LIV Golf is a real threat to the PGA’s monopoly
Here is the truth about the Professional Golf Association (PGA), it’s an outdated, boring, unimaginative league that has lost its luster and ability to sustain the average golfer’s interest.
Once the darling of the sports league, filled with every top golfer vying to make it to Sunday, it has become a second-tier event to upstart tour, LIV Golf. With the world’s best golfers leaving for bigger paydays, more engaging match play, and a favorable schedule on the body, the emergence of LIV Golf is the catalyst to the demise of the PGA.
So what is LIV Golf, and why is their existence met with such anger and hostility by the PGA? It is a golf tour that is very forward-thinking and has hit a hole-in-one on its first swing.
The match play description listed on their website states:
“In 2022, the LIV Golf Invitational Series will host eight events. There will be a seven-event regular season where players will compete as individuals and teams for both points and prize money. At the end of those seven events, an Individual Champion will be crowned based on points accumulated throughout the season. The 8th and final event will be our season-ending Team Championship matchplay event.
Regular Season Events
“Each Regular Season event will essentially be two simultaneous competitions – an individual and team event.
“For the individual event, every stroke counts just like it always has (although with 54 holes, a fast start is even more important). The individual winner will be the player with the lowest 54-hole stroke play total. The player with the most ranking points after seven events will be named the Individual Champion.
“The team event is where the scoring gets even more exciting. Over the first two rounds, the best two-stroke play scores will count for each team. For the third and final round, the best three scores will count, with the lowest overall team score after 54 holes being named the team winner.
Team Championship
“The Team Championship will be the 8th and final event of the season. This will be a seeded four-day, four-round matchplay knock-out.”
For years golfers have complained that a four-day format is stressful on the body, but the PGA stayed the course. Without any real competition for the PGA and being dependent on television sponsorship, the PGA had a monopoly and no real incentive to cater to the needs of its golfers.
As a former world number one ranked golfer and Hall of Fame inductee, LIV’s Chief Executive Officer Greg Norman brings instant credibility to the tour and respect from the players. Norman has built his legacy on trust and honesty and is a strong advocate for players, their fitness, and their well-being.
With one large bite, Norman, “The Great White Shark,” and an impressive team of executives, has taken a devastating bite out of the PGA. One that many are starting to say is unrecoverable. It is easy to believe the PGA did not foresee the instant success of LIV Golf. Happy with their monopoly, their hubris blinded them from seeing what was happening right before them.
The perfect example is when world number one ranked golfer Tiger Woods opted to mainly take part in PGA majors and went overseas to play where the money was more lucrative. For over a decade, the PGA rode the Tiger Gravy train till it ran out of steam.
With more high-profile golfers leaving the PGA for the LIV Tour, the PGA has outright banned players that compete in the tour from playing in any PGA events; what this means for golfers that are banned, is that they get to earn more money and play less golf.
The PGA is a sports organization that operates the tournaments but does not have the sole authority to ban golfers from participating in the Majors. Therefore, golfers have no real impediments to leaving the tour. They are financially better compensated; their caddies get paid, and they have the opportunity to extend their legacy.
With the mass exodus of golfers to the LIV tour, the PGA can only adapt or become the Past Professional Golf Association (PPGA). LIV Golf is here to stay, and it is only a matter of time until they establish their own majors; and when that does happen, there will be no more reasons to want to watch the PGA!
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