Calacus Weekly Hit & Miss – McIlroy & Woods & Stefano Domenicali

Every week we look at the best and worst communicators in the sports world from the previous week.

HIT - RORY MCILROY & TIGER WOODS

We have spoken before about the emergence of LIV golf and the threat it poses to the game worldwide, with players such as former Ryder Cup captain Henrik Stenson giving up his prestigious role for LIV’s riches.

The controversial launch of the Saudi-backed LIV Golf Series claims to want to grow the sport globally, but the emergence of the circuit has instead resulted in break-ups and alliances and caused suspensions and lawsuits.

The source of the funding for LIV Golf Investments and its threat to the status quo of the game have been the main reasons for criticism with a variety of players having defected to the Series, facing stark criticism for leaving the PGA Tour.

With the series lurching from one communications disaster to another, the PGA Tour have carefully crafted a fightback against LIV Golf to stop the exodus of players while being able to tap into the demand of the engagement of younger audiences interested in the sport.

In a recent announcement, the Tour put forward plans that will increase prize money at 12 events along with a new financial incentive program geared for all its members.

For the 2022-23 season, all fully exempt Tour players who compete in 15 tournaments will be guaranteed to earn $500,000 through the creation of the Earnings Assurance Program.

For rookies and returning members to the Tour, that money isn’t just guaranteed, but will be paid up front, with the players drawing against it during the season from their earnings.

This is along with other changes to the Tour which will cater to player needs far better than before, with the PGA Tour having to evolve its game.

They’ve also had help from Rory McIlroy and Tiger Woods – two of the sport's biggest stars – who have been among the PGA Tour's most vocal advocates during the ongoing power struggle with LIV Golf .

Golfing icon Woods reportedly rejected an eye-watering £600million to turn his back on the PGA Tour and join LIV Golf, while McIlroy has also openly stated that he has no intention of ditching the PGA Tour.

Woods has also been critical of players who have left the Tour and when asked again at the start of the month, he said: "I disagree with it. I think that what they've done is they've turned their back on what has allowed them to get to this position."

In a further attempt to rally support for the tour, Woods headed to the BMW Championship to attend a player meeting that reportedly included many of the top 20 players in the world and other influential PGA Tour members, including McIlroy.

Chief among the topics was a future of bigger money and a formula that gets the best players on tour competing against each other more often.

With Woods and McIlroy said to have led the meeting, it doesn’t now come as a surprise that the two have joined forces to launch a new high tech league that aims to appeal to younger fans.

One of the most consistent criticisms that golf faces is that it isn’t doing enough to attract new, younger audiences that will inspire the next generation to play and the new league aims to combat this stereotype.

Known as TGL (Team Golf League), it will involve six teams of top golfers playing each other in a round-robin format over 15 Monday nights between January and April, with semi-finals and a final to follow. It is scheduled to begin in 2024 and has the backing of the PGA Tour.

The new league will allow 18 holes to be squeezed into a two-hour slot, and players will shift from the giant screen to a short-game area in a stadium.

On the launch of the event, Woods said: “TGL is the next evolution within professional golf, and I am committed to helping lead it into the future. Embracing technology to create this unique environment gives us the ability to move our sport into primetime on a consistent basis alongside so many of sports' biggest events.

“As a big sports fan myself, I'm excited about blending golf with technology and team elements common in other sports.

“We all know what it's like to be in a football stadium or a basketball arena where you can watch every play, every minute of action unfold right in front of you. It's something that inherently isn't possible in traditional golf — and an aspect of TGL that will set it apart and appeal to a new generation of fans.”

McIlroy added: “I have the utmost respect for the game of golf, and the TGL, while rooted in the traditions of the game, is taking a bold step into the increasingly tech-fueled future of sports.

“TGL will tap into the appeal of team golf within an exciting, fan-friendly environment, comparable to sitting courtside at an NBA game.

“TGL will widen the appeal of golf to younger and more diverse fans and serve as another avenue to introduce people to the game I love.

The PGA Tour have been resolute in their intention to head off the threat caused by LIV Golf and Commissioner Jay Monahan said: “The TOUR has been committed to aligning our athletes with innovative technology and this initiative combines that vision with a unique golf atmosphere.

“A primetime experience featuring PGA TOUR players will help attract a broader audience to our sport and the world's greatest players.”

With the two icons having seemingly re-shaped the PGA Tour, only time will tell how LIV Golf respond, and if this new approach can retain the sport’s best players still committed to the Tour.

LIV Golf player Lee Westwood was quick to criticise the PGA Tour’s new plans.

Speaking to Golf Digest, the former world number one said: "I laugh at what the PGA Tour players have come up with," said Westwood, who resigned from the PGA Tour to take part in the first LIV event in June.

"It's just a copy of what LIV is doing. There are a lot of hypocrites out there. They all say LIV is 'not competitive'. They all point at the no-cut aspect of LIV and the short fields.

"Now, funnily enough, they are proposing 20 events that look a lot like LIV. And hopefully, they will be held to account as we were in the early days."

In a further twist, Woods, McIlroy and Monahan have been served notice of a subpoena to reveal details of the PGA Tour players’ meeting to be held in late September.

Lawyer Larry Klayman, representing the lead plaintiff, suggested that the PGA Tour should be renamed ‘LIV Light' and wants the release of documents and audio or visual recordings of the meeting that took place at the BMW Championship.

A number of players have also joined LIV in an antitrust lawsuit against the PGA Tour challenging their suspensions imposed by the PGA Tour in June, which barred them from participating in tournament play due to their involvement in LIV GOLF.

Remember, LIV only currently have two players ranked in the world top 20 with Cameron Smith the latest to join with their 54-holes shotgun start not exciting golf fans, with viewing figures poor.

In Woods and McIlroy, the PGA Tour and the sport of golf have two icons who have the credibility to save the sport from its sportswashing new pretenders.

McIlroy has been full of praise for Woods and summed the situation up when he said: “I think it shows how much he cares about the players that are coming through and are going to be the next generation.

“It’s impactful, and I think it shows how much he cares about the Tour. He is the hero that we’ve all looked up to. His voice carries further than anyone else’s in the game of golf. His role is navigating us to a place where we all think we should be.”

Rory McIlroy says competing against LIV Golf players at the upcoming BMW PGA Championship will be "hard for me to stomach".

On Sunday, McIlroy became the first player to win the FedEx Cup three times with victory in the Tour Championship and used the opportunity once again to be critical of LIV Golf’s actions.

"I hate what it's doing to the game of golf," McIlroy said.

"Look, it's been a tumultuous time for the world of men's professional golf in particular. I've been right in the middle of it. I've picked a great time to go on the PGA Tour board.

"But yeah, I've been in the thick of things. I guess every chance I get, I'm trying to defend what I feel is the best place to play elite professional golf in the world.

“I hate it. I really do. It's going to be hard for me to stomach going to Wentworth in a couple of weeks' time and seeing 18 of them there. That just doesn't sit right with me.

"So yeah, I feel strongly. I believe what I'm saying are the right things and I think when you believe that what you're saying is the right thing, you're happy to stick your neck out on the line."

MISS – STEFANO DOMENICALI

Formula One has gone through significant changes in recent years since Liberty Media acquired the company in 2016.

Out have gone the sexist Grid Girls, social media marketing has been ramped up and F1 partnered with the W Series last year, which runs female-only races around the world.

But F1 has itself remained the preserve of male motor racing drivers.

Only twice have women driven in F1, the most recent being Lella Lombardi in 1976 while Desiré Wilson raced for Tyrell in a non-championship race in 1981.

Since then, Giovanna Amati took part in an F1 race weekend, entering three qualifying sessions for Brabham in 1992 and Susie Wolff drove in the practice session for Williams in 2014, managing four laps before she encountered engine failure.

Former F1 chief Bernie Ecclestone did little to encourage more women into the sport, yet again adding to his list of gaffes.

When asked if he could envisage the return of a female driver to the grid, Ecclestone said: “I doubt it. If there was somebody that was capable they wouldn’t be taken seriously anyway, so they would never have a car that is capable of competing.”

Alpine think differently, launching an eight-year programme to increase the number of women in their Formula One team and help female drivers reach the top for the first time in half a century.

Alpine Chief executive Laurent Rossi told Reuters: “The intent is to debunk all of the myths that women can’t, because they’re not adapted, because they don’t have role models, because the jobs we offer are not for women.

"We want to make sure we give access to all of the jobs, all of the opportunities at Alpine, to women.

"By not having a more balanced representation of women in the workforce I basically deprive Alpine and myself of 50% of the talents out there ... I see it as I’m missing half of my team”.

The aim is to increase the percentage of women working for the company to 30% within five years from the current level of 12%.

Seven-time F1 Champion Lewis Hamilton has also urged the sport to do more to rectify the “no progression” problem.

The right choice of words is vital when communicating to your audiences, particularly for a global sport such as F1 which has done so much positive work to broaden its appeal beyond traditional petrol heads.

When undertaking message development and media training, we advise our clients to think about headlines. What is the angle that a journalist, perhaps under time constraints and looking to capture the imagination of their editor and audience, most likely to lead with?

At a press conference ahead of the Belgian Grand Prix, Stefano Domenicali, CEO of the Formula One Group, spoke positively about women drivers entering the sport.

He said: "We believe it's really crucial in this moment to try to give the maximum possibility to women to come to Formula One, and this something we're totally dedicated to.

"We're trying to understand how we can prepare the right pyramid also for the girls to come into the pyramid at the right age with the right car. This is the key point.”

But that encouragement was ruined by clumsily dismissing the prospects of women entering F1 imminently when he added: “Realistically speaking, I don’t see a girl in Formula One in the next five years unless something like a sort of meteorite comes into the earth. That is very unlikely.”

That sort of analogy undermined everything else that Domenicali said and predictably created global headlines.

Former World Champion and current Aston Martin driver Sebastian Vettel was quick to condemn Domenicali’s comments and the impact they may have on young women dreaming of entering the sport.

He said: "It was a very unlucky choice of words. I don't see a reason why we can't have a woman on the grid.

"It's statements like that which I guess women or girls are probably confronted with when they are growing up and sharing their dreams, sitting at breakfast saying I want to become a racing driver.

"And the father might just have read exactly statements like that and say: 'You do like other things, why not focus on other things?' Maybe they do focus on other things and drop racing or the idea.

"It is important we don't say these things because there are sparks everywhere. I encourage every girl to speak up and prove Stefano in this regard wrong, and all these people wrong who say certain things can't be done by you because you are a girl or woman.

"This type of stereotypical thinking is slowly disappearing but has to disappear completely."

Domenicali’s gaffe underlines the importance of always choosing your words carefully.

Even seasoned CEOs can make mistakes - but it is the mistakes that create the headlines, as Domicali has discovered this past week.