The Phantom of the Open

Last Sunday, 27-year-old Englishman Matt Fitzpatrick fulfilled a dream of winning his first major at the US Open, clinching the title in a thrilling finish.

The joy on his face was a sight to behold as he explained “it is something I have dreamed of since I was a little kid.”

Fitzpatrick’s achievement, however, could not disguise the deep rift that has emerged in elite golf at the moment between the PGA Tour and the Saudi-backed LIV Golf series.

In fact, it’s more serious than a rift and the buckets of money involved featuring mind-boggling sums are making the whole situation very messy. At present, no one can be fully sure how it will all pan out.

Northern Ireland’s Rory McIlroy, a strong defender of the PGA Tour, has called it a “sad” situation, referring to it as “the cloud that’s hanging over golf.”

With the British Open at St Andrews only three weeks away, it…