudis have been using sport over the past five years, to try to project an image of the new Saudi Arabia, to change the narrative away from Khashoggi and Yemen and to talk about Saudi Arabia in a more positive light,” said Kristian Coates Ulrichsen, who studies Gulf politics at the Baker Institute for Public Policy at Rice University.Adrian Dennis/Agence France-Presse — Getty ImagesMatthew Lewis/Getty ImagesAt the Centurion Club on Thursday, the sights included the LIV Golf founder Greg Norman; a sprawling fan village; and costumed British guards.Matthew Lewis/Getty ImagesBut in staging some of the most lucrative tournaments in golf history — the winner’s share this week is $4 million, and the last place finished in each event is guaranteed $120,000 — Saudi Arabia is also relying on a proven strategy of using its wealth to open doors and to enlist, or in a cynic’s view, buy, some of the world’s best players as its partners.Some of the touches at its debut on Thursday might have felt kitschy — red phone boxes, sentries dressed like British palace guards and a fleet of black cabs to deliver the players and their caddies to their opening holes — but there was no hiding what was at play: In its huge payouts and significant investment, the series’ Saudi backers have taken direct aim at the structures and organizations that have governed professional golf for nearly a century.While the Saudi plan’s potential for success is far from clear — the series does not yet have a major television rights deal, nor the array of corporate sponsors who typically line up to bankroll PGA Tour events — its direct appeal to players and its seemingly bottomless financial resources could eventually have repercussions for the 93-year-old PGA Tour, as well as the corporations and broadcasters who have built professional golf into a multibillion-dollar business.“It’s a shame that it’s going to fracture the game,” the four-time major champion Rory McIlroy said this week, adding, “If the general public are confused about who is playing where and what tournament’s on this week and, ‘Oh, he plays there and he doesn’t get into these events,’ it just becomes so confusing.”The pros who have committed to play in the first LIV Series event this week have tried (not always successfully) to frame their decisions as principled ones solely about golf, or as decisions that would safeguard the financial future of their families. Yet in accepting Saudi riches in exchange for adding their personal sheen to its project, they have placed themselves at the center of a storm in which fans and human rights groups have questioned their motives; the PGA Tour has announced draconian punishments for them and any other players who follow their lead; and sponsors and organizations are cutting ties or at least distancing themselves.All of it has opened rifts in a sport already grappling with its own longstanding image problems related to opportunity, exclusivity and race, but one that reveres decorum, and professes to be so wedded to values like honor and sportsmanship that players are expected to assess penalties on themselves if they violate its rules.The caddies for Sergio García and Ian Poulter, two of the best-known names in the LIV Golf camp.Paul Childs/Action Images Via ReutersSaudi Arabia is, of course, not the first country to use sports as a platform to burnish its global image. Its wealthy Gulf neighbors, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates and most notably Qatar, which will host soccer’s World Cup later this year, all have invested heavily in international sports over the past two decades.But Saudi Arabia’s venture into golf may be the most ambitious effort yet by a Gulf country to undermine the existing structures of a sport: In effect, it is trying to use its wealth to lure players away from the most prominent tournaments and the most well-established circuit in golf, the PGA Tour, by creating what is an entirely new tour. Not that many of the players taking part this week were eager to talk about those motives.McDowell admitted as much in his meandering answer to a question that, among other topics, raised the Saudi-led war in Yemen and its execution of 81 people on a single day in March. “We’re just here,” he said, “to focus on the golf.”It has been, after all, a rocky start. Even before the first ball was struck this week at the Centurion Club just outside London, the cash-soaked LIV Series — financed by Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund — had become a lightning rod for controversy. One of its biggest signings, Phil Mickelson, provoked outrage in February when he praised the series as a “once-in-a-lifetime opportunity” even as he called Saudi Arabia’s record on human rights “horrible” and used an expletive to describe the country’s leaders as “scary.”The project’s main architect, the former player Greg Norman, made things worse a few weeks later when he dismissed Saudi Arabia’s murder and dismemberment of Khashoggi by saying, “Look, we’ve all made mistakes.”Most, but notably not all, of the world’s top players have rejected the new series out of hand: McIlroy, for example, derided the project as a money grab in February. And on Wednesday, while saying he understood the motivations of the players who had joined up, he made clear he would not take part.“If it’s purely for money,” McIlroy said, “it never seems to go the way you want it to.”Even the rare chances for LIV Series players to defend their decisions to reporters directly this week have often been tense. At a news conference on Wednesday, a group of players were asked if they would take part in a tournament in Vladimir V. Putin’s Russia or apartheid South Africa “if the money was right.” A day earlier, the Korean American player Kevin Na was caught on a live microphone saying, “This is uncomfortable,” as his news conference ended with a British reporter shouting over the moderator.Dustin Johnson, left, played during the pro-am with Yasir al-Rumayyan, a board member of Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, which is bankrolling the series. Johnson resigned his PGA Tour membership to take part.Andy Rain/EPA, via ShutterstockMost of the players, though, seem to have concluded that the money was just too good to pass up. The reported $150 million inducement to Johnson, the highest-ranked player to jump to the new series, would be more than double the total prize money he has earned on tour in his career. The prize money on offer to the last-place finisher at Centurion this week is $120,000, which is $120,000 more than coming last in a PGA Tour event is worth. The $4 million check for the winner is about three times the winner’s share at this week’s PGA Tour event, the Canadian Open.The money, in fact, may be LIV Golf’s biggest lure at the moment: Two more major champions, Bryson DeChambeau and Patrick Reed, were said to be close to accepting similarly large paydays to join the series when it shifts to the United States this summer, including a visit to New Jersey for the first of two scheduled events at Donald Trump-owned courses.Saudi Arabia’s embrace of golf is part of a wider focus on sport as a means for the kingdom to achieve the ambitious political and economic goals of the Saudi crown prince. Similar controversies involving Saudi interests have already stalked other sports, including boxing, auto racing and most notably international soccer.But where previous Gulf ambitions often took the form of an investment in a sport, the sudden push into golf by Saudi Arabia appeared to be an effort to control the top level of an entire sport, at any cost. Tiger Woods, for example, reportedly turned down nearly $1 billion to participate in the LIV Series, and other top stars have at least had their heads turned.García, like Mickelson, has been critical of the PGA Tour. “A couple of more weeks and I won’t have to deal with you anymore,” he hissed at an official last month after a dispute about a ruling.Andy Rain/EPA, via ShutterstockArguably the most high-profile and perhaps the most controversial figure to join the series is Mickelson, a six-time major champion who was for years one of the PGA Tour’s most popular and marketable players. He has made no secret of the fact that his interest was tied to his contempt for the PGA Tour, which he accused of “obnoxious greed.”Chastened by vociferous criticism of his headline-making remarks about Saudi Arabia earlier this year, and the decisions of several of his sponsors to sever ties with him, Mickelson on Wednesday re-emerged on the public stage but declined to provide details of his relationship with LIV or discuss the PGA.“I feel that contract agreements should be private,” said Mickelson, who reportedly is receiving $200 million to participate.Any hopes that Mickelson, his new colleagues or their new Saudi financiers may have had of the narrative shifting quickly to action on the course, though, are unlikely to be realized anytime soon.“I don’t condone human rights violations at all,” Mickelson said in one of the more uncomfortable news conference moments in a week filled with them.Soon afterward, dressed in shorts and a windbreaker, he was off to the first tee, where he and a board member of the Public Investment Fund, Yasir al-Rumayyan, headlined the opening group in the first LIV Series Pro-Am.Ben Hubbard contributed reporting from Beirut. 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      Dustin Johnson Resigns From PGA Tour and Commits to Rival LIV Golf

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      Johnson’s resignation could help him avoid a suspension or a lifetime ban from the tour’s commissioner, Jay Monahan, who has indicated that punishment on that level was a possibility.Dustin Johnson, a two-time major golf champion, surrendered his PGA Tour status on Tuesday and said that for the immediate future he planned only to play in major tournaments and events sponsored by the Saudi-backed LIV Golf circuit.Appearing at a news conference in advance of the first of eight LIV Golf events in 2022 that will begin Thursday at the Centurion Club outside London, Johnson also occasionally used terms like “right now” and “for now” when describing his decision to bolt from the PGA Tour.“For right now, I’ve resigned my membership on the tour,” said Johnson, who joined the PGA Tour in 2008 and is ranked 15th in the world. He added that he would play the LIV tour, “for now, that’s the plan.”The breakaway tour headlined by Greg Norman has promised hefty appearance fees and a format that guarantees every entrant six-figure payouts, with 48 players competing for $25 million in prize money in a 54-hole format with no cut. A report last week in The Telegraph said Johnson was paid $125 million to join LIV Golf, whose major shareholder is the Public Investment Fund, the sovereign wealth fund of Saudi Arabia worth more than $600 billion.Johnson’s PGA Tour resignation could help him avoid a suspension or a lifetime ban from the tour’s commissioner, Jay Monahan, who has indicated that punishment on that level was a possibility. But so far, the United States-based PGA Tour has remained quiet as Johnson and others, such as Phil Mickelson, the six-time major champion who has earned more than $94 million at tour events, have signaled that they will play in this week’s LIV Golf tournament. Monahan’s lack of response may just be a bit of institutional timing. PGA Tour players are not in violation of any of the tour’s regulations until they actually play in a rival event without permission — and the tour has not given its consent for any players requesting to play this week in England.One thing is certain: Under current guidelines, if Johnson is not a member of the PGA Tour, he cannot play in the biennial Ryder Cup, a ballyhooed competition between top golfers from the United States and Europe with a history that dates to 1927. Johnson has played in the Ryder Cup five times, including last year when he was undefeated in five matches and helped lead the United States to a dominating victory.Golfers on the driving range Tuesday at the Centurion Club. They will play 54 holes, and there is no cut.Adrian Dennis/Agence France-Presse — Getty ImagesBut on Tuesday, at least in his mind, the door was still open to play in the upcoming Ryder Cups.“Obviously all things are subject to change,” Johnson said. “Hopefully at some point, it will change and I’ll be able to participate. If it doesn’t, well, it was another thing I really had to think long and hard about. Ultimately, I decided to come to this and play out here.“The Ryder Cup is unbelievable and something that has definitely meant a lot to me. I’m proud to say I’ve represented my country, and hopefully I’ll get a chance to do that again. But I don’t make the rules.”Johnson’s eligibility for all the major golf championships is not a certainty, although on Tuesday the United States Golf Association released a statement that it would not bar any player who was eligible. “Our decision regarding our field for the 2022 U.S. Open should not be construed as the USGA supporting an alternative organizing entity, nor supportive of any individual player actions or comments,” the statement said. “Rather, it is simply a response to whether or not the USGA views playing in an alternative event, without the consent of their home tour, an offense that should disqualify them for the U.S. Open.” Johnson qualifies for a spot in the field in multiple ways, not the least of which being that he won the championship in 2016. The same is true for Mickelson, who already has a spot in the 2022 U.S. Open and in next month’s British Open.Johnson has also qualified for this year’s British Open because of his 2020 Masters victory. The Masters title would normally make him welcome at the Masters for many years to come, as well as at a fourth major, the P.G.A. Championship, for the next five years.But the Masters is run by Augusta National Golf Club, which has proved in the past that it would make decisions independently. The P.G.A. Championship is governed by the PGA of America. Before that event was held last month, the organization’s chief executive, Seth Waugh, pledged his loyalty to the established PGA Tour, which he referred to as part of golf’s existing ecosystem.“Our bylaws do say that you have to be a recognized member of a recognized tour in order to be a PGA member somewhere, and therefore eligible to play,” Waugh said, speaking of the P.G.A. Championship.Asked about the alternative LIV Golf tour, Waugh answered: “We think the structure of — I don’t know if it’s a league, it’s not a league at this point — but the league structure is somewhat flawed.”How easy it might be for players to try to jockey back and forth between the LIV Golf Invitational series and golf’s biggest events, including the PGA Tour, is not known. Professional golf is largely in uncharted territory, at least in modern times.The LIV Golf prize money and the reported upfront payments to Johnson, and to Mickelson who received a $200 million contract according to Golf Channel, are staggeringly large in comparison to payouts on the PGA Tour. Players scoring in the bottom half of the field after two rounds in most tour events typically earn nothing. And yet, the leading, young stars of the PGA Tour have nonetheless remained unwaveringly loyal.Louis Oosthuizen said on Tuesday that he planned to play only one more year on the PGA Tour.Adrian Dennis/Agence France-Presse — Getty ImagesJohnson is one of only two top 30 players to join LIV Golf. (Louis Oosthuizen, ranked 21st, is the other.) But the overwhelming majority of the rest in the top 30, who are both the vanguard overtaking the game and generally in their 20s or early 30s, have stood with the PGA Tour.Johnson is 37, and Oosthuizen is 39 and said on Tuesday that he only planned to play one more year on the PGA Tour. In fact, many of the golfers who have committed to this week’s LIV Golf event have seen a declining world ranking lately: Sergio Garcia, 42, was ranked 10th in the men’s world rankings five years ago is now 57th; Graeme McDowell, 42, was ranked 15th in 2012 and is currently No. 374; Ian Poulter, 46, was ranked 12th a decade ago and is now 92nd; Martin Kaymer, 37, the world’s top-ranked men’s golfer in 2011 is now ranked 215th.There is no inevitability that the PGA Tour’s young guard will maintain their solidarity, especially after next month’s British Open, the last major of the season, is contested. The PGA Tour schedule winds down in August when it turns toward the season-ending FedEx Cup playoffs, which awards the winner an ample $15 million. But some tour players who do not qualify for those playoffs might be enticed to enter some of the final, lucrative LIV Golf events in September and October.That might especially be true for golfers with lesser tour status, but they would most likely still face a suspension from the PGA Tour that could continue into next year. And perhaps beyond. Is that worth it?The situation, and the professional golf landscape, is evolving. Johnson, a prominent figure in golf, and Mickelson, a fading, aging — albeit popular — golf personality, have seemed to turn their backs on the status quo. At least temporarily, to hear some of Johnson’s words.Mickelson, it is worth noting, insisted on Tuesday that he planned to keep the lifetime PGA Tour membership he has earned in his long career.If it sounds knotty, keep in mind it could become more tangled. The next stage of golf’s burgeoning face-off may be in court. More

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      Phil Mickelson Will Play LIV Golf Event That Starts Friday Near London

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      “I fully realize and respect some may disagree with this decision,” said Mickelson, who hasn’t competed since his comments about the contentious tour were reported in February.Phil Mickelson, who has not played competitively since incendiary remarks he made in support of a Saudi-backed golf league that hopes to rival the established PGA Tour were reported in February, will end his self-imposed layoff later this week by playing in the first event of the upstart LIV Golf circuit.Mickelson, the winner of six major golf championships including last year’s P.G.A. Championship when he became the oldest golfer to win a major, will be one of 48 players competing for $25 million in prize money when the tournament begins Thursday at the Centurion Club near London. Last week, Dustin Johnson, 15th in the men’s world golf rankings, also agreed to compete on the alternative tour. A report in The Telegraph said Johnson was paid $125 million to join LIV Golf, whose major shareholder is the Public Investment Fund, the sovereign wealth fund of Saudi Arabia.The breakaway tour has also promised hefty appearance fees and a format that guarantees every entrant six-figure payouts.“This new path is a fresh start, one that is exciting for me at this stage in my career,” Mickelson, whose world ranking has slumped to 72nd, wrote on Twitter Monday. “I fully realize and respect some may disagree with this decision and may have strong opinions and I empathize with that. I have a renewed spirit and excitement for the game,” he added.Mickelson’s announcement will most likely lead to his suspension from the PGA Tour, which has paid Mickelson more than $94 million in tournament earnings for 30 years. Jay Monahan, the PGA Tour commissioner, has said players who choose to play LIV Golf events will be subject to discipline that could include suspensions or lifetime bans.Mickelson, with a reputation as a golf firebrand, might relish a court challenge to the PGA Tour’s right to ban him. Monahan has not flinched when asked if he had the authority to discipline players in that manner, insisting that the tour’s lawyers believe any punishment handed to golfers who play for the rival tour will withstand legal scrutiny.Mickelson, one of the most recognizable golfers of his generation, drew heavy criticism after he acknowledged Saudi Arabia had a “horrible record on human rights” — including the murder of a Washington Post journalist — but said he was still talking with, and aiding, the new tour because it was a “once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.” Earlier this year, Mickelson, 51, accused the PGA Tour, where he has won 45 times, of “obnoxious greed.” He later said his remarks were “reckless,” but nonetheless several longtime corporate sponsors, including KPMG and Workday, ended their relationships with him.On Monday, Mickelson wrote: “I want to again apologize to the many people I offended and hurt with my comments a few months ago. I have made mistakes in my career in some of the things I have said and done. Taking time away and self-reflecting has been very humbling.”The tournament near London is one of eight events this year in the LIV Golf Invitational Series. Early this season, Mickelson competed in three PGA Tour events, missing the cut in two and finishing tied for 30th in the third.Although a three-time Masters winner, he skipped this year’s tournament. On Monday, however, Mickelson said he intended to play in future major championships. He is currently in the field for next week’s U.S. Open and next month’s British Open.Greg Norman, the chief executive and commissioner of LIV Golf, who said last week that “free agency has finally come to golf,” praised Mickelson.“His contributions to the sport and connection to fans around the globe cannot be overstated, and we are grateful to have him,” Norman said on Monday in a statement.Many of Mickelson’s colleagues on the PGA Tour, including his longtime rival Tiger Woods, have been critical of Mickelson’s adversarial stance toward the tour.“The viewpoints that Phil has made with the tour and what the tour has meant to all of us has been polarizing,” Woods said last month.Rory McIlroy, a four-time major winner, called Mickelson’s comments, “naïve, selfish, egotistical, ignorant.”Last week, McIlroy, who has been outspoken in his disdain for the LIV Golf venture, was dismissive of the catalog of players entered in the tournament to begin Thursday at the Centurion Club.“I certainly don’t think the field is anything to jump up and down about,” McIlroy said.But Monday on Twitter, Mickelson was cheerful.“I’m thrilled to begin with LIV Golf and I appreciate everyone involved,” he wrote. More

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      Dustin Johnson Joins Field for League Looking to Rival the PGA Tour

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      The two-time major winner, who had pledged loyalty to the PGA Tour, is among 42 golfers set to play in the first event for a series whose major shareholder is Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund.Dustin Johnson, who in February pledged his loyalty to the U.S.-based PGA Tour, will be the top-ranked golfer in the inaugural event of a Saudi-backed rival tour next week at the Centurion Golf Club outside London. Phil Mickelson, who recently expressed some measure of support for the alternative circuit, was not among those listed in the field for the tournament.Mickelson’s absence is a mild surprise, though there were still six spots available on Tuesday, so he could change his mind. Johnson’s inclusion is a breach in the broad solidarity expressed by the PGA Tour’s elite men’s golfers over the last six months.Johnson, 37 and ranked 13th in the world, was one of 42 players listed in the field for the first event of the LIV Golf Invitational Series, whose major shareholder is the Public Investment Fund, the sovereign wealth fund of Saudi Arabia. The upstart league offers no-cut tournaments with $25 million in total prize money at each, and guarantees top players millions in appearance fees regardless of their performance.Other players in the field were expected, with many — like Sergio Garcia, Lee Westwood, Richard Bland, Graeme McDowell and Ian Poulter — older than 40. Overall, while there are 16 players in next week’s LIV Golf field ranked in the top 100, only two — Johnson and Louis Oosthuizen — are ranked in the top 30.The PGA Tour and the established European golf tour have denied releases for member golfers to play in LIV Golf, which is led by the retired major champion Greg Norman. PGA Tour officials have said that those playing in any of the breakaway circuit’s tournaments would risk punishment, which could include suspensions or a loss of tour membership.The next step in the clash may be in court. PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan has insisted that the tour’s lawyers believe any discipline handed to golfers who play for the rival tour will withstand legal scrutiny.Johnson, a two-time major winner who has accumulated more than $74 million in career earnings from the PGA Tour, said in February that he was “fully committed to the PGA Tour.” It was a sentiment echoed by every player in the top 10, and each of the leading golfers in a younger cohort that has dominated the PGA Tour in the last two seasons.Rory McIlroy, the four-time major champion, called the new rival league “dead in the water.”Johnson’s agent, David Winkle, issued a statement on Tuesday night: “Dustin has been contemplating this opportunity off-and-on for the past couple of years. Ultimately, he decided it was in his and his family’s best interest to pursue it. Dustin has never had any issue with the PGA Tour and is grateful for all it has given him, but in the end felt this was too compelling to pass up.”“Free agency has finally come to golf.,” Norman said in his own statement. “This is an opportunity to start a movement that will change the course of history by bringing new and open competition to the sport we all love. The desire shown by the players to participate in LIV Golf demonstrates their emphatic belief in our model and confidence in what we’re building for the future.”The LIV Golf series includes eight events from June to October, including one in Thailand and five in the United States. In late July, the host site will be the Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, N.J.Saudi Arabia’s role in the new tour has already caused controversy. Mickelson set off a hailstorm of criticism in February after he acknowledged Saudi Arabia had a “horrible record on human rights” — including the murder of a Washington Post journalist — but said he viewed the new tour as a “once-in-a-lifetime opportunity” to apply pressure on the PGA Tour to increase player revenues. Mickelson later said his remarks had been “reckless.” More

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      Tensions Flare in Ryder Cup as the U.S. Team Takes a Commanding Lead

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      The Americans were calmly overpowering the European side, but then things got testy.HAVEN, Wis. — Golf is a game of decorum.Except in the Ryder Cup, where some combination of pressure, patriotism and pride routinely leads players to engage in frisky gamesmanship, clash over rulings and stoke or shush fans if it gives them an emotional advantage.This year’s Ryder Cup, however, was shaping up to be an exception to the usual peevishness. As the midpoint of the three-day event neared on Saturday, the American team was calmly overpowering the European side, whose golfers appeared lifeless and beaten. But that changed in the stretch of roughly one hour when there were four testy episodes involving players from both teams.Brooks Koepka defiantly and profanely disputed the decision of two rules officials who declined to give him a free drop. His American teammate, Jordan Spieth, and the caddie for his European opponent Jon Rahm had an animated quarrel about the proper place for a drop after Rahm hammered a shot into Lake Michigan. Bryson DeChambeau and Shane Lowry each gestured with their putters in protest after short putts were not conceded, although DeChambeau’s putt was far lengthier.Bryson DeChambeau of the United States laid his putter on the green in protest after his opponents refused to concede a short putt.Patrick Smith/Getty ImagesPerhaps not by coincidence, what was looking like an American rout suddenly became a tight, taut contest. After the United States won three of four team matches on Saturday morning to take a six-point lead in the event, the European team stormed back in the afternoon and at one point appeared capable of winning three of those four matches.But as the sun was setting along Lake Michigan in central Wisconsin, the Americans rallied to earn two victories that gave them a commanding 11-5 lead heading into Sunday’s 12 singles matches, which are each worth one point. The Americans would need to win only three and a half points on Sunday to win the Ryder Cup for just the second time since 2008.Dustin Johnson, left, and Collin Morikawa are undefeated as a team for the United States.Charlie Neibergall/Associated PressSteve Stricker, the American captain, smiled broadly Saturday evening as he assessed his team’s chances.“Those afternoon session matches were so important. If they blank us, they’re right back in it,” Stricker said of the European team. “But getting a split and two more points was really big. Right now, it’s about getting our guys some rest; we’ll get back to the hotel, eat and get into bed.”Justin Thomas, the emotional leader of the United States team, would not predict victory but said, “All of us have the faith now.”Sergio García, Thomas’s counterpart on the European side — at least when it comes to his leadership style — was not bowed.“Everybody knows one thing: We’ll be out there until the end and we’re not going to give up,” García said of his team. “It’s going to be difficult, but I assure you we’ll give our best.”The Saturday afternoon drama was enhanced by strong winds that whipped across Whistling Straits, the Pete Dye-designed course that is devilish even in benign conditions. Some players donned woolen winter caps in the elements and others were in short sleeves. The format for the matches was four-ball, in which each golfer plays his own ball and the lower score for a team decides the result on a hole.Three of the four matches were hotly contested and one was not, as the undefeated American team of Dustin Johnson and Collin Morikawa cruised to a comfortable 4-and-3 victory against Rory McIlroy and Ian Poulter. The combination of McIlroy, who has played in six Ryder Cups, and Poulter, a stalwart and firebrand for the Europeans since 2004, has produced an 0-2 record. McIlroy has been on the losing side of each of his three matches.Jon Rahm, left, and Sergio García of Spain have won all three of their matches as a team for Europe.Mike Segar/ReutersThe heavyweight showdown was between Spieth and his partner Koepka and the Spanish pairing of García and Rahm, the world’s top-ranked player who has been spectacular at this Ryder Cup. The Rahm-García pairing came into the match against Spieth and Koepka undefeated in their two previous matches. They did not trail in the match through 16 holes. Spieth, usually so reliable when facing pivotal putts, missed a handful of makeable birdie or par attempts that could have wrested the lead from Rahm and García, who won, 2 and 1.Like Rahm and García, their teammates Shane Lowry of Ireland and Tyrrell Hatton of England held the lead or were tied with the Americans Tony Finau and Harris English through 17 holes. Still, with the European team’s hopes of a comeback on Sunday all but hanging in the balance, Lowry faced a 10-foot uphill par putt to win the match. With a steady, rhythmic stroke, Lowry drilled the putt in the center of the hole for a 1-up victory.Not surprisingly, the most unpredictable and volatile match involved DeChambeau, who was teamed with Scottie Scheffler against Tommy Fleetwood of England and Viktor Hovland of Norway. While the lead was traded back and forth, after 14 holes the match was tied — until Scheffler sank an 18-foot birdie putt on the 15th green to give his team a one-hole edge. That lead was later extended, with Scheffler and DeChambeau eventually winning 3 and 1.The Americans, who won five of eight matches on Friday, turned in another commanding performance in Saturday morning’s foursomes matches, in which players alternate hitting the same golf ball on a hole. The Johnson-Morikawa team led for its entire match against Englishmen Paul Casey and Hatton and eventually closed out a 2-and-1 victory. The poised Xander Schauffele and Patrick Cantlay methodically eliminated their opponents Lee Westwood and Matthew Fitzpatrick of England with a string of steady pars, winning the match 2 and 1.Thomas and Spieth, who were teamed in a losing effort on Friday, were reunited with a more productive result when they came from behind against Hovland and Bernd Wiesberger, who had the edge in the first 13 holes of the match. But the Thomas-Spieth combo won four of the final five holes to claim a 2-up victory. More

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      U.S. Ryder Cup Team Seizes Big Lead on a Wild Opening Day

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      The action included some harrowing moments for a couple of golfers, and the gallery included Michael Jordan.HAVEN, Wis. — A snapshot panorama from the first day of the Ryder Cup would start with a crowd of 40,000 — 90 percent of it American fans because of pandemic-related travel restrictions — noisily arriving before sunrise on Friday to roar unabated for 12 hours and through eight matches that concluded in the gloaming. Patriotic costumes were in vogue, though not among the most prominent spectators in the mix: Michael Jordan and Stephen Curry.Whistling Straits, the topsy-turvy golf fun house designed by Pete Dye along Lake Michigan, almost claimed two competitors as a stumbling Jordan Spieth ended up a hop step from a Great Lakes face plant and Ireland’s Shane Lowry flopped to his backside on an embankment like a toddler on a water slide. Tiger Woods, still recovering from a devastating car crash in February, was there in spirit on Friday, having sent an inspirational message to the U.S. team on the eve of the event. Bryson DeChambeau, ever the lightning rod for attention, boomed his opening drive of the day off line and off the ankle of a spectator. Later, DeChambeau ripped a towering 417-yard drive and then helped chase down the world’s top-ranked male golfer, Jon Rahm, to earn a pivotal half point.DID THAT JUST HAPPEN?! 🤯@JordanSpieth // @RyderCupUSA 📺 Watch now on GOLF and @peacockTV💻 https://t.co/FGvI8M8F19 pic.twitter.com/wHxO9XuSKr— Golf Channel (@GolfChannel) September 24, 2021
      Ultimately, the big picture would reveal that the Americans had taken control of the event by winning each of the four-match morning and afternoon sessions for a 6-2 lead over the European team. It was the largest first-day lead for the United States at the Ryder Cup since 1975, when it had a five-point lead.But that was when the Americans routinely dominated the event. Since the mid-1990s, the script has been reversed, with the Europeans having won four of the past five events and nine of the past 12.“It was good to finally get things going, and it was obviously a good start,” Steve Stricker, the U.S. nonplaying captain, said. “We’d like to win every session.”Stricker, a mild-mannered Wisconsin native not known for risky moves, took some big chances with his afternoon pairings after the Americans had built a 3-1 lead in the morning matches. Every match featured two-man teams from each side. The morning format was foursomes, in which players alternate hitting the same golf ball on a hole, while the afternoon brought a four-ball format, in which each golfer plays his own ball, and the lower score for a team decides the result on a hole.The strongest American combination in the morning was Xander Schauffele and Patrick Cantlay, two of the American team’s six Ryder Cup rookies. The pair surged to a big lead early and routed the high-profile, veteran European team of Rory McIlroy and Ian Poulter, 5 and 3.“I don’t know that anyone could have beaten Xander and Patrick today,” McIlroy said later.Usually when a new team is formed and has immediate success, Ryder Cup captains keep the players together and playing often. But for the afternoon matches, Stricker surprisingly had Schauffele play with Dustin Johnson, who had teamed with Collin Morikawa for an easy win in the morning. It had been expected that Stricker would keep that pair together as well.Instead, Morikawa, the reigning British Open champion, sat out the afternoon matches, as did Spieth and the team of Brooks Koepka and Daniel Berger, who had been victorious in a morning match.But on Thursday, Stricker said that he had arranged his lineup for the first eight matches and that nothing that occurred in the morning session would change his plans for the afternoon. Given the pressure the Americans are under to win on home soil, few believed Stricker would stick to such a plan. But he did, and the results were impressive.Justin Thomas celebrating on the ninth green as Viktor Hovland of Norway looked on. Thomas emerged as the emotional leader of the U.S. team on Day 1.Warren Little/Getty ImagesCantlay teamed with Justin Thomas, who had played in the morning with his close friend Spieth. Cantlay, the PGA Tour player of the year, was steady, and Thomas, who appears to be the emotional leader of the American team, was fiery. But the duo was losing for most of its match against England’s Tommy Fleetwood and Norway’s Viktor Hovland. Then, with two holes remaining, Thomas rallied for a crucial putt that created a tie, which is how the match ended.The usually stoic Cantlay even showed some emotion during the round with an occasional fist pump.“I was feeding off J.T. a little bit,” Cantlay said, referring to Thomas. “He carried me around all day today, and he played great, and it was a dogfight.”Cantlay was also doing most of the post-round talking because Thomas had all but lost his voice from screaming and yelling toward the American crowd, which he did after sinking any meaningful putt.Tony Finau, left, and Harris English of the United States on the 10th green Friday afternoon. They defeated Rory McIlroy and Shane Lowry, 4 and 3.Andrew Redington/Getty ImagesThe Johnson-Schauffele team defeated England’s Paul Casey and Austria’s Bernd Wiesberger, 2 and 1. DeChambeau was paired with Scottie Scheffler in a match against Rahm and England’s Tyrrell Hatton that ended in a tie. The American team of Tony Finau and Harris English used their length off the tee and their accurate iron play to overpower McIlroy, who combined with Lowry in a 4-and-3 loss.The competition continues Saturday with another eight matches.Some of the Americans mentioned that Woods’s message had been part of the motivation for their winning play on Friday.“I’m obviously not going to reveal what he said,” Schauffele said. “But we referred to it a few times a day, and we knew what we needed to do. We knew he was fist-pumping from the couch. Whether he was on crutches or not — he’s fired up as any of us back at home.” More

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      Women’s P.G.A. Championship Is Last Chance for Olympic Berths

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      This year, as in 2016, golf’s shallow roots in the Games are being exposed by the men’s limited interest. The women are a different story.ATLANTA — As the Olympic rosters for men’s golf were finalized on Tuesday, three top-12 invitees had respectfully sent their regrets. Joining the world No. 2, Dustin Johnson of the United States, who confirmed his decision in March, were the 11th-ranked Tyrrell Hatton of Britain and the 12th-ranked Louis Oosthuizen, the South African who finished second in the past two major tournaments. Oosthuizen said family commitments were partly responsible for his decision to bypass the Games, especially after his recent purchase of an 86-acre horse farm in Ocala, Fla.For Sophia Popov, family considerations explain an enthusiastic embrace of the chance to pursue a pandemic-delayed Olympic gold medal. Popov, 28, who holds dual American and German citizenship, has secured a spot in the 60-player competition, representing Germany and realizing a dream that, for different reasons, eluded her maternal grandmother, her mother and her older brother.“The Olympics is a huge deal for me,” Popov, the reigning Women’s British Open champion, said Wednesday.This year, as in 2016, golf’s shallow roots in the Olympics are being exposed by the men’s limited interest. The women are a different story, fiercely jockeying for spots in the field, which will be finalized after this week’s KPMG Women’s P.G.A. Championship. The top 15 players in the world are eligible for the Olympics, including up to four players from a single country. The rest of the field is filled according to the rankings, with a maximum of two players per nation.Because of the country caps, Popov, the 22nd-ranked player, is set for the Tokyo Games, while Ally Ewing, ranked 18th, is one of several Americans who could, with a victory this week at Atlanta Athletic Club, vault over the fourth U.S. player, Jessica Korda, who is ranked 13th, 10 spots behind her younger sister, Nelly. In between the Korda sisters are the Americans Danielle Kang at No. 6 and Lexi Thompson at No. 7.“It’s going to take good golf this week, but it would obviously be a huge honor,” said Ewing, 28, who won her second L.P.G.A. tour title last month. “I think one of the coolest things for me, aside from being an Olympian, would just be walking beside other Olympians like Allyson Felix and just people I’ve watched on TV for so many years.” Because of the coronavirus pandemic, the Olympics will proceed in a severely stripped-down version, with limited crowds, no international fans and restricted movement between venues for athletes and other members of the Olympic contingent.“I think one of the big things is the experience of the Olympics and what I was able to do won’t be possible for guys this year,” said Rickie Fowler, who competed in the men’s event in 2016, when golf returned to the Games for the first time since 1904. Fowler, speaking Wednesday in a remote news conference from this week’s PGA Tour stop in Connecticut, added, “The Olympics in general are not going to be the same experience.”The women don’t care. They appreciate what the Olympics can deliver: the opportunity to compete in front of the largest global audience in sports.Shanshan Feng won the bronze medal four years ago.Ezra Shaw/Getty Images“I think it was a great chance for us to actually play on the same golf course as the men and just to show the world how good the ladies golfers are,” said Shanshan Feng, the 2016 bronze medalist from China.She added: “I think we should do everything that we can to support the game and ladies golf. I wouldn’t be surprised to see maybe most or even all of the ladies that get in go to Tokyo.”.css-1xzcza9{list-style-type:disc;padding-inline-start:1em;}.css-3btd0c{font-family:nyt-franklin,helvetica,arial,sans-serif;font-size:1rem;line-height:1.375rem;color:#333;margin-bottom:0.78125rem;}@media (min-width:740px){.css-3btd0c{font-size:1.0625rem;line-height:1.5rem;margin-bottom:0.9375rem;}}.css-3btd0c strong{font-weight:600;}.css-3btd0c em{font-style:italic;}.css-w739ur{margin:0 auto 5px;font-family:nyt-franklin,helvetica,arial,sans-serif;font-weight:700;font-size:1.125rem;line-height:1.3125rem;color:#121212;}#NYT_BELOW_MAIN_CONTENT_REGION .css-w739ur{font-family:nyt-cheltenham,georgia,’times new roman’,times,serif;font-weight:700;font-size:1.375rem;line-height:1.625rem;}@media (min-width:740px){#NYT_BELOW_MAIN_CONTENT_REGION .css-w739ur{font-size:1.6875rem;line-height:1.875rem;}}@media (min-width:740px){.css-w739ur{font-size:1.25rem;line-height:1.4375rem;}}.css-9s9ecg{margin-bottom:15px;}.css-uf1ume{display:-webkit-box;display:-webkit-flex;display:-ms-flexbox;display:flex;-webkit-box-pack:justify;-webkit-justify-content:space-between;-ms-flex-pack:justify;justify-content:space-between;}.css-wxi1cx{display:-webkit-box;display:-webkit-flex;display:-ms-flexbox;display:flex;-webkit-flex-direction:column;-ms-flex-direction:column;flex-direction:column;-webkit-align-self:flex-end;-ms-flex-item-align:end;align-self:flex-end;}.css-12vbvwq{background-color:white;border:1px solid #e2e2e2;width:calc(100% – 40px);max-width:600px;margin:1.5rem auto 1.9rem;padding:15px;box-sizing:border-box;}@media (min-width:740px){.css-12vbvwq{padding:20px;width:100%;}}.css-12vbvwq:focus{outline:1px solid #e2e2e2;}#NYT_BELOW_MAIN_CONTENT_REGION .css-12vbvwq{border:none;padding:10px 0 0;border-top:2px solid #121212;}.css-12vbvwq[data-truncated] .css-rdoyk0{-webkit-transform:rotate(0deg);-ms-transform:rotate(0deg);transform:rotate(0deg);}.css-12vbvwq[data-truncated] .css-eb027h{max-height:300px;overflow:hidden;-webkit-transition:none;transition:none;}.css-12vbvwq[data-truncated] .css-5gimkt:after{content:’See more’;}.css-12vbvwq[data-truncated] .css-6mllg9{opacity:1;}.css-qjk116{margin:0 auto;overflow:hidden;}.css-qjk116 strong{font-weight:700;}.css-qjk116 em{font-style:italic;}.css-qjk116 a{color:#326891;-webkit-text-decoration:underline;text-decoration:underline;text-underline-offset:1px;-webkit-text-decoration-thickness:1px;text-decoration-thickness:1px;-webkit-text-decoration-color:#326891;text-decoration-color:#326891;}.css-qjk116 a:visited{color:#326891;-webkit-text-decoration-color:#326891;text-decoration-color:#326891;}.css-qjk116 a:hover{-webkit-text-decoration:none;text-decoration:none;}Three weeks after the Olympic men’s golf competition at Kasumigaseki Country Club, roughly 23 miles north of Tokyo, the PGA Tour is scheduled to begin its three-tournament postseason offering a $60 million overall purse. The L.P.G.A.’s total purse for the 2021 season was expected to be $76.5 million.“Those players can retire when they’re finished with their careers,” said Australia’s Hannah Green, the 2019 Women’s P.G.A. champion, referring to her PGA Tour counterparts. But on the L.P.G.A. circuit, she continued, most of the players will retire to motherhood or some other full-time occupation.“That perspective is probably changed, playing for money versus for a medal,” said Green, who added that she would exchange her major title for a gold medal.“I think because it is so rare to get a gold medal — once every four years,” said Green, who added, “I think everyone would notice, not just the golfing world.”Popov grew up loving the Olympics. Her mother, Claudia Schwarzer Popov, was a standout swimmer at Stanford whose Olympic dreams were sidetracked in 1980 because of the U.S.-led boycott, and again in 1984 because of an elbow injury.Claudia’s mother, Sabine Schwarzer, qualified for the United Team of Germany in the high jump at the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome. But because of an injury and a move to the United States to join her fiancé, she did not compete.Popov’s brother Nicholas, who competed for the University of Arizona, swam in the 2012 U.S. Olympic trials in the 50-meter freestyle but did not advance out of the preliminaries.“He was kind of bummed,” said Popov, adding that her brother traveled to London to watch and to cheer for his friends who did qualify.“The reason I didn’t become a swimmer,” Popov said, “is because of all that heartbreak. My mom was like, ‘I want to teach you guys how to swim, but I wouldn’t be mad if you didn’t become swimmers because it’s a very unrewarding sport.’”Barring unforeseen circumstances, Popov will finally compete in an Olympics, though her family will not travel to Tokyo to share in the experience with her. It’s small consolation, but her mother and brother have joked about getting an Olympic rings tattoo, the must-have status symbol for all qualifiers.They said they would have “brother” or “mother” written underneath the rings, Popov explained with a laugh. “I was like, you can do whatever you want.”She said their experiences had added to her motivation. “I have two other people to represent,” she said, “that I feel like could have been there in the past.” More