‘Surprising’ decision made about LIV Golf as the league is claimed to be struggling more than ever right now

Add as preferred source on Google

If LIV Golf was hoping that their season opener in Riyadh would prove to be a real statement of intent, it appears that they were very much mistaken.

LIV Golf appeared to have a real opportunity to make its mark at the start of 2025. It has not been an impressive start to the year for the PGA Tour. And it seemed highly likely that fans were going to be excited to see the likes of Bryson DeChambeau, Brooks Koepka and Jon Rahm tee it up.

Unfortunately for LIV, Riyadh proved to be something of a damp squib. Legion XIII stormed to the team title, while Rahm was the only one of their biggest names who looked that close to catching Adrian Meronk. There were not many fans in attendance on a golf course which did not capture the imagination, while there were poor viewing figures on FS2 in the States.

But it has not been all bad news for LIV in recent days. The USGA and The R&A have confirmed that players will have the opportunity to earn a place in the US Open and The Open Championship through their performances on LIV.

LIV Golf to benefit from surprising decision

It is a real breakthrough for the league which still does not receive world ranking points. And it is another indication that the game is edging closer and closer to coming back together in one form or another.

But not everyone is a fan of the decision. Speaking on 5 Clubs, commentator Taylor Zarzour admitted that he was not expecting the pathway to the majors to be opened up.

“I was surprised by it, and the reason I was surprised by it is because I feel like it’s giving some extra legitimacy to a league that has really struggled to find any credibility in the last four years. And you could argue, as we sit here right now, they’re struggling more than they’ve ever struggled before, in terms of reaching new people and people connecting with their tournaments each week,” he said.

“They had a halftime show this past week during their nighttime debut of the 2025 season in Riyadh. There were barely over 10,000 people that watched the tournament, and they stopped play to have some sort of musical entertainment in the middle of the event. It does not feel like a real competitive event. I think you would agree with that, because it feels much more like exhibition golf, it feels more like TGL honestly than it feels like the PGA Tour.

“And so the fact that the USGA and The R&A are going to give someone, or a number of players, if they’re not already qualified, and you wisely stated, most likely, they’re already qualified, but you’re going to give a guy like Dean Burmester or Joaquin Niemann or someone else, Talor Gooch, that’s played well on LIV access to the national championship of the United States and The Open Championship based on their play in that league.

“I’d be totally fine if they said, you know what, Joaquin Niemann is one of the best players in the world. Like they do at Augusta National, we’re going to give him a special exemption into those majors. I think everybody would be fine with that, they want to see the best players play. But the fact that they’re getting that exemption possibly through their play on LIV, that’s surprising to me, especially given where the league is right now in 2025.”

An olive branch for LIV Golf which confuses many after their fight for world ranking points

As Zarzour notes, the large majority of LIV’s heavyweights will be at the majors anyway. But this is a decision which the governing bodies may struggle to reverse in the future.

Figures such as Niemann and Sergio Garcia should be at all four majors based on the way they have played over the last 12 months. Garcia was not in the field for the PGA Championship or The Open Championship in 2024, with the Spaniard failing to qualify for the latter.

But LIV does not receive world ranking points because they play events over 54 holes with smaller fields. Their events also include a team component. So it is odd that two of the major championships have seemingly been prepared to look past that with their own criteria.

It is probably an olive branch that the game needs. However, it is hard to know whether it is really the right decision.