It seems whenever either LIV Golf or the PGA Tour makes a change to their format, they are accused of copying the other.
This fall alone, LIV Golf announced it was moving to a 72-hole format, prompting fans to question how it differs from the PGA Tour. Meanwhile, the PGA Tour plans to move to 20 events during a season, all of equal value, and fans said that they were moving to more of a LIV Golf model.
When LIV Golf was created to rival the PGA Tour, it sought to break with tradition and offer an alternative product for golf fans. They were heavily criticized for it by the tour, which helped fuel massive tensions between players and management on both sides.
As the years go on, the changes both tours have made have only brought them closer together. That fact wasn’t lost on Lee Westwood, who slammed the PGA Tour for “copying” LIV, calling them hypocrites.
Lee Westwood called the PGA Tour ‘hypocrites’ after Tiger Woods hire
The PGA Tour was forced to be introspective after the creation of LIV, as it tried to determine what changes it could make to win the battle with the newly formed rival league.
They surmised that their star players weren’t playing in enough events, and in 2022, they made a series of sweeping changes to address this.
These changes meant their best golfers had to play at least 20 events in a season, including the four majors, The Players Championship, 12 signature events, and three other tournaments of their choosing.
LIV Golf star Westwood, who won twice on the PGA Tour before his defection, felt they were copying LIV after being so critical of them in the past.
Do you think the PGA Tour and LIV Golf will ever merge?
The Englishman said, “I laugh at what the PGA Tour players have come up with. It’s just a copy of what LIV is doing. There are a lot of hypocrites out there. They all say LIV is ‘not competitive’. They all point at the no-cut aspect of LIV and the short fields.
“Now, funnily enough, they are proposing 20 events that look a lot like LIV… And hopefully, they will be held to account as we were in the early days.
“All the PGA Tour has done since Tiger [Woods] came on tour is up the prize purses. In turn, that has taken all the best players from Europe away from the European Tour. They’ve had to play in the States, taking all their world ranking points with them.”
Westwood ranks eighth all-time in DP World Tour wins with 25, and is therefore keen to protect European golf. But the tour is as pathway to LIV as it is the PGA Tour now, after Laurie Canter chose LIV after securing his tour card this season.
Lee Westwood and Rory McIlroy exchanged words over LIV Golf format change
Rory McIlroy is always outspoken about LIV, and he had plenty to say about their decision to change to a traditional 72-hole format. The change was made partly to help secure Official World Golf Ranking points for its players, but McIlroy said LIV’s changes won’t help in that regard.
He said, “It brings them back into not really being a disruptor and sort of falling more in line with what everyone else does. But if that’s what they felt they needed to do to get the ranking points, I guess that’s what they had to do.”
Rory McIlroy’s comments on LIV Golf after the framework agreement was announced
Westwood, always keen to speak out against McIlroy in defense of LIV, responded on TalkSport: “I don’t pay too much attention to what Rory said, really. He will change his mind next week.”
That is likely a nod to McIlroy walking back his harsh criticism of players who defected to LIV in 2024.
A resolution between LIV and the PGA Tour isn’t coming any time soon, so expect these back-and-forth jabs to continue for a while longer.
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