Graeme McDowell has made a controversial claim about young golfers succeeding on the PGA Tour.
McDowell commented on the topic after Michael La Sasso became the latest player to join LIV Golf.
La Sasso, the 2025 NCAA Champion, will team up with Phil Mickelson on LIV’s HyFlyers GC.
McDowell suggested that his decision might have something to do with the difficulty of making it onto the PGA Tour.
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While LIV Golf have failed to sign any high-profile players recently, they have added some future stars.
La Sasso will join David Puig, Tom McKibbin, Josele Ballester, and several other exciting under-25 players.
McDowell now believes that LIV may be a better option for the next generation of great golfers than the PGA Tour is.
“Hot take, but LIV is a legitimate pathway for young potential superstars who can get paid to be mentored in their young careers by Tour greats and play a guaranteed schedule.
“The road to the PGA Tour is increasingly perilous and littered with great talent that never made it,” he claimed.
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PGA Tour winner Michael Kim admitted that McDowell is right about LIV Golf being a great pathway for young players.
But Kim also thinks that the Tour remains an excellent option because players will always succeed if they are “good enough.”
“I don’t disagree, but the PGA Tour is one of the purest meritocracies in sports, and if you’re good enough, you’ll end up playing on tour.
“If you never made it… You just weren’t good enough,” he responded.
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McDowell then conceded that the PGA Tour remains a more “complete” tour than LIV.
However, he doubled down on his take that they may no longer attract the best young players.
“No disputing from me that the PGA Tour is the most complete tour in the world to play golf right now,” McDowell added.
“My point is that it is also increasingly becoming a closed shop, like LIV, with harder and narrower pathways to get there.
“Getting there is arguably harder than staying there, and golf is one of the few sports in the world in which the best young talents are not guaranteed their shot on the big stage.
“Pathways will always be important, and LIV is providing a very interesting and compelling opportunity for the next-gen player. Cash in their pocket and a chance to compete at a high level, in my humble opinion.”
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