Bubba Watson has been speaking honestly about the big difference between LIV Golf and the PGA Tour.
Watson left the PGA Tour to link up with LIV Golf way back in 2022, but he is still yet to win on the Saudi-backed golf league.
Tensions between the two tours are still very much simmering under the surface.
And it was recently claimed that a merger between the PGA Tour and LIV Golf will ‘never get done’.
That’s bad news for golf fans. We all deserve to see Bryson DeChambeau and Jon Rahm competing regularly with the big guns on the PGA Tour.
Watson is another exciting player who we only see compete with the best players in the world a couple of times per year.
But is he completely happy playing on LIV?
Bubba Watson makes claim about the future of LIV Golf and the PGA Tour
The 46-year-old American was always a hugely popular player due to his incredible ability to entertain.
LIV star Watson can shape the ball more than anyone on the planet, and he demonstrated that back in 2012 at The Masters with the remarkable wedge shot he hit from the pine straws with a 40-yard hook.
He found the green and beat Louis Oosthuizen in the play-off in the end, and went on to win at Augusta National in 2014 as well.
Now though, we rarely get to see Bubba on our television screens.
Watson has opened up on the future of golf, both for LIV and the PGA Tour.
When speaking on the Pat McAfee show, the man from Bagdad, Florida, explained how he sees the future of golf panning out.
He said, “LIV is here to stay. It is not going anywhere. The people behind LIV are not going anywhere. You are looking at changing culture, changing the game itself. America is a small piece of our world and golf is global and getting global more and more. We are going to places that the PGA Tour and European Tour are not. We are trying to show golf in different areas.
“Just like soccer or football is now played in the United States, we never really watched it until now. Now it’s shown on ESPN. We are watching the Euro Cup and all these things. Sports is going global now.
“We are not battling the PGA Tour. The PGA Tour is here to stay as well. We have 30% of the people who show up to our events, have never been to a professional golf event. That means we are growing the game outside the PGA Tour or outside of our country.
“That is what we are doing. We are trying to show it in a different light and get more people to watch and play. It’s global and not just America.“
Bubba Watson’s golf has been adversely affected by LIV
In fairness, there aren’t many golfers who have improved since joining LIV, or who’ve even retained their levels for that matter.
DeChambeau, Rahm and Joaquin Niemann are the three obvious ones who have got better.
However, Watson’s form has definitely tailed off over the past three years.
That said, he did record a T-14th finish at The Masters last month, so he’s still got it. It’s just a shame that his consistency isn’t there anymore.
Despite what Watson says, LIV Golf and the PGA Tour desperately need to reach an agreement with one another, whereby the best golfers in the world are showcased competing against one another on a more regular basis.
The game of golf will be better off for it.
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