Cutting through the PR talk about “growing the game,” the consensus is that the PGA Tour/LIV merger (reported June 6) is all about money, regardless of the source. So if the money undermines moral supremacy, wouldn’t you accept it if Putin or Kim Jong Un offered you twice as much as the Saudis? It’s just business, right?
Golf star Brooks Koepka, winner of the 2023 PGA Championship, is on paid leave to rest and recuperate. How does that win compare to Tiger Woods’ 2008 US Open, where he played on a broken leg? Jay, at least there should not be an asterisk [Monahan, PGA Tour commissioner]? And then there’s the LPGA – conspicuously left out of this entire discussion.
When Nellie Korda played in two PGA/LPGA mixed events last year, the guys raved about the quality of her game. Last weekend, Rose Zhang’s performance in winning her first tournament as a professional was at least as convincing when she won the Victor Hovland Memorial on the same day. However, $3.6 million left Zhang pocketing $412,500.
Considering that Saudi women cannot marry without the permission of their male guardian, if you are truly interested in growing the game of golf, shouldn’t female players be part of that growth? How do your new partners view women in professional golf?
Jay, you are 100% correct about this: it’s all about the money. If the viewership drops and the money stops flowing, the best your new Saudi partners can do is cut oil production again, right? I am a golf addict and watching the nine on Sunday afternoons is a tradition in my house. But I don’t know – right now men’s professional golf looks as thin as an Arab oil barrel.
Clyde Beaugrand, Jacksonville
New tests won’t help the uninsured.
In a June 3 column, cancer care advocate Jerry Millard described a new potential blood test for early cancer detection in high-risk (over 50) patients, especially those without traditional screening methods for deadly cancers. The test is only available through the manufacturer and is expensive ($949) not yet recommended for testing. It is also not covered by insurance or Medicare.
A positive test indicates cancer and 40-45% of the area; A negative test does not rule out cancer, but it can take months of expensive testing to determine the presence or absence of cancer. Traditional screening tests like mammograms and colonoscopies should continue, and advocates have called on Congress to pass coverage.
Millard specifically failed to mention the Florida legislature’s politically motivated reluctance to expand Medicaid, as 40 other states have done. This provides much-needed health coverage to 800,000 low-income Floridians age 65 and younger. An additional 1.7 million could lose Medicaid access when the Covid measures expire. Florida ranks low for access and affordability with large numbers of the uninsured at high risk of health problems.
Because they are not covered, a potentially life-saving test is not available for everyone to use. We must demand that Florida expand Medicaid coverage.
Michael Miller, retired physician, Ponte Vedra Beach
‘Thought Police’ hard at work
I recently had dinner with a men’s group from church. Sitting next to me was a professor of medicine here at UF Health in Jacksonville. The doctor told me that if he was going to give a lecture to the students (medical residents), he would have to give the district 10 days notice and a full copy of the lecture, then it would be checked by GOP bureaucrats.
If a TV interview is to be given, the state requires five days’ notice and a list of questions to be asked. Again, the answers are provided by the state and Tallahassee cannot deviate from its answers. Clearly, free speech is simply not allowed in any Florida public school.
This is an example of the “thought police” described in the book “1984”. This doctor should be able to teach his resident students as his extensive experience allows him to do. Free speech is dying in Florida education.
Is Governor Ron DeSantis Intentionally Unconstitutional? If so…shame on him and his thought police.
Shelton Armor, Arlington
Two plus two is still four
Headlines and news articles have repeatedly reported on books being banned from public school libraries.
A point of contention is graphic sexuality, which often seems to focus on LGBTQ+ aspects. For that group to withhold this information from a wider audience on the grounds that censorship is harmful is discriminatory and anti-educational.
It’s amazing to me that a taxpayer-funded textbook on this subject can be included as part of public education. This emphasis is eroding other topics of a primary educational nature, which are in no way biased. Two plus two always equals four, regardless of who is teaching it. Also, it is universally accepted as a desirable qualification to be a contributing member of society.
If all boundaries are explored and no topic is off-limits – what’s next?
Aggressive progressive agendas are often academic and lack real-life consequences when taken literally. It’s easy to talk about anything but – unfortunately – it doesn’t do that.
Rob Richardson, Jacksonville Beach
Not everyone likes Disney.
In the June 3 edition of the Times-Union, Jim Turner, the head of Florida Tourism, was quoted as saying, “People love Disney.”
As a 19-year annual pass holder to Disney, Universal, Sea World, and Busch Gardens, I’ve seen the changes slowly happen at the theme parks over the years. I started phasing out annual passes in 2018 as the parks became less about LQBTQ+ ideology and the family experience. I dropped my last one, Sea World, in 2022. Gov. DeSantis had no influence on my decision in any way.
These parks can run however they want, but as the consumer I control how my dollars are spent. I don’t drink alcoholic beverages so I have no dog in the Bud Light fiasco. I choose not to shop at Target or Coles. Other stores will be added to my list as they continue to pour misogyny into our children’s faces.
Charles E. (Eddie) Brown, Jacksonville
Our taxes should not go to Texas, California
Florida taxpayers should not be funding immigrants coming to Texas to fly to California or Martha’s Vineyard on private jets. Immigrants recently taken to California – billed in Florida – should be declared illegal.
I hope California files charges for possible abduction. The Republican-controlled Legislature approved a $12 million budget for these migrant flights to generate headlines for Gov. Ron DeSantis’ presidential campaign.
As a Floridian, I don’t like my taxes being used to pay for problems in Texas and Arizona. It is true that the federal government is not accepting responsibility for border control, but Florida should not be spending our money. Use that $12 million to help homeowners facing rapidly rising and unaffordable insurance rates. My home owner insurance has doubled in the last two years. Use this money to help the citizens of Florida.
Doug Diamond, Jacksonville
All regions should provide financial support for the stadium Reno
Any deal reached on Jacksonville’s stadium renovation (as reported on June 7) must include funding from the four counties in Duval. As far as any NFL franchise can be considered, the Jaguars are a regional property.
Players and coaches buy homes in St. Johns County. Visiting fans stay in hotels in Nassau and St. Johns counties. Contributions should be proportionate, should reflect a specific population and economic impact.
Perhaps, in turn, each county could be described in a section of the concourse with a section designated for that county.
St. Johns County is the third wealthiest county in Florida, and when it comes to Jags, we’re like DTWD – “Duval ‘Til We Die” – like Jacksonville. This shouldn’t just be a Jacksonville challenge.
C.M.D. Dave Rogers, US Navy (retired), Ponte Vedra
Immigrant children do not leave the state.
Recently, refugees in Texas – apparently sponsored by Florida – were flown to California by private jet. Another “conservative” government sends them to a “liberal” state. And we certainly don’t seem to be “united” anymore, with all the grandeur of politics.
Is it surprising? Texas, Florida and other states have criminalized child labor. While working in the same states that send the National Guard to “guard” the border, migrant children are hired to clean slaughterhouses in the middle of the night, among other violations.
Is it strange? Yes. Hypocrisy? of course. despised? Absolutely. Accountability? No.
Gary Schuran, Middleburg