Golf Gods Smile Upon Grayson Murray While Spiting Rory McIlroy, Tommy Fleetwood Still Isn't Elite, And A 7-Month Delayed Merger Meeting
On the surface, Grayson Murray winning the Sony Open doesn't exactly sound like an exciting headline, but in reality, his victory in Hawaii on Sunday created a storyline that legitimately spanned the globe after Rory McIlroy's disaster of a finish in Dubai.
Murray and McIlroy have a history, albeit a brief one, that is impossible to ignore which makes Sunday's festivities one of the more memorable non-major finishes we've seen in quite a while.
It was also a Sunday to remember for Tommy Fleetwood, but even with his latest victory, it's still not right to throw the 'elite' tag on him just yet. You could make the argument that Fleetwood is the Joe Flacco of professional golf, but that would be doing Flacco a disservice given he owns a Super Bowl ring.
Last, but certainly not least, there is an update in the world of PGA Tour - Saudi PIF merger talks that is truly ridiculous, which is par for the course in the situation that has been bizarre from day one.
Grayson Murray Winning The Same Day Rory McIlroy Chokes One Away Is Beyond Ironic
The thought of Rory McIlroy probably never crossed Grayson Murray's mind on Sunday, but the same can't be said for golf fans around the world.
To get the full picture here we have to go back to June 2023 after the PGA Tour and Saudi PIF announced their agreed-upon framework agreement for a merger. Shortly after the announcement the Tour held a players meeting with Tour commissioner Jay Monahan.
Not all that much came from the meeting, except for a bit of drama, and it was Murry and McIlroy in the middle of it.
According to countless reports, Murray allegedly called on Monahan to resign from his post as commissioner while shouting "We don't trust you, Jay!" in front of everyone present.
McIlroy, who at the time was Monahan's sidekick, replied by saying "Just play better, Grayson" before Murray promptly told McIlroy to "fu-k off."
Well, Murray took McIlroy's advice about playing better and earned PGA Tour win No. 2 on Sunday at the Sony Open about 12 hours after McIlroy completed the worst meltdown of his entire career at the Dubai Invitational. 'Karma' is certainly a word that comes to mind.
In all seriousness though, Murray's win in Hawaii was inspirational after he was in a very dark place not too long ago.
Now eight months sober, Murray battled alcoholism over the years while claiming each time he reached out to the Tour for help, it never came to fruition. He was put on probation by the Tour, has been in countless arguments with fellow pros on social media, and suffered an almost fatal scooter accident ahead of the Bermuda Championship in October 2022.
The odds were stacked heavily against him to continue having a career on Tour, let alone finding the winner's circle again, but after draining a 40-foot birdie putt on the first playoff hole he's found himself atop the mountain top again.
Murray credited his faith and his fiancee after the win in what was certainly a full-circle moment for the 30-year-old.
We Still Can't Say Tommy Fleetwood Is Elite
You'd be hard-pressed to find a single person who doesn't like Tommy Fleetwood. He seems like one of the nicest guys in professional golf, possesses an unbelievable golf swing, and has a mystique about him that's hard to ignore. He also married his manager who is 23 years older than he is, which only adds another notable line to his unique resume.
While all those things can be true, this doesn't mean he's in the same stratosphere as some of the biggest names in the sport. Him lifting a trophy in Dubai 'beating' McIlroy by a shot doesn't all the sudden catapult him into the 'elite' tier.
Fleetwood's win in Dubai marked his seventh win on the DP World Tour, but only his second since 2020. He still has zero wins on the PGA Tour in 127 starts, and while his 106 made cuts and 22 Top 5 finishes on Tour already make for one helluva a career, he's proven time and time again he doesn't have that closer, killer mentality the truly elite in the game possess.
Sunday's finish in Dubai was just the latest example of that. Given that he won it's easy to say he seized the opportunity, but McIlroy all but said 'here you go, you can have this one' by three-putting from three feet and finding the drink off the tee on the 72nd hole.
Fleetwood has very much benefitted from 'being there' in memorable moments. He's been great at the Ryder Cup for the Europeans in his three appearances and sealed the deal in Rome in 2023. He also had runner-up finishes in the 2018 U.S. Open and solo second in the 2019 Open Championship before having close calls in 2022 at both the PGA Championship and Open Championship again.
He's played himself into final pairings in some of the game's biggest events but has come up short time and time again. The monkey is still on Fleetwood's back, and it oddly could have gotten even bigger thanks to McIlroy virtually handing him a win in Dubai.
Jay Monahan And Yasir Al-Rumayyan Realize Talking May Help Things
Just in case you didn't think the situation involving the proposed merger between the PGA Tour and the Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF) wasn't bizarre enough, we have a new report involving the timeline that makes no sense whatsoever.
The framework agreement was announced on June 6, 2023 and from that point until this very second most would have assumed Tour commissioner Jay Monahan and PIF governor Yasir Al-Rumayyan would be in almost constant communication to get this thing across the line. After all, the Tour did self-impose a deadline of December 31 to get a deal done.
It turns out that hasn't been the case, at all.
Jay Monahan and Yasir Al-Rumayyan have decided to talk for the first time in seven months, according to a new report. (Getty Images)
According to James Corrigan of The Telegraph, who by my count is batting a thousand when it comes to reporting about the ever-changing golf world, Monahan and Al-Rumayyan were set to meet before Christmas to get the ball rolling.
That didn't happen, and Jon Rahm signing with LIV Golf probably had a hand in that postponement, so the two reportedly connected over the phone.
No big deal, right? Business happens over the phone every minute of every day.
Wrong. According to Corrigan, this was the first conversation Monahan and Al-Rumayyan have had since the June 6 announcement.
So, based on the report, Monahan and Al-Rumayyan announced they were soon about to change the professional golf world as we know it on June 6, and then went completely radio silent for seven months.
While the two sides want to come to an agreement before the Masters in April, that's starting to sound like yet another pipedream given that the two have had one conversation in a half-year's time.
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