Summary of Liv and Let Die by Alan Shipnuck: The Inside Story of the War Between the PGA Tour and Liv Golf

By Willie M. Joseph

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This book does not in any capacity mean to replace the original book but to serve as a vast summary of the original book.

Summary of Liv and Let Die by Alan Shipnuck: The Inside Story of the War Between the PGA Tour and Liv Golf

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Alan Shipnuck, the bestselling author of Phil, returns with a new work of insider reporting on the battle for the soul of professional golf between the PGA Tour and the Saudi-funded LIV Golf League. The conflict has made top golfers like Tiger Mickelson and others villainous in the eyes of the public, with LIV Golf's controversial storming of the professional golf world. Shipnuck delivers the inside story in real time, with fly-on-the-wall reporting from the yachts where LIV was hatched and within the corridors of power as the PGA Tour flailed to fend off the threat. The disruption to an old, proud sport was largely conducted in the shadows, but LIV and Let Die delivers numerous revelations about what really happened and why. The bitter feuding between the PGA loyalists and the LIV camp made the battle between the tours deeply personal, but for the top leaders of the two tours, it was strictly business.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Willie M. Joseph
• Release date: Oct 18, 2023
• ISBN: 9798223072294

Willie M. Joseph

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1

During the years between World Wars II and the 1960s, professional golf was a part-time gig, with competitors working in pro shop jobs at country clubs. The PGA of America, an umbrella organization for club pros, began organizing tournaments, and by the 1920s, a reliable winter schedule had coalesced. Byron Nelson won his first tournament in 1935, the second Masters Tournament, and Sam Snead and Ben Hogan broke through in 1936 and 1938.

In the boom years that followed, golf thrived as both a leisure activity and a competitive sport. Bing Crosby hosted the first Crosby Clambake in 1947, and Dwight D. Eisenhower became the first golf president. Arnold Palmer won four Masters titles from 1958 to 1964, becoming an earthy, sexy icon. Jack Nicklaus began piling up major championship victories, lifting the sport to even greater heights with his transcendent brilliance.

However, the tournaments were still administered by the PGA of America, a parochial organization with the mission of supporting teaching pros at the grassroots level. Tensions escalated when tour pros found out that the PGA intended to siphon $50,000 from the purse at the Westchester Country Club tournament and put it into the general pension fund for all of its members.

On June 1, 1967, the players began their uprising, producing a seven-point manifesto demanding greater control over the schedule, disbursement of funds, and hiring of administrative staff. They also insisted on taking away the PGA's veto power. After a tense nine-hour meeting, the PGA gave in on six of the seven demands but retained its veto power, forging an uneasy truce that lasted two weeks.

Following the Westchester Country Club golf tournament, a hundred touring pros unanimously committed to forming the American Professional Golfers (APG) breakaway league. A thirteen-member APG advisory committee was created, led by Jack Nicklaus. The PGA of America made its stance clear: it was us or them. If a player decides to go with the other group, their PGA card will be lifted immediately. The PGA of America still represented the club pros, who ministered to young golfers around the country.

Jack Nicklaus continued to throw haymakers in the press, publishing an extraordinary first-person essay in the September 16, 1968, issue of Sports Illustrated. Palmer, who remained the game's biggest star, wanted to avoid publicly battling the PGA of America. The game's other stakeholders made it clear that they would side with the players.

When a half-dozen tournament sponsors announced they would shift their allegiance and corporate dollars to APG events, the PGA of America retaliated by saying that it would sue any player who competed in an APG tournament that took place the same week as a PGA event. However, the judge rescinded his restraining order, neutering the PGA's legal case. The PGA Tour eventually gained autonomy, but bitchiness and controversy will always be in the professional game's DNA.

2

Greg Norman, a golfer from Queensland, Australia, was influenced by his mother, Toini, who moved to Brisbane in 1970 to pursue an engineering career. His mother, Toini, was the jock in the family and joined a country club, where her teenage son, Greg, fell under the game's spell. Greg began playing golf and taking group lessons, eventually winning the Queensland Junior Championship in 1973.

Despite his early life, Greg had a strong interest in sports, including surfing, spear shooting, and working as a jackeroo on a cattle ranch. He also had dreams of joining the Royal Australian Air Force, but his father's disapproval led him to pursue a career in golf. In 1973, Greg took a job in the pro shop at the Royal Queensland Golf Club in Brisbane for $38 a week, where he worked under head pro Charlie Earp.

Norman's lifelong desire to achieve stemmed from his father's disapproval. In 1976, he earned a place on the PGA of Australia's developmental circuit and made a name for himself at the West Lakes Classic. He shot 64 in high winds to set a course record and became national news after he won the tournament. The dean of Australian golf, Peter Thomson, praised Norman's potential and the incredible heights he could reach.

Greg Norman, a former Australian golfer, achieved his first European Tour title in 1977 at the age of twenty-two. He was known for his sobering focus and his lavish lifestyle, earning the nickname Hollywood for his lavish lifestyle. Norman's global perspective on the game and a kinship with Seve Ballesteros, a Spaniard who was always raging against the machinery of professional golf, helped him develop a kinship with Ballesteros. In 1981, Norman married Laura Andrassy, who had been a sight attendant to him. That year, he began to prove himself on the world stage, securing fourth place in his Masters debut. The following year, he topped the European Tour's money list.

Norman's hubris led him to publish his autobiography, My Story, in 1983, which took shots at his colleagues, including a passage that set Fleet Street ablaze. He announced that he was quitting the European Tour for personal reasons and decamped to the PGA Tour. In 1984, he won his first Tour event, the Kemper Open, but the following week, he wound up in a final-round dogght with Fuzzy Zoeller. Despite the setback, Norman won his first Tour event in 1984 and would have become iconic if he hadn't been run over by Zoeller in the Monday playo.

Greg Norman, a golfer known for his crack-ups and implosions, has achieved great success in the sport. He won the 1986 Open Championship at Turnberry in Scotland, taking the 1987 Australian Open by a record 10 strokes at Royal Melbourne Country Club. In 1993, he shot a 64 that is one of the greatest final rounds in golf history. The following year, he shot a 24 under to smash every record at the Players Championship. By 1995, he had three times led the PGA Tour's money list and three times had the lowest scoring average.

Norman's maniacal focus helped him build a sprawling business empire, owning a line of clothes, a golf course design business, and a wine label. He also bought 12% of Cobra Golf for $1.9 million in 1991 and cashed out for $40 million when the company was sold ve years later. He later added a 228-foot yacht, which he named Aussie Rules.

However, Norman is better known for his crack-ups and implosions than any of his spectacular achievements. He faced numerous challenges during his career, including the 1986 Masters, where he was tied with Jack Nicklaus, and the 1987 British Open, where he was defeated by Bob Tway and Larry Mize.

In 1989, Norman shot a 64 to force a four-hole aggregate playo, but never completed the hole, and his score has forever been recorded as an ignominious X. At the 1993 PGA Championship, he lost a playo at each of the four major championships, becoming the first player to achieve the Grand Slammed.

Greg Norman, a former professional golfer, faced immense pressure and disappointment during the 1996 Masters. He struggled to maintain his drive and inner power, leading to a void within him that cannot be measured on money lists or world ranking points. His Machiavellian streak has long clouded his legacy, as he was accused of not having the drive or guts needed to win when victory is in sight.

In 1994, the PGA Tour created the Presidents Cup to give golfers a Ryder Cup-like stage. However, Norman fell out of the competition and showed up on the last day to support his team from the sidelines. This led