It is noticeable how there appears to have been a shift in how some figures on the PGA Tour are now speaking about the talks with the PIF which should pave the way for a deal involving LIV Golf.
It has been apparent for some time that many of the leading figures within the game of golf have been desperate to bring the PGA Tour and LIV Golf together after years of a civil war. And Tiger Woods said a deal seemed close last week at the Genesis Invitational. Of course, there is a lot of animosity towards those who jumped to LIV.
Those players look set to have their cake and eat it once a deal comes about. They received the astronomical fees for joining LIV and may now get to come back onto the PGA Tour anyway.
Meanwhile, those lower down the food chain on the PGA Tour are likely to face a bigger fight to remain on tour, particularly when the number of players who automatically keep their cards each year is set to drop to 100 from 2026.
PGA Tour players ‘disgusted’ as talks of merger with LIV Golf ramp up
Unfortunately, there has been little sympathy from those at the top. Rory McIlroy was heavily criticised after noting how much better he has done financially since LIV arrived on the scene.
Adam Scott meanwhile, admitted to the Associated Press that he would understand if some players were unhappy with the situation.
It turns out they are.
Speaking on the Golf Channel Podcast, Rex Hoggard suggested that there is a lot of anger on the PGA Tour side of the aisle.
“I did find it fascinating reading the comments from Adam to Doug Ferguson, because they were kind of the other side of the coin of what Rory McIlroy told us last week. Essentially, Rory said those who are ‘butthurt’ – his words, not mine – over the idea that the LIV players are going to be allowed eventually to come back to the PGA Tour and that’s the pathway right now. We can sit here and come up with different machinations, but the fact of the matter is when the commissioner, Rory and Tiger and Adam Scott talk about reunification, that means those players that are on LIV coming back to the PGA Tour in some form or some fashion,” he said.
“There is going to be a large element of the PGA Tour population who is not going to like this. I was just texting with a tour player this morning about it, and because I kind of wanted to get his feelings. And I would read that text but it is not for family ears. None of it is for family ears. Because the players are disgusted by this idea, those who remain loyal to the PGA Tour. And I get it, just like Adam Scott, who is in this difficult position of understanding that yeah, I don’t like it either. And I think it’s the line from Hamilton where sometimes you have to hold your nose and turn away, and that is just the way this is going to work. There are going to be PGA Tour players who are just going to have to hold their nose and look away, because the only way the game gets ‘fixed’ is if the two sides come together.”
How some LIV Golf players feel about playing on the PGA Tour
It would definitely be helpful if some of those on LIV Golf showed some humility when a deal is agreed and they have the chance to play on the PGA Tour again. Perhaps they could pay some sort of fines which could be invested in the Korn Ferry Tour – where some notable names are going to find themselves before too long when tour cards are taken away. Perhaps that is too utopian to be realistic.
Unfortunately, it seems that some LIV players are not planning to accept the olive branch. Hoggard previously noted that some LIV players want to be paid to come back to the tour.
“On the other side I have spoken with some LIV golfers and they are like ‘no, they are going to have to pay us to come back’. So you can see the gulf in the middle of that. There is no middle ground on that,” he said.
That is an incredible stance to take. While they are entitled to prefer their life on LIV and have little intention to move away from the league, you can imagine that they will be the first to try and jump ship if LIV suddenly becomes an afterthought as the PGA Tour takes priority once again.
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