Golf fans divided over new PGA Tour innovation which some think has been inspired by LIV

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Numerous big names left the PGA Tour to join LIV Golf back in the summer of 2022.

Bryson DeChambeau and Phil Mickelson were two of the original trailblazers three years ago.

Then many more stars jumped ship to LIV Golf from the PGA Tour over the next 12-18 months, including the likes of Cameron Smith and Jon Rahm.

Golf fans are desperate to see the best golfers in the world compete alongside one another more regularly outside of the four majors.

However, it seems like that may be a long way off in the future. In fact, Brandel Chamblee claimed that a merger between the PGA Tour and LIV Golf will never happen.

Whilst a merger might not happen, the fact that there is genuine competition for the PGA Tour now can only be a good thing.

It means that the product on offer should improve, because they can’t afford to stagnate.

Golf fans are divided over PGA Tour innovation said to be inspired by LIV

The PGA Tour have debuted some new technology at the Canadian Open this week.

The drone shot tracer now changes color based on the probability of the ball hitting the fairway.

Green equals a fairway hit incoming, while red signals that the ball is heading for the rough or bunkers.

And golf fans seem to be completely split on the new technology.

One fan suggested that the new technology is a change that wasn’t needed, “It is so bad, I don’t need a robot to tell me where it thinks the ball will land, I can wait 2 seconds to find out myself. The anticipation/uncertainty of where it will go when the ball is in the air is a good part of watching golf. Not a problem that needed fixing.“

Whilst another said that the PGA Tour are trying to keep up with LIV’s more fan-friendly technology, “Learning from LIV.. it is really cool.“

Meanwhile, a third shared his disdain for the new innovation, “Am I the only one that’s not in love with drone tracers in general? Just give me a shot tracer & camera pan to the fairway. That’s more than enough in my opinion.“

Then a fourth mooted the theory that LIV have forced the PGA Tour into action, “Never would’ve happened without LIV. Shotgun starts and on-course music were the thing that finally got the PGA Tour out of the 1940s and pursuing TV contracts and purses that provide a living (no pun intended) wage. You can thank innovative shot tracers and drone shots on the tour with the cable broadcast for an audience of hundreds as well.“

However, some fans seem to be in favour of the new technology…

One fan in support of the new technology said, “This is pretty cool.“

Another suggested that the PGA Tour have really raised their game, “Agreed – this might be the best new sports tech since the shot tracker itself. Gives the course and the overall grounds a bit more personality too.“

While another said, “Love it! I’ll be curious to see some shots that are right on the boundary. Last time I looked into the technology, they don’t track the ball, it’s just taking the launch data and projecting the flight, so I’m pretty sure fairway probability is known the moment it’s hit and won’t change, they’re just making a cool looking graphic that arrives at the probability they know within a second of the ball being struck. But it’s totally possible I’ve got that wrong.“

In fairness to the PGA Tour powers that be, they are at least trying to make their product more interactive for the fans who watch on their televisions.

Phil Mickelson said LIV have something that the PGA Tour don’t

Mickelson is well known for being an outspoken critic of the PGA Tour.

He spoke to the media on Wednesday, and highlighted how LIV can offer the fans and sponsors something that the PGA Tour cannot.

“I think that LIV has made some incredible strides of getting to where we want this to be,“ Mickelson explained. “It will get there. I don’t know the exact timeline.

“We want all the best players in the world to be able to compete against each other more often and on a global scale, and the model that I was a part of for decades just didn’t allow for that.

“We never played against each other. We didn’t have elevated events. We never played all of us against each other outside of the majors. It was not able to move internationally. When they did have tournaments and WGCs internationally, a lot of players didn’t play. That’s disappointing from a sponsor standpoint, from a fan standpoint. When you’re paying for these events and television and you don’t know what you’re buying, that’s frustrating.

“When the fans don’t get to see all the best players play, that’s difficult. The model that is on LIV is what is needed to be successful. We saw it even on last week’s Signature Event. Players will do what’s good for them and not necessarily play unless they are contractually obligated, just like in the NFL and baseball and every other professional sport.

“That model as it’s brought to LIV is allowing us to move throughout the world and make professional golf a global sport and allow countries that have never seen the best players in the world see the best players in the world compete.

“It’s driving a lot of interest in those countries. I understand in the U.S. we’ve always had the PGA TOUR and many of the best players playing here, and so we don’t know what it’s like to want that for decades and not be able to have a model to do that.

“I think that we’re well on our way and not that far away from making that happen, and you’re seeing it with these good young players that are coming out. If you look at the good young players from different parts of the world, not necessarily the United States, you’ve got José Ballester and Louis Masaveu and Tom McKibbin and these young guys from other parts of the world are really interested in wanting to come to LIV and they get what it’s about.

“I think over time that’s just going to continue to grow just like it has exponentially in the last three years, and I think we’re not that far away from having it be what we all want it to be, which is all the best players in the world playing against each other.“

Mickelson is spot on here. The PGA Tour will have to find a way of making their best players contractually obligated to play a certain amount of events per year, if they are to keep growing as an entity and a brand.