MEMPHIS — The father of a cancer survivor can put professional golf’s melodrama into perspective.
Dakota Cunningham is a familiar name, right?
It was he who made Jim Nantz eat out of his palm on the CBS broadcast of the PGA Tour’s arrival in Memphis two years back. Dakota is now 16 years old. He is currently playing on the junior circuit. He was playing in a tournament that the UT-Martin golf coach (NAME), attended not too long ago.
He seems to be considering college golf, which is remarkable considering that he became passionate about the sport after he was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic Leukemia in 2017.
Steve Cunningham stood at the edge of Overton Park 9’s putting green on Monday afternoon. He was watching his son and four other St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital children get tips from Collin Morikawa and reflected on how important all this had been.
Dakota’s connections to St. Jude and the tournament now called the FedEx St. Jude Championship have allowed him access to top golfers such as Justin Thomas and Morikawa, and – and here’s where Steve stopped a beat – Bryson DeChambeau.
DeChambeau is, of course, one of the prominent defectors to LIV Golf series. This Saudi-funded alternative is being treated as an existential threat by the PGA Tour. Steve Cunningham was unsure if he could even utter the next part loudly.
“I’m sorry his name is probably a bad one right now, but Dakota does respond to Bryson when he reaches out on Instagram,” Steve explained. “And he doesn’t have to do that.”
The PGA Tour wanted this to be a good vs evil battle, but it wasn’t. Most of these rich men are turning their backs on other wealthy guys in pursuit to get even richer. However, chasing the almighty dollars can’t take away the good works done by Phil Mickelson, Dustin Johnson, Brooks Koepka and even DeChambeau over the years for St. Jude.
It takes them away from Memphis. It makes you wonder if anyone is really paying attention to what the PGA Tour is doing. It’s all about making you anxious.
For the 65th consecutive year, the Tour will be returning to Memphis in a much more vulnerable position than ever before. It erroneously guessed LIV Golf’s viability. Worst, it doesn’t want to admit this yet.
TPC Southwind could see this controversy escalate. Three golfers, three LIV defectors, are asking for a temporary injunction to allow them to participate in the FedEx St. Jude Championship. The case will be heard by a federal court in California on Tuesday afternoon.
Scottie Scheffler (the world’s No. 1 golfer) said, “I was definitely surprised to see some guys actually sue us.” 1 golfer. It’s an interesting topic.
Talor Gooch and Hudson Swafford may be on the course Wednesday for a practice round. This is the only thing anyone can talk about going into the event. These golfers, according to the Tour, cannot break their membership rules or demand their way back in. They can’t have both their cake and their pudding.
Problem is, there is probably not enough cake. For the long-term, the sport cannot continue as it has for the past few months.
Contrary to what some golf establishments will tell you, it is in everyone’s best interests if LIV and the PGA Tour come up with an agreement that allows them to co-exist. It’s in Memphis’ best interests. Given its history and the amount FedEx has invested, this is a PGA Tour-friendly town.
LIV won’t disappear as long as Saudis continue to invest money in it. This means that it isn’t about winning the Tour, but survival.
You see, St. Jude is not the only one who shares this week’s event with the PGA Tour.
They won’t give up.
St. Jude’s goal is to eradicate pediatric cancer and find a cure for every child. You can’t live if your body isn’t healthy, if it doesn’t survive, and if there aren’t people who make that life meaningful.
Dakota and DeChambeau are examples of such people.
Dakota practiced flop shots and chipping away from cameras while everyone else followed Morikawa around to another green Monday. His future was forever altered by a sport and a tournament.
This perspective is important for the PGA Tour.
By: Mark Giannotto
Title: Opinion: As LIV Golf hovers, PGA Tour and FedEx St. Jude Championship have something in common
Sourced From: golfweek.usatoday.com/2022/08/09/liv-golf-news-lawsuit-pga-tour-2022-fedex-st-jude-championship/
Published Date: Tue, 09 Aug 2022 18:00:32 +0000
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