Jed Morgan scores LIV Golf’s golden ticket as big-name stars plan Aussie escape.
You’d be smiling too if one of your best mates just told you he had a spot in his multi-million-dollar franchise with your name on it.
Such is life for 2021 Australian PGA champion Jed Morgan who, after going from zero to hero at Royal Queensland 13 months ago, can now go from LIV Golf’s outhouse to its penthouse as a fully fledged member of Cam Smith’s Ripper GC team.
Ripper skipper Smith, who owns a 25-percent stake in the newly named venture (formerly Punch GC) made the call on his fellow Queenslander after watching Morgan get bounced between three different teams (Fireballs GC, Punch GC and Torque GC) last season, where the 23-year-old’s best individual finish was 13th.
Morgan returns to the all-Aussie line-up that featured Marc Leishman, Matt Jones and Wade Ormsby last season.
Making the move even more intriguing, however, is Morgan had full status locked away on the DP World Tour, courtesy of winning the 2021-2022 ISPS Handa PGA Tour of Australasia Order of Merit. At the time of writing, a UK arbitration was scheduled to make a decision on whether LIV golfers, like Morgan, would be able to continue playing on the DP World Tour outside their LIV commitments.
Either way, Morgan’s future looks secure, with there being no ceiling on his earning potential thanks to the Saudi-backed league’s team and individual cash bonanzas on offer in each of the 14 events. Morgan himself will be keen to cash some big cheques early as LIV Golf Adelaide tees off from April 21-23. Nothing like a win on home soil to show your new boss he made a wise decision.
Eagle-eyed viewers on social media picked up some very patriotic markings on the new Ripper GC team logo during the team launch on February 8.
A Southern Cross-shaped emblem in what appears to be very similar colours to Smith’s beloved Brisbane Broncos rugby league team had Queenslanders up and about.
The 2023 LIV season, which teed off in Mexico in late February, continues to have its detractors around the world, many of whom have accused the league of being nothing more than an addition to Saudi Arabia’s alleged sportswashing portfolio. Yet the league’s introduction to Australia has been largely well received, with South Australia’s Premier Peter Malinauskas even firing back at reporters who questioned the state’s willingness to host a tournament [see page 40].
“I’m very conscious of the arguments that the establishment monopolist forces in golf try and push around for their own benefit,” he said. “I’m more interested in the facts. I think what Australians are focused on is having an internationalist view of the world which maximises the economic benefit in an appropriate way for the people of our country and our state but… I encourage a moment of pause, of caution and a rational analysis of basic facts.”
Speaking of facts, being the proud golf nation that we are, we’ve grossly underachieved in attracting the world’s best players to our shores for decades. Apart from offering insufficient prize purses to lure international stars, there’s been an inability to sell the week as a holiday opportunity for the players’ families, a vastly underestimated component to getting these globetrotters over the line. LIV Golf believes it will tick both boxes in its first attempt next month.
Speaking exclusively with Australian Golf Digest inside this issue [see page 36], LIV chief executive Greg Norman said several LIV stars were planning to arrive in Australia early and explore the country.
“I know a lot of the players are bringing their wives down and they’re coming a week earlier,” Norman says. “I believe some of them are going up to the Great Barrier Reef, some are checking out Sydney, some are heading to Melbourne for the museums. I know there’s a smattering of them because a lot of them, believe it or not, have never been to Australia. Some of them want to go play golf on the Melbourne Sandbelt and stuff like that. They’re going to make the most of their time Down Under, and why not?”
Why not, indeed… surely one thing all Aussies can agree on.
