But what of the image of the game beyond those of us who play? What might be the impact on golf further down the pecking order of what is being seen by the general public, rightly or wrongly, as golf ‘selling out’ to the Saudis?
The divide between the professional and recreational game has only grown over the past two decades and was widened further by last week’s announcement.
Those outside golf, however, don’t see a separation between the two. In the same way that the PGA and PGA Tour have been infuriatingly interchangeable in mainstream media over the last week, ‘golf’ and ‘professional golf’ are seen as one by many in the broader community.
None of which would matter if there were no real world consequences. But there are.
They’re small clues but there are enough of them in the day-to-day public discourse to give an…