Sport
LIV Golf mocks PGA Tour revamp despite ‘hilariously bad’ viewing figures
The golf civil war continues to rage on and it seems pretty clear who's winning for now.
Controversial breakaway tournament LIV Golf has taken aim at its long-standing forefather, the PGA Tour, following proposals for a revamp in the competition.
The PGA announced it will be restructuring its overall tour circuit with a number of changes to try and improve the competition earlier this week, including smaller, limited fields and no more 36-hole cuts, which typically sees only those above the threshold able to qualify and progress in tournaments.
While the changes are not wholesale (only affecting eight leading events outside of the majors) and yet to be fully approved and implemented, Commissioner Jay Monahan insists that the revamp will “deliver substantial, can’t-miss tournaments for the fans” from the 2024 season onwards.
Following the news, rival league LIV Golf wasted no time in having a dig at the proposed changes by suggesting that they were trying to copy the same format that has drawn so many players to join the highly lucrative league.
For anyone still unaware, LIV has ruffled feathers in the golf and sporting world at large, not only because it challenged a much-loved institution that has stood for over 100 years, but as a result of the Saudi Arabian investment behind it.
Like the recent acquisition of Newcastle United using the country’s Public Investment Fund (PIF), LIV Golf is primarily backed by state wealth and has been criticised as yet another instance of ‘sportwashing’ seeping its way into various different disciplines.
While the organisers boast both shorter tournaments and bigger pay-checks — aspects that are said to attract more players and potential new viewers — many are still deeply concerned by the problematic the Arabian Gulf’s growing relationship with sport as a whole.
However, it would seem that those projected viewings figures simply haven’t translated, as the debut season on US network CW averaged less than 300,000 viewers, i.e. a whole 85% less than the PGA Honda Classic. Yikes. The stats have been labelled everything from “embarrassing” to simply “hilarious”.
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So while the people behind LIV Golf clearly have plenty to say, it looks like they’re struggling to back up all the talk and have only fuelled the PGA Tour to keep modernising and further cement its supremacy.
Moreover, much like the protests against the Qatar 2022 World Cup, many still feel more assurances need to be made surrounding the financing of LIV, Newcastle and other projects funded by the PIF within sport and further afield.
The Times reported on Wednesday that a fresh push for an investigation into the Premier League club’s takeover is now being lobbied following LIV’s own ongoing ‘antitrust’ court case after several players filed lawsuits against the PGA.
For those who have remained loyal to the Tour like Northern Ireland’s Rory McIlroy, players are said to “love” the proposed changes and while LIV are busy sharing Instagram posts trying to remind people where to watch, most golf lovers are simply sticking with what they know.
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Featured Image — LIV Golf/PGA Tour (via Instagram)
Sport
Manchester City loanee João Cancelo looks ‘possessed’ in viral post-match interview
Danny Jones
Manchester City loanee João Cancelo has gone viral after countless people online said that he looked “possessed” in a post-match interview over the weekend.
The 29-year-old City star, currently on loan at Barcelona, scored the winner for the Spanish giants in their game against Celta Vigo on Saturday, 23 September.
has already grabbed a couple of goals and an assist this season — one of them being the third in Barca’s 3-2 victory, which came in the 89th minute of the game.
So, naturally, Spanish media wanted to chat with him after full-time and we’d pay good money to know how this particular interviewer reacted after Cancelo suddenly started pulling these extremely weird faces mid-chat:
What the hell is going on? We have no idea but it’s certainly amused and intrigued people online.
With many commenting that he looks as though he’s suddenly become “possessed” by some sort of supernatural force and others joking that he must have just “come straight from a rave” to play a quick 90 minutes, people have been genuinely scratching their heads at the bizarre clip.
The video has been viewed over 12 million times on TikTok and reshared by countless other users across various different social media platforms.
Maybe he just had really dry eyes and an even drier mouth? Either that or he was still riding an absolute adrenaline high from this moment:
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The ever-dynamic fullback, who regularly floats between the wing and central midfielder, arrived at the Bernabéu this summer after spending half a season on loan at Bayern Munich.
Despite being arguably one of the best players in the Premier League and winning plenty of silverware under Pep Guardiola, the two seemingly fell out sometime last season and Cancelo was ultimately sidelined by the Catalan coach sidelined.
Now playing at Pep’s boyhood club and enjoying regular minutes thus far (after also being out of the Bayern squad earlier this year), it remains to be seen whether the two will mend fences and the Portuguese star will return to the Etihad at some point in the future.
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Featured Image — La Liga/@bernataf (via TikTok)
Sport
Marcus Rashford gives update after car crash on way home from Manchester United training ground
Emily Sergeant
Marcus Rashford has given a health update after getting into a car crash on his way home from Manchester United’s training ground.
After the Red Devils managed to secure a 1-0 away win over the fellow North West side Burnley in a Premier League clash on Saturday, thanks to a goal in the 45th minute by Portuguese attacker Bruno Fernandes, the players then left for Manchester and made their way back on the team bus to the club’s training facility.
But once the team had arrived at Carrington, and then all departed to make their separate ways home, Marcus Rashford was confirmed to have been involved in a road traffic collision with another vehicle.
According to reports in The Sun newspaper, the Wythenshawe-born winger had just left Carrington in his Rolls Royce – which is believed to be a market value of £700,000 – when the incident happened.
It’s believed some damage was sustained to the luxury vehicle.
Pictures and footage – which showed the extent of the crash damage – began emerging online following the incident, but it’s understood that no ambulance was required at the scene, and the 25-year-old walked away “unhurt”, Sky News reports.
Now, the 25-year-old footballer has now spoken out for the first time on social media following the incident.
Breaking his silence after the horrific crash on Instagram, Rashford assured fans he was okay with the short-but- simple message: “3 points on the road! I’m alright guys, thanks for the messages.”
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Although no confirmation on team selection has been revealed, with Rashford having sustained no injuries during the collision, many fans are expecting him to still be in the lineup when Manchester United face Crystal Palace in the Carabao Cup tomorrow (26 September).
Featured Image – Manchester United
