LIV or Not: Professional Golf Is at a Point of Inflection
You’d forgive casual golf fans – the type of fans that tune in for the Majors – for not really having a grasp of what is going on in golf’s upper echelons at the moment. Back in June, it was widely reported that the PGA Tour had agreed to a merger with LIV Golf, the latter being the rebel breakaway tour backed by the Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF).
Yet, talk of a merger was – and still is – somewhat premature. A better term for what transpired in June would be a “truce”. Various lawsuits, including antitrust cases, were dropped in June, and while there was some agreement of a future where PIF would invest in the PGA and LIV would come into the fold under a newly named PGA World Enterprises, many of the details had not been ironed out. And, as it transpires, there are some logistical sticking points.
Merger may be scrapped
As of early November, there are reports that the merger may be scrapped. There is also talk of rival bids coming in to take control, including one from the Fenway Sports Group, the investment firm behind the Boston Red Sox and Liverpool FC. Whether that materializes or not is something of a moot point; golf feels like it’s at the point where it will soon change forever.
As for the fans, you get the sense that they simply do not want the boat rocked too much. Yes, there were always things we could suggest to improve golf’s ‘system’, and it wasn’t as if the PGA was universally beloved before LIV came to ruffle its feathers, but there is often this erroneous assumption from sports money men that fans are always wanting shiny new toys when in reality they want to conserve the traditions and rituals of the sports they love.
Of course, we are in a sense of limbo at the moment. There is the much-publicized question of which LIV players will make it to the Majors in 2024. Right now, the likes of Cameron Smith and Brooks Kopeka are among the favorites with golf betting sites to win the Masters, US Open, PGA, and the Open, and they will find their way back as former winners and high-place finishers in previous Majors, but those without enough ranking points will find stubbornness from Augusta National et al., which looks like refusing exemptions.
LIV players set to miss out
For some fans, the temptation will be to say it serves the rebels right. Yet, there will also be something lost if a Major takes place without hosting the players who would have been there on merit. Still, we will have to see how the merger deal – and any fallout – goes through to see what will happen next year.
Nonetheless, it does feel like golf will be transformed, whether the fans like it or not, regardless of whether the merger goes through or not. There is a relentless wish to tinker at the top of the sports pyramid. It is not related to golf alone. See, for instance, extra games and international series in the NFL or the constant pressure of creating a European Super League in soccer, as well as a biennial FIFA World Cup. In soccer, in particular, these ideas have seen pushback from fans, but they are still being mooted in the halls of power despite their unpopularity with core fans. Why? Money.
And that’s the rub. LIV has been a catalyst for changes to golf, not the root cause. If Saudi PIF was to end its interest in the sport tomorrow, the changes would still come. When it comes to money, the genie is now well and truly out of the bottle. The sport was already awash with cash, but there is now a compulsion to make more by flogging the brand of golf. Perhaps it will makes things better for fans and players, but there is always the chance they are trying to fix something that was never broken in the first place.
