Ken Borland

After a bitter, confrontational year, there are many in international golf who just wish the whole LIV Golf affair and the resulting civil war would be resolved and the game could go back to the way it was.

Even Rory McIlroy, probably the most vocal supporter of the establishment tours, this week admitted that the whole feud has “gotten way out of control” and some sort of truce and lasting peace needs to be found.

LIV Golf holds their season finale this weekend with their Team Championship at Donald Trump’s National Doral. The purse is believed to be a staggering $50 million and it will surprise no-one that Trump has come out and praised the Saudi Arabian backers of the event and their big-money disruption of the status quo.

Back here in South Africa, as we prepare to go into the high-season of summer golf and the big co-sanctioned events, there is some good news. Golfers such as Louis Oosthuizen, Charl Schwartzel and Branden Grace, who have always been favourites of local fans, will be on the fairways competing for some of the big prizes in the major tournaments despite having joined the LIV circus.

Schwartzel and Grace will be joining the likes of Dylan Frittelli, Oliver Bekker, Dean Burmester, Thriston Lawrence, Danie van Tonder, Erik van Rooyen and even the little-known MJ Daffue, the Pretoria product who has earned his PGA Tour card and led this year’s U.S. Open at the halfway stage, at the South African Open from December 1-4.

Christiaan Bezuidenhout is also hopefully going to play one or two events.

Oosthuizen is going to play in the Alfred Dunhill Championship at Leopard Creek from December 8-11, but will miss the SA Open because he is going to be in the U.S. for his children’s first week of the new school year.

At the moment, none of the LIV defectors will be going to Sun City to play in the Nedbank Golf Challenge though, because that is a DP World Tour event, part of their season-ending series, the invitations based on their order of merit rankings. The DP World Tour’s attempt to prevent LIV golfers from playing in any of their events was blocked by a UK court though, with a final ruling expected in February.

Although events like the SA Open and Alfred Dunhill Championship are co-sanctioned with the DP World Tour, they are played under the auspices of the Sunshine Tour and they are not going to turn away such drawcards as Oosthuizen, Grace and Schwartzel.

The Sunshine Tour is also going all out to ensure those who have never been drawn to golf as a spectator sport have plenty of reasons to come to these tournaments, especially the SA Open, which is being played at Blair Atholl Estate for the first time.

Sunshine Tour commissioner Thomas Abt explains that “We want to create an exciting and fun event, not just for the hardcore golf fans but for their partners and children too”.

“We will be showcasing the best of South African golf, but what else is there that attracts people? We have a strong vision of fan involvement, so there will be exciting fan parks.

“We want to create a real sense of occasion, we have some interesting options there, plus on every day, we will have three spectators putting for cash – R10 000 on the first three days and R100 000 on the final day. And it’s all at a spectacular destination,” Abt says.

Hopefully the golf family will be reunited in South Africa this festive season. At the end of the day, surely the game, its rich traditions and history, are worth more than a few making many millions of dollars?

After all, professional golfers always tell you it’s not the size of the paycheque but the prestige of the title that really matters. Or has LIV Golf brought us to the end of such idyllic notions?

It’s been an absolute age since Munster made such a poor start to their season, but the Bulls also produced their worst performance in a long time last weekend, so their United Rugby Championship clash at Thomond Park on Saturday night is going to be a tense affair.

Munster are currently a lowly 12^th in the URC standings, having lost three of their four games. They have never finished outside the top-10 of the competition in all its previous guises.

The Bulls were hammered 35-21 by Glasgow Warriors last weekend, their first loss this season.

“Munster have not had the best start,” Bulls backline coach Chris Rossouw acknowledged on Tuesday, “but they still have very good players. Plus their Ireland A players will be back from South Africa.

“They have a very good record in Limerick and halfbacks Conor Murray and Ben Healy control the game very well.

“Damian de Allende is a big departure, he is sorely missed by them, you can see that already. But they play the same way as last year with a strong forward pack,” Rossouw said.

The Bulls have also obviously not been at their best, but may well be boosted by the international-class services of flyhalf Johan Goosen and wing Sbu Nkosi this weekend.

Rossouw spoke of the need for them to be able to adapt better to setbacks in the heat of the moment, which is not always easy to do for a young side.

“It was obviously a big disappointment against Glasgow, but if you’re off your game then you will obviously get big points against you, like in Super Rugby. We did not get things right and got a big hiding,” Rossouw said.

“What was frustrating was that we just could not convert. Our maul got disrupted and, although we’re not meant to say it, probably illegally. They also attacked us at the breakdown.

“We’ve cleared up some issues with the referee and we need to do things differently in the maul and sharpen up at the rucks. You can’t have that many opportunities and not convert.

“In the heat of the moment, you need that ability to adapt and make plans. We try and incorporate that into our training, constantly trying to find a different way and how to vary our play,” Rossouw said.

The Central Gauteng Lions will be bringing a top-class bowling attack to their opening CSA 4-Day Series match versus the North-West Dragons on Friday and have promised a typically lively Wanderers pitch to add to what is bound to be a spicy affair against their former franchise team-mates.

History suggests Duanne Olivier, who has taken 13 wickets at an average of 14 in his two Tests at the Wanderers, will be a handful as he leads an attack that will also include Lutho Sipamla, Sisanda Magala and Malusi Siboto, providing a daunting test of technique and nerve for the North-West batsmen.

“I expect a very intense match against North-West,” Lions coach Wandile Gwavu told The Citizen on Thursday, “because there are some deep relationships between players who spent years and years in the same side, so there will be some emotion.

“But the most important thing is for us to concentrate on our skills, because that’s what will be tested. We’re not going to hide it, we’re not going to make it easy for the opposition at the Wanderers.

“We’ve only lost one four-day game here in the last two seasons, so it goes without saying that we have played some really good cricket here. Other teams can’t just come here and expect to get a result,” Gwavu said.

Lions captain Dominic Hendricks echoed his coach in saying batting is going to be hard work.

“I imagine it’s going to be tough for batsmen, with the overhead conditions and a pretty seam-friendly pitch. So if you get in, you have to make sure you cash in.

“It’s going to be a bit weird playing against some of our former team-mates. They’re obviously guys who are disappointed not to be playing for us, so they’ll have a couple of points to prove. I think a new rivalry might be building, much like the one we have with the Titans,” Hendricks said.

Speaking of the Titans, it is their batting that will also be the focus when they host the Eastern Province Warriors at Centurion.

Although they made the final last season, they are without the three batsmen who had the highest average last season – Aiden Markram, injured Dean Elgar and Heinrich Klaasen.

Nevertheless, they can bat deep with all-rounders Dayyaan Galiem, Simon Harmer and Chris Morris all named in the Northerns squad on Thursday.

The other Division I matches tomorrow see Western Province hosting KZN Coastal and Boland Rocks visiting the Free State Knights.

The frustration of red cards ruining thrilling rugby matches was once again to the fore as the British and Irish Lions hammered the Sharks 71-31 at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday night, the match turning into a one-sided affair after Sharks scrumhalf Jaden Hendrikse was sent off for a moment of madness.

The Sharks had produced a ferocious response to their drubbing in midweek in their first meeting with the Lions, and at 26-26 after a dazzling first half, the stage was set for a marvellous second half.

But then five minutes after the break, Hendrikse, who is generally an infuriatingly niggly scrumhalf to play against, crossed the line by hitting a Lions player on the back of the head with his elbow. Referee Wayne Barnes quite rightly red-carded him and that was the end of the contest.

The Sharks, so valiant and determined in the first 40 minutes, had the stuffing knocked out of them as the Lions roared their way to seven more tries in the second half. Hooker Jamie George, flank Tadhg Beirne and wing Anthony Watson, who showed why everyone in the UK raves about him, all came away with braces.

In the first half, the Sharks had rebounded from their mauling in midweek with a superb display of scrambling defence and they were extremely stingy with the amount of space and time they gave the Lions. The tourists, under such determined pressure, showed that they are human as well and the mistakes came.

Wings Anthony Volmink, who scored twice, and Thaakir Abrahams showed their ace finishing skills, while Hendrikse scored a fine intercept try inI the 24^th minute and lock Reniel Hugo charged down a kick for outside centre Werner Kok, who again played with great fervour, to score.

The loose trio of Phepsi Buthelezi, Celimpilo Gumede and Dylan Richardson were outstanding for the Sharks.

The second half promised so much but true rugby fans will have hated the mismatch it became. On the bright side, the Sharks showed in the first half that the dominance of the Lions and the shackles they impose can be broken.

Scorers

Sharks – Tries: Anthony Volmink (2), Thaakir Abrahams, Jaden Hendrikse, Werner Kok. Conversions: Lionel Cronje (3).

British & Irish Lions – Tries: Chris Harris, Jamie George (2), Duhan van der Merwe, Tadhg Beirne (2), Jack Conan, Elliot Daly, Anthony Watson (2), Tom Curry. Conversions: Dan Biggar (8).