Is the LIV tour good for golf?

Since its creation in 1929, the Professional Golf Association (PGA) Tour has gone unchallenged as the primary stage for professional golf. While there are multiple different tours under the PGA umbrella, the organization itself has held a monopoly over the golf world for nearly a century, and seemingly always would—until now. The controversial, Saudi-backed LIV (Roman numerals for fifty-four) Golf Tour played its first tournament on Jun. 9, 2022. The tournament was held in Hertfordshire, England and officially brought about a legitimate competition to contend with the long-standing PGA. However, with many of the globally ranked, top-100 players in golf already having signed up for and competed in this new upstart, things are becoming more unclear. Is the PGA outdated and thus vulnerable enough to be overtaken by this exciting new tour?

One of the main selling points for players offered spots on the LIV tour are the astronomically large signing bonuses— there is no question that the tour has money to burn. Phil Mickelson, a three-time Masters winner and former PGA tour member, was paid over $200 million dollars just to play. Dustin Johnson, the 22nd ranked golfer in the world, was paid over $150 million. Several other notable former PGA names including Bryson DeChambeau, Sergio Garcia, Patrick Reed, and Kevin Na have been paid previously unheard of amounts to play golf. In a time where professional athletes are earning staggeringly large amounts of money to play their respective sport, these numbers may not seem so out of the ordinary.

Golfers, however, have not benefited from this culture in the same way other sports have—this summer, LeBron James signed a two-year, $97 million dollar extension. Over the course of his twenty six year career, Tiger Woods has earned just over $120 million. For golfers who are far less accomplished than Woods, one of the most legendary players of all time, earning this kind of money is shocking and impossible to turn down.

Currently, the PGA is attempting to defend itself by taking a firm stance against the LIV tour, going so far as to suspend the memberships and eligibility of any players who join the rival tour. This has raised some questions regarding the future eligibility of these players to compete in major PGA tournaments: should the PGA stop some of its biggest stars from competing in tournaments, such as the Masters or the U.S. Open? How will the PGA survive the loss of such superstars?

Golf fans are divided on their opinion of LIV Golf and the players who are joining the organization. Some feel that the PGA is the only legitimate arena for professional golf. Others feel that the players have the freedom to play when and where they please. The LIV tour has a significant difference from the PGA, in that its events require players to only play 54 holes (hence LIV) per event instead of the PGA’s standard 72, allowing their players to compete in more events more frequently. Is it the PGA’s own fault for not paying even their biggest names like other professional athletes, despite similar grueling schedules and similar possibility for injury? Are the players leaving the PGA wrong to chase the money? Despite all these conflicting questions and opinions, one thing is clear: professional golf is fundamentally changing.

Since the outbreak of COVID-19, golf’s participation has skyrocketed at all levels. The increase in popularity of the game significantly widened the scope of people that play and closely follow the professional stage of the sport, which provided the opportunity for a cash-rich league such as LIV to take advantage of many more viewers’ interest.

Recently, it has been hard to talk about golf or any individual golfers without the mention of who has or hasn’t signed to the LIV tour. An increasingly plausible theory is that eventually, the PGA will attempt to acquire LIV, or vice versa—players will be allowed to earn more, play in different styles of tournaments and there will be a general evolution of the game of golf resulting from this merger. At the moment, it seems that this may be the PGA’s only option, as more and more players will follow the money as LIV becomes more established.

The PGA needs to become more exciting and pay its athletes more to be able to compete with its new rival league. The game of golf as a whole is seemingly in a transition state as more people take up the game and television ratings steadily increase. The opportunity is present for golf to enter a golden era, but the question is: who will take advantage of it?