Sure looks like the PGA Tour and the LIV Golf Tour are in for a long battle. As you know the PGA Tour is not allowing its members to play in the LIV golf events and has already suspended 17 well-known golfers (among them AT&T Pro-Am favorites Phil Mickelson and Dustin Johnson) from its ranks. Some of those who chose the play in the LIV tour played in the US Open at The Country Club in Brookline, Massachusetts.
How can those PGA suspended players play in the 2022 US Open, you ask? Well, the US Open is run by the USGA (United States Golf Association) which has not suspended those players who played or will play on the LIV Tour.
Speaking of LIV – what do those letters mean? First off, the LIV is a Saudi Arabian-funded golf tour and is an adversary to the PGA Golf Tour. The LIV (Roman numerals) translates to the number 54 which represents the number of holes golfers will be playing. Before you go to your calculators – 54 equals three times the number of holes played in a normal round of golf (18). We direct you to Google or other means for a complete explanation of what LIV is attempting. Obviously, the money awarded is paramount.
Should the PGA decide to allow those 17 (and perhaps others) to play in their tournaments as well as in the LIV tournaments? There are many concerns. Here are just a few. Surely you will find others.
- Camaraderie. While the PGA players are highly competitive, they have a gentlemanly manner about them. A manner that would be prudent for all professional players to adopt. The operative word is professional and while there may be an occasional rift, golfers love competing and welcome others who feel the same. Will that “run-for-the-LIV money” change all that?
- Family. If golfers are allowed to play in all tournaments, what challenges will that present in their home life? How much money do golfers need to maintain a congenial family? Will money become a conflict?
- Burnout. Golfers practice much more than they play rounds of golf. Golfers love to “hit balls.” Will the challenges of both PGA and LIV burden the family structure?
Will you support golfers playing in both the PGA and LIV tournaments?
The numbers continue to show that people, especially millennials, are interested in home ownership. Despite higher home prices and higher rates, loan applications are still strong for home purchase loans. While refinances are significantly off year over year due to higher rates, purchase applications are down only about 10%. That is a far cry from what some would have you believe on social media and the TV “experts”.
Home prices are up on average 14.8% from this time last year, which is down but that is still significantly higher than the 5% or so rate experts were predicting. Despite all the claims of a housing bubble and higher foreclosures, we are at a 40 year low in actual units foreclosed upon. None of this is surprising if you just look at the markets and see that available home inventories of supply is down 4% year over year and we haven’t even addressed rent increases and the lack of new housing units coming close to meeting demand.
The bond market has improved a bit over the last few days and with strong demand for the 20-year bonds, we might be seeing some stability forming in this range. I’m not saying we won’t see future higher rates, and I’m also not saying we are heading back to 3% either, I am just sharing with you that we have had some positive news in the bond market, something we haven’t seen in a while.
Lots more to see and do before we call ourselves “back to normal” for sure, but having some positive news is certainly welcome. Hopefully we continue to improve, or at the very least, stay in this range for a while because the volatility has been a real challenge to deal with.
Next month we have another Fed meeting, jobs report, and second quarter inflation data to deal with, so keep your eyes open and if you like it, lock it!
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