Sir Nick Faldo issues scathing statement against Elon Musk's X, set to remove his account soon
Sir Nick Faldo, the legendary English golfer, will not be found on X anymore. His business and brand accounts will remain on the site, but his personal account is being removed. He is no longer a fan of the content on the site that Elon Musk has taken over and is stepping away from it entirely.
He offered up a letter to his friends and followers detailing his decision. He said:
"While we appreciate the free speech forum that the brilliant Elon Musk has encouraged and developed, we feel the growing number of posts with overly explicit content, including violent images, disturbing videos, and aggressive language is not of interest to us or healthy for anyone to experience."
Musk and X's decision to allow people whose accounts are public to be viewable by anyone, regardless of following status or even whether or not they're blocked, also played a role in Faldo's decision.
The legendary golfer said his personal accounts would remain on LinkedIn, TikTok, Facebook, and Instagram. X notably does not and has not ever had strict content restrictions. Posts on X can be explicit in all manner of the word which is unlike most other social media outlets. As a result, Faldo has seen enough and is moving on.
Sir Nick Faldo implores PGA Tour stars to help bridge the gap
The gap in modern golf is now just that, a gap. It was once a glaring chasm, but it has shrunk in recent months thanks to the continued work on the PIF x PGA Tour merger. It hasn't disappeared yet, though, and Nick Faldo believes it's up to PGA players to see it through and bring fans back.
He said via Bunkered:
“The pro game has had a bit of a walloping with what happened with the split and players divided. Many of us just played for the trophies, and now it has changed quite dramatically. The public hasn’t welcomed that, and we see that TV numbers as much as 20% down."
He said that golf is hard to "oversell." It's one thing for those who play but another thing entirely for those on the outside looking in. They can expect something "completely different," he felt.
Sir Nick Faldo added:
“I think they’ve got to develop more characters, somehow. Take the Formula One model. That’s what I would do. I did recommend that years ago. The drivers have to talk, interviews are mandatory, even though you’re just about to get in the car and you could kill yourself at the first corner."
He finished by saying that PGA Tour pros need to sell themselves and have fun in order to attract more fans and viewership. Those things are also expected to improve once the merger is complete and the future is less murky.