Arguably the biggest shock to come from the announcement that Rory McIlroy and Scottie Scheffler would face off against Bryson DeChambeau and Brooks Koepka was not the fact that the four players had agreed to a match in the first place.
It stunned the golfing world when it was announced that the quartet would battle it out in The Showdown this month. But it was the fact that the PGA Tour seemingly gave the matchup the green light which would have caught many off-guard.
While the PGA Tour is looking to agree a deal with the PIF to bring the game back together, they have – completely understandably – done absolutely nothing to highlight the success some have had on LIV Golf.
And of course, it is not going to be the best look for the PGA Tour if Rory McIlroy and Scottie Scheffler are beaten by Brooks Koepka and Bryson DeChambeau at Shadow Creek. Scheffler is the world number one and had an unbelievable year on the PGA Tour.
The PGA Tour has made a big mistake ahead of The Showdown
However, his critics will suggest there is an asterisk against his success due to the LIV players not being there. While Scheffler will have surely still been hugely successful had he faced DeChambeau, Koepka and Jon Rahm more often this year, it is going to be a harder argument to make if the LIV Golf pairing win on Tuesday.
Nevertheless, it does appear that the PGA Tour have made a real mistake ahead of The Showdown.
If you go on the PGA Tour’s social media, you would be forgiven for thinking you must have had the wrong week, and The Showdown must be at some other time. There is simply no reference to the event on their X page at the time of writing.
LIV Golf meanwhile, has been able to capitalise, posting a number of clips – including ones involving their opponents.
A big opportunity missed
Not only does it give a negative impression of the PGA Tour to act as if they almost do not approve of the match, it will be even worse if Scheffler and McIlroy go on to win and they suddenly change their tune.
McIlroy noted that they had to work hard to persuade the PGA Tour to sign off on the idea. Meanwhile, LIV Golf appeared to have no issue with their players taking on the challenge.
What could be a phenomenal event – and may represent a turning point at the elite level – is being played under a small cloud, with the PGA Tour seemingly letting their pride get in the way. There is no chance that they have capitalised on the match as much as they should have done.
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