LIV Golf is approaching the end of its third season at a time when golf’s civil war appears to be hardly any closer to actually coming to an end.
Of course, LIV Golf will argue that it is getting stronger and stronger. The golfing landscape looked set to shift with the signing of Jon Rahm ahead of the 2024 season – with the Spaniard the defending Masters champion and one of the very best players on the planet.
And they have had some success. It will have obviously been fantastic for the league to have had Rahm win the individual title in his first year, with the 29-year-old not finishing outside the top 10 all season and winning twice. Meanwhile, Bryson DeChambeau became the second LIV golfer to win a major since joining, after his stunning performance at the US Open.
But anyone who expected LIV Golf to take the PGA Tour‘s spot as the number one tour in the game have been left disappointed so far. LIV has some bright points, but also remains very much a work in progress. It was notable that the final round of LIV Golf Greenbrier attracted a much smaller audience than the Creator Classic.
Hank Haney suggests what some are getting wrong about LIV Golf
However, it would seemingly be foolish to write LIV Golf off. According to Hank Haney on The Hank Haney Podcast, the league has done enough to ensure that it will play a key role in the game’s future.
“Something is going to happen because the PGA Tour and LIV are both going to exist. A lot of people said LIV was going away, it isn’t going away,” he said.
“And people said it would be over by now, it isn’t going to be over. They already have their schedule for next year, they have plenty of money, I think they are doing better than what people think. They need to get their TV thing straight but that isn’t going to happen until they figure out something with the PGA Tour.”
So many unanswered questions
It still seems so difficult to predict what golf’s future actually looks like. Given that many players, on both sides, have spoken of a desire to see the sport come back together, it seems ominous that no agreement has been reached so far.
Obviously, the situation cannot continue permanently. But clearly, there are fans out there who do like what LIV offer, while also growing tired of the PGA Tour’s product. And it is potentially significant that none of their high-profile players have jumped back to the PGA Tour.
There are genuine criticisms of LIV which can be made, but obviously, dismissing it is not going to help solve the issue of bringing the game back together.
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