The war that was the PGA Tour versus LIV Golf was a big blown opportunity
Every sport, and every sports organization, needs a 9-iron to the shorts every so often, and golf was handed just that in 2022 when LIV Golf bought its way into the conversation because it has more money than God.
Turns out, Saudi Arabia’s PIF fund does not have more money than the Almighty. The aggressive startup league and potential “partner” with the PGA Tour is all but dead.
After the PIF announced earlier this year it would no longer fund the league, LIV is searching for new partners to keep it alive. If it lives, it will be a glorified minor leagues.
Other than 30 or so people, most of whom you can’t name, there was no winner in this battle of money, and a sports organization that should have used this as an opportunity to tinker with its product goes on to the next tee box as if nothing happened.
The state of the PGA Tour
When I spoke to former PGA Tour pro and long-time Fort Worth resident Mark Brooks around the time LIV Golf started, one of his primary concerns and complaints about the Tour is that it’s the same thing every single weekend on the schedule.
Four years later, what he said then still fits.
The 2026 Charles Schwab Challenge at Colonial Country Club in Fort Worth is another nice PGA Tour event replete with its signature particulars that make it what it is. Pro-Am on Wednesday. Round 1 on Thursday followed by Round 2 on Friday.
Cut line.
Round 3 on Saturday. Round 4, and the winner will be handed the plaid jacket on Sunday afternoon.
Other than a field that is short on “names,” it’s always a good tournament. Some people actually watch the golfers hit the ball, but more of those in attendance are happy to be on site to chat, and post pictures on social media with the sport serving as white noise.
It’s the same format, same pattern, as the other tournaments on a schedule that is now more compressed to avoid going head-to-head with any football game.
What the PGA Tour should do
If you could look past the Saudi money, and the controversy of LIV Golf, it did something that should have motivated the PGA Tour to change.
LIV’s format is different. It introduced team golf. It had live music at the events. Not all of it worked, or works, but it was an effort to improve the sport that even the most loyal golfers say needs it.
“We’ve got to make golf where it’s quicker,” former PGA Tour and Hall of Famer Gary Player said in a recent interview with The Golf Channel where he blasted the current state of the game. “We are going about it the wrong way. We are making it more expensive. People are resigning (from clubs), and golf numbers as far as amateurs are concerned is down.
“We don’t want to see that. We love that game. We have to promote the game in the right way. The professional game has never been so healthy, but we are in trouble amateur-wise.”
Player’s concerns have been expressed before by others; it was a constant complaint from PGA Tour pariah Greg Norman long before he cashed his checks as a senior leader of LIV Golf.
Other than changes to the schedule, purse sizes and some benefits to the players, the presentation of a PGA Tour tournament is unchanged.
Unless it’s a major, or the Waste Management Open in Arizona, every tournament should tinker. Because it’s secure as a “rager” frat’ party in the desert, the Waste Management Open is a draw. A major can get away with anything.
The NBA, NHL, NFL and NASCAR are unafraid to work on their respective products. It took far too long, but the changes to MLB’s game improved a night at the ballpark.
In golf, the courses change. The clubs change. The golf ball now is so good that it’s a detriment to the sport.
Events like the Charles Schwab Challenge, CJ Cup, or similar tournaments should be working with the PGA Tour to be creative. Maybe try a match play. Modified Stableford scoring.
Work in a longest-drive contest on a par-5. Add a closest-to-the-pin on a par-3. The technology would make this an easy add.
The Tour doesn’t need to hire a monkey to putt on the 14th green, but this is pro golf. When you turn pro, the priority is eyeballs, and tickets.
Just because LIV Golf bombed doesn’t mean its concepts should be ignored.
Golf as a sport is fine. The PGA Tour is fine.
But “fine,” plus the demise of LIV, should not mean the PGA Tour should be above addressing its product.
