Virginie Phulpin 7:25 a.m., June 30, 2022

Every day, the morning of Europe 1 returns to one of the sporting events which makes the news.

This Thursday, Virginie Phulpin is interested in the aberrations with great fanfare of petrodollars in the world of golf.

A new golf circuit has emerged, the LIV Tour.

The second leg begins today in Portland, USA.

This circuit is a creation of Saudi Arabia.

We knew the aberrations of football with great reinforcements of petrodollars.

Now the hushed world of golf is getting into it.

We expected less. 

Before, when we thought of the color green in golf, we saw before our eyes magnificent greens on which the clubs of gentlemen attached to traditions swung.

From now on, green is rather the color of the banknotes that Saudi Arabia distributes like hot cakes to seize power by crushing the others in the process.

Do you know soft power?

The use of sport by countries that want to polish their image while diversifying their sources of income.

The Gulf countries are masters in this area.

And Saudi Arabia, slower than Qatar at the start, has put an impressive boost in recent years.

Come on, a Formula 1 grand prix, the Dakar, the takeover of the English football club Newcastle, and now the LIV Tour, therefore.

It created this golf circuit from scratch to compete directly with the PGA, the historic circuit.

And the Saudis have not done in the lace.

It's not the greens they water, it's the golfers.

Inevitably, when you offer Phil Mickelson, one of the big names in golf, the trifle of 200 million dollars so that he can participate in the 2nd stage of your glitzy tour in Portland, you suffer very few refusals.

Mickelson is not alone, many top 100 golfers have followed.

They are attached to traditions, but it depends on how much you give for them to trample them.

I'm ironic, but it's hard to blame them.

How can you say no to such sums?

The problem is that it can be offered to them, that a circuit be created on the sole basis of petrodollars.

historic route.

And the Saudis have not done in the lace.

It's not the greens they water, it's the golfers.

Inevitably, when you offer Phil Mickelson, one of the big names in golf, the trifle of 200 million dollars so that he can participate in the 2nd stage of your glitzy tour in Portland, you suffer very few refusals.

Mickelson is not alone, many top 100 golfers have followed.

They are attached to traditions, but it depends on how much you give for them to trample them.

I'm ironic, but it's hard to blame them.

How can you say no to such sums?

The problem is that it can be offered to them, that a circuit be created on the sole basis of petrodollars.

historic route.

And the Saudis have not done in the lace.

It's not the greens they water, it's the golfers.

Inevitably, when you offer Phil Mickelson, one of the big names in golf, the trifle of 200 million dollars so that he can participate in the 2nd stage of your glitzy tour in Portland, you suffer very few refusals.

Mickelson is not alone, many top 100 golfers have followed.

They are attached to traditions, but it depends on how much you give for them to trample them.

I'm ironic, but it's hard to blame them.

How can you say no to such sums?

The problem is that it can be offered to them, that a circuit be created on the sole basis of petrodollars.

It's not the greens they water, it's the golfers.

Inevitably, when you offer Phil Mickelson, one of the big names in golf, the trifle of 200 million dollars so that he can participate in the 2nd stage of your glitzy tour in Portland, you suffer very few refusals.

Mickelson is not alone, many top 100 golfers have followed.

They are attached to traditions, but it depends on how much you give for them to trample them.

I'm ironic, but it's hard to blame them.

How can you say no to such sums?

The problem is that it can be offered to them, that a circuit be created on the sole basis of petrodollars.

It's not the greens they water, it's the golfers.

Inevitably, when you offer Phil Mickelson, one of the big names in golf, the trifle of 200 million dollars so that he can participate in the 2nd stage of your glitzy tour in Portland, you suffer very few refusals.

Mickelson is not alone, many top 100 golfers have followed.

They are attached to traditions, but it depends on how much you give for them to trample them.

I'm ironic, but it's hard to blame them.

How can you say no to such sums?

The problem is that it can be offered to them, that a circuit be created on the sole basis of petrodollars.

the trifle of 200 million dollars for him to participate in the 2nd stage of your glitzy tour in Portland, you receive very few refusals.

Mickelson is not alone, many top 100 golfers have followed.

They are attached to traditions, but it depends on how much you give for them to trample them.

I'm ironic, but it's hard to blame them.

How can you say no to such sums?

The problem is that it can be offered to them, that a circuit be created on the sole basis of petrodollars.

the trifle of 200 million dollars for him to participate in the 2nd stage of your glitzy tour in Portland, you receive very few refusals.

Mickelson is not alone, many top 100 golfers have followed.

They are attached to traditions, but it depends on how much you give for them to trample them.

I'm ironic, but it's hard to blame them.

How can you say no to such sums?

The problem is that it can be offered to them, that a circuit be created on the sole basis of petrodollars.

but it's hard to blame them.

How can you say no to such sums?

The problem is that it can be offered to them, that a circuit be created on the sole basis of petrodollars.

but it's hard to blame them.

How can you say no to such sums?

The problem is that it can be offered to them, that a circuit be created on the sole basis of petrodollars. 

And that creates a deleterious atmosphere in world golf.

There are bird names flying around, golfers who have been sensitive to the lure of profit are called traitors.

The PGA, the American tour, has even excluded the culprits from its circuit.

The European circuit has also taken sanctions, fines and a ban on participating in certain events.

As much as we are used to football for example, these settling of scores between enemies, we had an example with the inventors of the Superleague and UEFA.

But in golf, it's less common, this kind of atmosphere.

That said, this much maligned LIV Tour can also bring good surprises.

The European and American circuits unite against the enemy.

Yesterday they signed a new partnership until 2035. They collaborate, they invent bridges between Europe and the United States so that the tournaments are more attractive.