Nicklaus is
sued by own
company
Rick BroadbentJack Nicklaus had to be saved from him-
self as he tried to negotiate a personal
deal with Saudi golf chiefs, according to
a lawsuit filed by his own company.
The 18-times major winner recently
said that he was offered in excess of
$100 million (about £80 million) to be
the frontman for the Saudi-backed
breakaway tour that will start with the
LIV Golf Invitational Series at Centuri-
on Club near St Albans next month. He
said that he turned it down verbally and
in writing.
However, a complaint from Nicklaus
Companies against Nicklaus and GBI
Investors, filed on May 13 in the
Supreme Court of New York, accuses
the golf star of not meeting the terms of
a $145 million exclusivity agreement
struck in 2007. Nicklaus is accused of
breach of contract, tortious interfer-
ence and breach of fiduciary duty. The
suit alleges “a pattern of conduct to
divert commercial opportunities for his
own personal financial benefit” instead
of the company.
The lawsuit alleges that Nicklaus was
involved in scheduling a meeting with
the chairman and chief executive of
Golf Saudi “to promote a new golf
league backed by Golf Saudi which
would have been a direct rival to the
PGA Tour.”
It also claims that a deal would have
been improper without the company
being informed and could have resulted
in negative publicity, given that Nick-
laus is regarded as one of the founders
of the modern PGA Tour.
It states: “Fortunately for Nicklaus
Companies — and Mr Nicklaus — the
Company was eventually able to
convince Mr Nicklaus to stop exploring
a deal for the endorsement of the Saudi-
backed league. The company essential-
ly saved Mr Nicklaus from himself.”
Nicklaus issued a statement to Sports
Illustrated, saying: “The claims made by
Howard Milstein [the executive
chairman of Nicklaus Companies] are
untrue. Our relationship has been a
difficult one, at best.”creek would suggest so, but we will
never know.
Given the sour ending, Pereira
deserves credit for fronting up to the
media. Not all players do that in the
face of adversity. Tiger Woods didn’t
after his third round. Nor did McIlroy
on Saturday or Sunday. In fairness,
McIlroy is normally one of the most
thoughtful players when it comes to
press duties, but his snub served to
highlight his own frustration and
Pereira’s good grace.tiger woods
Nobody yet knows whether Woods
can make the sort of physical progress
that will make the hard work worth it,
even if it was an achievement to make
two cuts, here and at the Masters, in
his first competitive outings after 16
months out. He has shown he is good
for two back-to-back rounds at
present but no more. He was 12 over
par for the weekend at Augusta and
was nine over for his third round in
Tulsa, whereupon he pulled out.the english
It is more than a century since there
was an English winner at the US PGA
Championship, but Matt Fitzpatrick
and Tommy Fleetwood finished joint
fifth and both will hope that proves a
significant staging post.
Fitzpatrick had his best finish at a
major, but having started in the final
group it was laced with
disappointment. He is more likely
than anyone to learn lessons from
this, though, as he makes a note of
every single shot he plays and adds it
to the database he has kept since he
was a teenager. Longer off the tee
these days than of old, his cross-
handed chipping grip has improved
his consistency too. It will be
intriguing to see if he contends more
often at the majors.
Still, he knows Mito Pereira will
have felt worse after squandering a
one-stroke lead down the last. “We
got talking down the second and Mito
is a lovely, down-to-earth kid,”
Fitzpatrick said. “When that happens
it’s tough to take — he finishes with a
par and he’s won the US PGA. You
definitely feel for him but I’m sure
he’ll have many chances again.”
Fleetwood has had a miserable time
of late, losing his PGA Tour card and
not contending at the majors since his
runner-up finish at the 2019 Open.
“It’s difficult because you’re not
performing how you want and your
game isn’t even close to being able to
PGA. Wisely, it reconsidered and so
that will happen this week instead.
Most of the bigger names hoping to
play at Centurion Club near St Albans
had bad tournaments. Lee Westwood,
Sergio García, Ian Poulter and Martin
Kaymer failed to make the cut. The
highest-ranked player bound for the
Saudi breakaway, Louis Oosthuizen,
did and finished joint 60th. The
rebels’ display was scarcely a
tremendous advert for the new series.
The good news for Norman is the
league continues to be a source of
discussion in the locker room and
beyond. On Friday Jon Rahm walked
past García’s group on the course and
playfully mimed counting out money.mito pereira
The Chilean may be haunted by that
drive on the 72nd hole for the rest of
his career. The 18th is a tough hole
but a par would have been enough,
so was it a mistake to take the driver
rather than plot a theoretically safer
route? The splash landing in theThomas and his dad Mike, left, who is also his coach, get their hands on the trophySport
Green shoots for
England but blow
for Saudi rebels
compete at the highest level,” he said.
“I don’t want to be as mediocre as I
have been.”justin thomas
The American was a worthy winner
even if he was responsible for one of
the worst shots of the tournament on
the treacherous 6th at Southern Hills.
“Not many guys win a PGA
Championship shanking a shot,” he
said. “It was the best bogey I’ve ever
made.” This was Thomas’s second
major victory, at the age of 29, and his
seventh top-ten finish. To compare,
Rory McIlroy has four wins and 25
top tens. McIlroy cops an inordinate
amount of flak but this stuff is hard.
Thomas said two exchanges with
wily old veterans helped him to his
second US PGA title. The first was a
heated one with his dad, Mike, who
doubles as his coach. “I have to
remind him sometimes, ‘You’re not
my dad out here, you’re my swing
coach. I’m here to win a golf
tournament, so do your job.’ ”
Enter his caddie, Jim “Bones”
Mackay, and a heart-to-heart on the
range. “I wouldn’t be standing here if
he didn’t give me that talk,” Thomas
said. “He was like, ‘Dude, you’ve got
to stop being so hard on yourself. It’s
a hard course. It’s a major. You don’t
have to be perfect.’ ”greg norman
It has been a tough fortnight for the
boss of the Saudi-backed LIV Golf
Invitational Series. There was his now
infamous “we all make mistakes”
remark in reference to the murder of
Jamal Khashoggi, and then came the
departure of his highly regarded
commercial chief, Sean Bratches. His
own position is also in doubt. Initially,
LIV Golf planned to announce names
for its opening event during the USAs the dust settles on
the US PGA finale,
Rick Broadbent picks
out his winners and
losers in Oklahoma
SUE OGROCKI/APthe times | Tuesday May 24 2022 53