“I think that’s fair,” replied Jay Monahan ahead of the FedEx St. Jude Championship. He was replying to a query posed by a reporter who asked whether the release of the 2025 PGA Tour schedule meant no association with LIV Golf for the next couple of years. Besides, he had even hinted at a delay in the merger while dubbing the negotiations as nothing short of “complicated.” However, many fans of the Saudi-backed league might consider this move to be risky for the men’s circuit, for one such follower shared their plans to “crush the PGA Tour.”
A user named chalkbro shared a post on Reddit pointing out how the 2024 season is “nearly over” while initiating a discussion on “how LIV can put the nail in the coffin of the Boring PGA Tour and continue to make golf louder.” They highlighted how it can be done as they expressed their agreement with Bryson DeChambeau’s idea of LIV expecting to “explode soon.”
USA Today via Reuters
PGA, Golf Herren THE PLAYERS Championship – press conference, PK, Pressekonferenz March 13, 2020 Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, USA PGA commissioner Jay Monahan speaks to media after the cancellation of the 2020 edition of The Players Championship golf tournament at TPC Sawgrass – Stadium Course. The tournament was cancelled at the conclusion of the first round due to the developing Coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic. Mandatory Credit: Adam Hagy-USA TODAY Sports, 13.03.2020 08:13:15, 14176856, NPStrans, PGA, TPC Sawgrass, The Players Championship, Jay Monahan, COVID-19, TopPic PUBLICATIONxINxGERxSUIxAUTxONLY Copyright: xAdamxHagyx 14176856
The PIF-funded circuit’s admirer took to the Reddit post to mention how the community needs to “embrace YouTube” and “hammer the PGA back” while pushing false narratives, “continue to win majors,” and “not give up on team format.” The post seems to have exploded, and many in the subreddit r/livgolf expressed their understanding of the current situation. And consequently, the comments section exploded as well, owing to the same.
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The events on the PIF-funded circuit can be watched through the LIV Golf+ app or the CW Network, for the latter had partnered up with the league back in 2023. As a result, they gained live coverage rights in a multi-year partnership deal. However, when it comes to the Monahan-led circuit, the Tour receives a whopping $700 million annually as of 2023, per reports from the likes of CBS, NBC, and ESPN.
A couple of fans couldn’t help but allude to the same while pointing out how a similar tactic might increase LIV Golf numbers. One person commented, “If they can land a major TV contract with TNT or the like I think that will help a lot. People will watch whatever is on and if it’s easy access. The reason why the PGA Tour has great numbers is because it’s the only golf on TV.” Another follower, meanwhile, responded while taking a jab at the men’s circuit, “The PGA Tour doesn’t have great numbers. The only thing people care about anymore are the majors. The tour is really in a bad place with basically two tiers now. If it’s not a signature week it’s basically a Korn Ferry event. I suspect a lot of these secondary events will lose their sponsorships once they expire and wither on the vine.”
A Reddit user put forth another move. “Two players, Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy switch and that’s the end of the PGA,” commented the fan as he urged LIV Golf to rope in the two top-ranked golfers in the world. But such a move might seem a bit unrealistic. While the former has not explicitly hinted at leaving the PGA Tour, his dominating run on the same speaks volumes. When it comes to the Northern Irishman, even though he had jokingly teased about the same, the golfer had quickly turned down the alleged $850 million offer made by Greg Norman’s circuit.
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On the other hand, some followers didn’t feel the need to sign in the two athletes, for they commented, “Their best path imo is to get better golfers in their mid-tier. IMO, a lot of people see LIV as 4-5 great players with a lot of just “others” rounding out the field. They don’t need Rory and Scottie necessarily (obviously would help though). They need 10-12 more guys the caliber of say [Shane] Lowry to put together better fields. Right now it’s a small handful of great players and the rest are just not that strong….seems to really compromise their legitimacy.”
Another fan agreed with the move and they reacted with a similar response, “No one could seriously argue the top end of LIV’s leaderboard isn’t elite, but if you look at the players outside the ‘lock zone’ this season, the average number of top 10 finishes for them all season is less than 1 each.” From DeChambeau to Graeme McDowell, there are only a handful of golfers in the 54-man line-up who boast a major win. What’s more, only a few like Joaquin Niemann, Talor Gooch, and David Puig, among others, have managed to earn invitations to the majors. Interestingly, out of the nine golfers in the Drop Zone, not one of them boasts a major win. Nevertheless, the current situation of LIV Golf truly does paint a worrying picture!
