Rick Shiels certainly came in for a lot of criticism following his decision to sign a deal with LIV Golf ahead of the 2025 season.
It is just over a year since Rick Shiels announced that he had entered into a partnership with LIV Golf. The deal saw the YouTuber get the opportunity to work closely with a number of the league’s best players.
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Brooks Koepka has left, while they have signed the likes of Laurie Canter and Thomas Detry so far
Of course, LIV remains incredibly divisive. Many have a big problem with those who own the league. Meanwhile, LIV has certainly turned the golfing world upside down over the last few years.
Rick Shiels suggests what many get completely wrong about LIV Golf
Some of the changes to the landscape have been positive. The PGA Tour have definitely upped their own game to ensure that many of their stars do not make the jump.
But money talks. And a number of big names did decide to take the opportunity to join LIV. With that, there is a perception that those within the league care a lot less because they are not exactly fighting for their livelihoods.
However, speaking on the High Performance podcast, Shiels insisted that could not be further from the reality.
“The criticism for players that have moved to LIV is they don’t care anymore. Bloody hell, that’s not the truth. I go to a driving range the week of a LIV event, I can’t believe how hard they’re practicing. I can’t believe it. It baffles me,” he said.
“Some of these guys who have signed for hundreds and hundreds of millions are out there, rain, shine, humidity, whatever, beating balls, practicing, working hard, wanting to get better, wanting to win majors. It’s like wow. Any interaction I’ve had with these guys, I feel like if you had a game of tiddlywinks with them, they’d want to destroy you. They want to bury you.”
LIV players are definitely struggling to silence the stereotype
It is easy to make judgements about the impact playing on LIV has had on a number of players. The early evidence does hint that some players are struggling to find the same level of motivation.
Cam Smith was the Open champion and world number two when he decided to leave the PGA Tour.
In 2025, the Australian was the only player to play all four majors and miss every single cut.
By his standards, Jon Rahm has had two underwhelming years in the majors since joining LIV. It was also fairly damning for LIV to see Brooks Koepka and Patrick Reed leave in the last couple of months.
At this stage, it is too soon to say with any certainty that playing on LIV really hurts a player’s game.
But what you can say is that there is little evidence so far to disprove the theory.
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