LIV Golf, good or bad for the future of our sport?

LIV Golf, in my opinion, at least, may be the worst thing for the future of our sport. If we are being honest, it’s not really golf focused anymore. It is more party focused. With the team format and only 54 holes, it almost feels like a club championship at your local golf course.

But, at the same time, you must see the appeal of it for the players. It is a significantly smaller time commitment that also guarantees much more money than they would make on the PGA tour. In many ways, it’s a ‘win win’ situation for golfers. Every week, we see ridiculous contracts signed for hundreds of millions of dollars just to go play recreation golf.

But what are the down sides for the players that join LIV? Well, first, they lose all eligibility for the PGA tour and any PGA tour sanctioned events, including the Ryder Cup and Presidents Cup. Along with this, they are also restricted from competition in any major golf championship, erasing the possibility of their names being put into the history books. So, with these huge downsides, is it worth it?

Well, in my opinion, absolutely not. These professional players are already earning million-dollar payouts on the PGA tour, so why jeopardize your chances of being one of the greats to play in some Saudi sanctioned golf league that isn’t even on TV? That’s an answer that we will never know and one that the current legends are still trying to find out. Gary Player, a 9-time major champion and one of the greatest golfers ever agrees that LIV is not what’s best for the future of the game and doesn’t believe it will remain for much longer: “it’s a tour for players who don’t have confidence in their future.” He also spoke from personal experience, saying, “I wouldn’t take a billion dollars for my nine majors on both tours. I worked hard. I had desire. I traveled the world. It was an education, I met wonderful people”. Player has no regrets on his career and says he wouldn’t change a thing about it.

Not only is Gary Player speaking out, but many other current influential players are also heading the argument as well. Rory McElroy and Justin Thomas have both spoken publicly about their distaste for the LIV Golf tour and the people that endorse it. The most recent PGA Tour Player of the Year, Scottie Scheffler, has also thrown some shade, saying, “It looks like the local country club member-guest out there”.

Many influential players, past and present, have all joined in on a movement against the LIV Golf Tour. Joining LIV Golf is for some people the best thing to do, but for many that are chasing that dream to become one of the greats, it’s not the right path. You have to come to a decision; do you love the game for the game? Or do you only love it because of the paychecks?