With a deal between the PGA Tour and the PIF seemingly inevitable – at some stage – it does appear that one of the next big hurdles facing the game of golf concerns how the various tours are going to be able to work alongside each other.
The whole reason that someone like Rory McIlroy has pushed for the game to come back together is the desire to have all of the world’s best players facing off again on a much more regular basis.
Therefore, it appears unlikely that the PGA Tour, the DP World Tour and LIV Golf will not see their schedules change. Compromises will have to be made if McIlroy and Scottie Scheffler are going to compete with Jon Rahm and Bryson DeChambeau more than four times a year.
That may perhaps see some current PGA Tour players make appearances on LIV Golf in the future. But perhaps not everyone will be in favour of being involved with what is currently the competition.
Mackenzie Hughes responds to being asked how bad LIV Golf is
Mackenzie Hughes is one of the players who has remained loyal to the PGA Tour, with the Canadian being involved in the Internationals’ Presidents Cup team at Royal Montreal last year.
Of course, the Internationals have seen their Presidents Cup options torn apart by LIV Golf. That would have helped the 34-year-old make Mike Weir’s team. But it appears that he is still not a fan of the breakaway league.
During a Q&A on X, Hughes was asked how bad he thought LIV was. And it is safe to say that he did not offer a glowing endorsement, replying: ‘I don’t watch it but don’t like their format.’
Elsewhere, Hughes was asked which player he would love to play a round with, dead or alive. And he opted for a nine-time major champion.
Meanwhile, the two-time PGA Tour winner picked out Joel Dahmen when asked to name his favourite person to play with out on tour.
The big problem LIV Golf has despite its potential
It is not hard to see why someone would have a problem with the LIV Golf format. There are definitely some strengths to LIV, including the calibre of the players at the top of the food chain, as well as the fact that they play half of their events outside of the States.
However, LIV appear to be so determined to be everything the PGA Tour is not. And with that, it has become almost muddled. The team championship is the showpiece finale to the season, but it is individual players who get relegated.
Meanwhile, players can qualify for LIV, but the teams apparently have the power to make their own signings. So it is not entirely clear what will happen with Lee Chieh-po who earned his spot through the LIV Golf Promotions event and does not yet have a team.
And it is hard not to think that players in the open zone who previously made the jump from the PGA Tour partially keep their place so they do not put off other players also considering defecting to LIV. The last thing players would want to do is burn their bridges with the PGA Tour only to find themselves out of the picture on LIV one year later too.
There is potential with LIV. But it seems safe to say that they have not yet found the magic formula.
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