Lynch: Normalizing the abnormal is happening on both sides of the gate at the Open

USA Today

7 days ago

PORTRUSH, Northern Ireland — The concept of 'normalization' wasn't invented in Northern Ireland but it was perfected here. From the 1970s, the British government worked tirelessly to present the image of an otherwise ordinary society being wrecked by mindless terrorists, conveniently positioning itself as a defender of norms instead of an active belligerent in a conflict that killed 3,500 people. Almost three decades after the Good Friday accord largely ended the violence, normalizing the abnormal continues, inside and outside the gate of Royal Portrush, where the 153rd Open is taking place.
The R&A altered third-round tee times and logistics because the town of Portrush is hosting a band parade by pro-British Protestant loyalists that will begin as spectators are leaving the course Saturday evening. The Open was announced four years ago, so the parade's scheduling isn't accidental. Nor was there a debate about which one would give way when a major sports event with a global audience clashed with a parochial, coat-trailing parade. After all, this is a place where the government census asked those who identified as atheist to declare their family's historic religious affiliation, literally demanding to know if one is a Protestant or Catholic atheist.
Loyalist parades are a staple of Northern Irish summers. The intent is to claim ownership of the street. Most are organized by the Orange Order, a fraternal group founded to maintain Protestant supremacy. They're frequently controversial and have often sparked violence when the Order insisted on marching through predominantly Catholic neighborhoods. Enormous bonfires are another feature of the festivities, and last week two drew widespread condemnation. One was built close to an electricity substation that powers Belfast's two main hospitals, another was topped with an effigy of migrants in a raft — a brazen example of the far-right racism that underpins much of loyalist sentiment. Organizers rejected calls to remove either and the government sat idle. Naked bigotry normalized as an expression of culture.
The R&A's chief executive, Mark Darbon, was diplomatic when asked about the need to accommodate a loyalist parade during the Open: 'We are a guest in the community in which we operate,' he said, revealing that the R&A contributed to the cost of trying to ensure both events happen seamlessly. 'Security and the safety of your guests and the experience of your guests is always a prime consideration. This is no different,' he added.
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The parade organizers, the Portrush Sons of Ulster, informed followers on social media that 'we don't have as much control of the town as we usually would … We hope everyone understands what we're up against.'
Uninitiated visitors in town for the Open — and some unaligned locals — will view the parade as a source of entertainment or amusement, jaunty flute music performed by ruddy-faced men gussied up in sashes and costumes, the entire spectacle suggesting a prank pageant for guys who'd struggle to get a dog to bark at them on dating apps.
The Open largely exists outside of this binary guff that defines so much of life in Northern Ireland. It's unifying, a cause for celebration among people who for too long had more cause to commiserate. But even the Open is becoming a platform for normalizing the deplorable. The R&A deals with the Sons of Ulster by necessity. It deals with the Saudis by choice.
LIV Golf has a hospitality location directly across the street from the Royal Portrush clubhouse, but then the R&A's writ doesn't extend beyond the perimeter of the course. It does, however, have control over what happens inside. Qiddiah, the entertainment mega project under construction in Saudi Arabia, has a hospitality presence on site and one of its representatives will be playing Royal Portrush on Monday as a guest of the R&A. Qiddiah is bankrolled by the Public Investment Fund and overseen by Yasir Al-Rumayyan, LIV's founding benefactor. Graeme McDowell, a popular native of Portrush, is working here as a commentator on the world feed for Sky Sports while wearing his LIV team apparel and regularly name-checking his employer. He was hired by IMG, which has deep business ties to the R&A.
Coincidences? Possibly. Or perhaps the R&A is eager to position itself as more ally than antagonist to the Saudis. The process of normalizing the Kingdom's ambitions in golf began two years ago during the Open at Royal Liverpool, when Darbon's predecessor, Martin Slumbers, lamented the cash arms race in one breath while in the next attempting to cut to the head of the line for handouts.
'We have a number of large corporate partners that help us make this thing happen,' he said when asked if the R&A would accept a Saudi partnership in some form. 'The world of sport has changed dramatically in the last 12 months, and it is not feasible for the R&A or golf to just ignore what is a societal change on a global basis. We will be considering within all the parameters that we look at all the options that we have.'
As of now, there exists no formal commercial relationship between the R&A and the Saudis, but if we're debating which parties on the board of the Official World Golf Ranking are compromised when it comes to deciding on LIV's application for recognition, there's circumstantial reason for concern about the R&A as much as the PGA Tour.
The R&A is trying to be subtle, but that seldom works with the Saudis, and never in Northern Ireland.