LIV Golf has done some irreparable damage to the golfing world, but there’s been some noticeable benefits to having a rival tour for the PGA Tour to contend with.
Yes, LIV Golf split the golfing landscape in two, meaning we don’t see the likes of Scottie Scheffler and Bryson DeChambeau duelling week to week. But the healthy competition between the two rival tours has forced the PGA Tour to make some much-needed improvements.
Let’s not forget the state the PGA Tour was in when LIV Golf was formed. Players and fans had no faith in leadership, and players felt they were underpaid while the tour pocketed too much of the profits.
The PGA Tour has been forced into introspection, changing their leadership by putting former NFL executive Brian Rolapp at the helm, and increasing prize pools significantly. And the tour have just made a move that LIV Golf deserves some credit for.
LIV Golf deserves credit for the PGA Tour’s involvement in Australian Open
The PGA Tour announced a partnership with Golf Australia to support the Australian Open. This will reserve a space for the event on the tour’s calendar, give it a larger prize fund, and likely a better field.
This move is a much-needed plunge into the international market, and LIV Golf deserves some credit for highlighting the need for these types of moves.
LIV has pivoted in recent years, branding itself as the world’s golf tour. Their events in Australia and South Africa were immensely successful in terms of on course attendance, featuring some of the most fervent crowds you will see on any tour in golf this year.
What legacy will LIV Golf leave behind?
CEO Scott O’Neil declared that he was hoping to associate LIV with all the national opens around the world, so the PGA Tour has acted quickly to corner that market, investing in the Australian Open alongside the DP World Tour. This move likely doesn’t happen without LIV’s success there.
So while LIV has it’s many flaws, and it is likely to collapse sooner rather than later, we can be thankful that it continues to push the PGA Tour into making much-needed moves to improve the state of global golf.
Why PGA Tour’s Australian Open involvement is terrible for LIV Golf
Recent reports have suggested that the DP World Tour is becoming increasingly frustrated by the notion that it is simply a feeder tour for the PGA Tour. That gave LIV Golf some hope that they could salvage their tour after the Saudis pulled funding.
That’s why this move from the PGA Tour is so essential in ensuring that LIV don’t snatch the DP World Tour partnership away from them. They are beginning to show that they are willing to put their hand in their pocket and invest in events alongside the DP World Tour globally.
This is likely one of many future moves to strengthen the relationship between the PGA Tour and the DP World Tour, and that can only be a good thing for world golf.
It’s disastrous news for LIV, however, who not only have lost their claim to having the best golf event in Australia, but their chances of a DP World Tour partnership appears to have been slammed shut but the PGA Tour.
Receive exclusive golf news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
