The debate about a potential merger between the PGA Tour and LIV Golf continues to rage on.
Billy Horschel has been speaking about the merits of LIV golfers potentially returning to the PGA Tour and he made a very interesting point.
The uncompromising Lucas Glover insisted he didn’t want LIV players returning to the PGA Tour, when speaking earlier this week regarding talks about a deal whereby the two tours would act in unison.
There is said to be a stalemate between LIV and the PGA Tour right now regarding negotiations about a potential merger.
The reason for that is apparently because LIV officials are insisting on the team format remaining as part of their setup.
The Saudi-backed outfit do have some box office players amongst their ranks, including the likes of long-hitting serial winner Bryson DeChambeau, two-time major winner Jon Rahm and five-time major champion Brooks Koepka.
So could there be a scenario where players like DeChambeau, Rahm and Koepka return to compete on the PGA Tour once again at some point in the future?
Billy Horschel makes Jon Rahm and Brooks Koepka point when asked about LIV / PGA Tour merger
Horschel is well known for being somewhat of a leading voice when it comes to matters involving the PGA Tour.
He always speaks with real eloquence and most importantly, a certain level of balance that’s hard to find on both sides of the PGA Tour and LIV divide.
The 38-year-old American responded when asked whether LIV golfers should be able to return to the PGA Tour with no repercussions.
“I have always said that I am not afraid of the competition,“ Horschel explained. “I think competition breeds excellence and makes people have to make changes to still be competitive and be the best. I have always felt the PGA Tour was going to win out. We have the history, we have the product, we have so many things in our favour.
“So competing against LIV was never an issue for me. I said at the time in 2022 I said in five years I felt we would figure out a way to come back and make it all work and we are 18 months away from that. I thought when the deal got announced 18 months ago it was going to be a lot quicker than I thought. But I do believe there will be something at the end of the day and at the same time I do believe there may not be anything at the end of the day. We may continue to go on our own paths and the stronger organisation will win out.
“At the end of the day there are great players over there and they are still a lot of my friends. I don’t fault them for making that financial decision and I’m happy for them. I just didn’t feel like when they boasted early on they were the future of professional golf, 54 hole tournaments, shotgun start was what professional golf was going to become.
“I was like listen, there are decades and decades that show that is not going to happen. There may be an appetite for that to happen but at the end of the day the way we have always judged ourselves is a 72-hole individual event.
“I do believe there is a window for team golf in some aspect to be successful but that is not going to be the future of the game of golf. So I would love to see some of the guys come back. There are guys in golf that would love to see Jon Rahm, Cam Smith, Brooks Koepka, even Joaco is playing well, what he has done over there has been impressive and he has always been a talented player. I think guys would love to see what Joaco could do now on the PGA Tour.
“Patrick Reed, love or hate him, he brings eyeballs through playing that villain role. Not that he tries to play it but that’s what he’s been labelled as, so I would like to see them come back. I thought a global tour would have been formed and created but I don’t think that will ever be created for the sole fact that American players just don’t have the appetite to travel. They don’t need to. The financial reward of playing in America is enough and I think the loss of history of events around the globe just isn’t there with American players.“
Billy Horschel reveals what he asked the PGA Tour hierarchy about LIV in 2022
When LIV Golf emerged on the scene in 2022, every player who jumped ship was suspended from playing on the PGA Tour.
However, Horschel made a fantastic point when explaining why things could have been handled very differently by everyone involved.
He said: “I don’t think I have ever expressed this publicly, I may have once, but I asked a question to the PGA Tour executives back in 2022. I said I understand suspending them because you didn’t give them their release to go and play, but if these guys really want to be a part of the PGA Tour, let them have to play 15 or 14 events over there and figure out the schedule and play 29 events each year.
“If they are able to achieve the requirement and still play well on the PGA Tour and keep a card, there is a side of me that says okay that’s fine let’s do that. But there’s other side that understands a little bit of why the PGA Tour did that.
“It doesn’t mean I always have to agree with everything but I can understand both sides. At the end of the day, nobody is going to do that. Maybe Patrick Reed is the only one able to do that because he was playing almost 40 events anyway over the year.
“I think there are things when you go back in time, it doesn’t matter who you are and what you do, and there are things where you say I wish I handled that differently. And I think from the PGA Tour aspect and LIV aspect and everyone else’s aspect in this eco-system I think we could all have handled it a little differently. Nobody is immune from that.
“So I do believe that could have happened but at the end of the day we all would have seen the writing on the wall if they did that for one year, I think they all would have said we will go to LIV and play 14 events and get paid handsomely and do that, which is their prerogative and I have said that from the very beginning.“
It remains to be seen what the future holds for LIV and the PGA Tour, and whether or not the two tours are able to one day operate in tandem.
As Horschel explained, there are definitely ‘needle-movers’ on LIV, so to speak, who would be able to make a big difference to the PGA Tour when it comes to TV deals.
Hopefully an agreement can be reached soon, because golf fans deserve to see the best players in the world competing against each other outside of the four majors.
Receive exclusive golf news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
