While the PGA Tour, the DP World Tour and even TGL are now up and running, LIV Golf fans will have to wait just a little longer for their opening event of 2025 – which takes place in Riyadh in early February.
It has arguably been quite an underwhelming off-season for LIV Golf. Of course, it was always going to be difficult to top the events ahead of 2024 when Jon Rahm made the jump from the PGA Tour.
LIV has focused more of its attention on signing younger players ahead of 2025. It is a strategy – forced or not – which could reap rewards in the future when their older players do move on.
But they have still managed to spring quite a bit of a surprise, particularly for those more familiar with the DP World Tour.
PGA Tour urged to penalise players who potentially do what Tyrrell Hatton did in 2024
The one remaining place in the league is on Rahm’s Legion XIII team. However, it has been apparent for some time which player is in line to complete the lineup.
It was reported earlier this month that Tom McKibbin is set to join Legion XIII. The Northern Irishman is not a household name, but he is seen as something of a protege to Rory McIlroy. Meanwhile, he was also one of the players who earned a PGA Tour card through the DP World Tour last season.
But McKibbin looks set to pass up the opportunity to join the PGA Tour. And with that, Smylie Kaufman believes that a change needs to be made, particularly with Jordan Smith missing out because of the 22-year-old.
Speaking on The Smylie Show ahead of the Farmers Insurance Open – the final PGA Tour event before LIV’s opener – Kaufman insisted that the PGA Tour should not allow someone to potentially play who may be about to jump ship, as Tyrrell Hatton did 12 months ago.
“My whole thing is for the PGA Tour and the guys that are trying to chase cards on the DP World Tour, you can’t have guys play any PGA Tour events and then take up status. There’s got to be some type of fine that these guys have where it at least opens up a spot to a Jordan Smith or just, ‘hey, you’re either in or you’re out’,” he said.
“I know these things probably come off a little later. But if you put a tee in the ground on the PGA Tour, that’s where you should be, or you should have to pay some sort of fines. You can’t just have guys going to try to win Torrey Pines. I know it’s his right to do so until he technically signs and tees it up at a LIV event, but there’s got to be a penalty that needs to be put in place moving forward to prohibit guys from even thinking about it, like Hatton did. [He] played some of the west coast before going to play at the first LIV event.”
Why the PGA Tour may struggle to penalise those who jump to LIV
You do have to have some sympathy for Smith. Meanwhile, it would not be particularly fair to criticise McKibbin, whatever you think of LIV. Ultimately, he is highly unlikely to have known about the prospect of going to LIV at the DP World Tour Championship last year.
It would also be difficult to fine players who make the jump. The large majority of those who earned their card in 2024 have not played on the PGA Tour yet this year. And perhaps they may decide to still focus the large majority of their attention on the DP World Tour.
In that case, it is hard to argue that they are any different to McKibbin. And unless you are going to penalise every player who does not take full advantage of their playing privileges, there does not appear to be a way to make the system fair.
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