On Thursday, September 19, 2024, the PGA 0f America announced that LIV Golf players are eligible to compete in both the PGA Championship and the U.S. Ryder Cup teams going forward.
“Going forward, all LIV Golf players are eligible for the PGA Championship and any American player who qualifies for the Ryder Cup on points or is added to the U.S. team as a captain’s pick is eligible to compete,” The PGA of America said. “This is consistent with LIV Golf players competing in the PGA Championship the past two years. Brooks Koepka was a member of the U.S. Ryder Cup team last year.”
On the other side of the pond, the European Ryder Cup team has a pathway in place for those LIV Golf players to be eligible for the biennial match play event by playing in at least four events on the Europe-based DP World Tour per year.
In addition, those players must also pay fines for competing in tournaments on the LIV tour that conflict with DP World Tour events. Spaniard Jon Rahm, a key European contributor in the Ryder Cup in 2023 before joining LIV, intends on playing in the required number of events and has appealed the fines that the DP World Tour assessed him.
The next stop for the Ryder Cup is Bethpage Black in New York September of 2025.
So, is that progress? The waters are still extremely muddy. We are hearing that talks are back on between the PGA Tour, the DP World Tour and the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund, LIV’s parent company but there have not been any signs of legitimate progress or models to show how all these entities can be merged.
No matter who you listen to or what you read, nothing seems to paint a clear picture of future solidarity or even a path toward compromise. Thankfully, none of that appears to be slowing down the wonderful resurgence of the game itself. Tee times are still hard to secure and memberships at private clubs are healthy and growing.
Without any exhaustive research or crunching Nielsen Ratings numbers, the PGA Tour isn’t anywhere near where it would like to be in terms of television ratings and while LIV may have unlimited funding, it has very limited appeal to the golfing public.
That makes evaluating the 2024 professional golf season very difficult. There is no question that Scottie Scheffler had a season for the ages. His total PGA Tour earnings of $62,228,357 this year ranks 9th on the all-time money list. Yes, we’re talking careers not years. Why don’t we have some fun with the numbers. Scottie averaged $3.3M per tournament. $830K per round. $12K per shot and $3K per minute on the course. That’s based on a four- and half-hour round.
In the future, how will we assess the success? Major League Baseball is now adding The Negro League players statistics to the overall MLB numbers. Would Scheffler been as dominant if all the LIV stars would have been competing? Would Jon Rahm, Cam Smith, Bryson DeChambeau, and Dustin Johnson or several others cut into those ostentatious numbers? Of course they would have.
Does Scheffler need to apologize? How about the LIV guys? Many of their deals dwarf what Scheffler pocketed and earned. They got paid simply for jumping ship. That money was guaranteed. Performance didn’t even enter the equation. I know there are many purists like the Brandon Chamblee’s of the world that will never forgive the LIV guys but honestly, I still love me some David Feherty. Dustin Johnson asked who wouldn’t take triple the salary for a little more than half the work? No need to answer that.
Like most of you, I simply want this to be fixed. I love golf. I love watching it on TV. Thankfully the majors still have that same feel and Xander Schauffele doesn’t have to be embarrassed about the field he bested at the PGA Championship or the Open Championship. His two wins this past season happened to be his first two majors. We can’t pretend that Scottie didn’t dominate and eclipse the field but damn, Xander had himself a year.
His official earnings were a paltry $18,355,910. His efforts brought about two majors, 3 runners up finishes, 15 top 10’s, 20 top 25’s and zero missed cuts. That is one seriously successful season, and he isn’t going away any time soon. Yes, we must figure in the LIV boys, but they were there when he hoisted the Wanamaker and became the Champion Golfer of the Year!
I think we are all hoping for the same thing. We want the best players in the world to compete against one another. I don’t want to discourage change for the better, but I can’t stomach shot gun starts, shorts for the players and music on tour. Now, full disclosure. I wear shorts until it’s simply too cold not to. I love some good tunes while I play and when I play in events and tournaments, I understand that shot gun starts are a necessity.
I’m sure that comes off as anti-LIV and I get that but I’m Old School by nature. I’m happy that LIV rattled the cages of the stodgy PGA Tour and forced them to start taking better care of the players. No one that is one of the best 150 on the planet at what they do should lose money when they’re doing their job. I believe that only those that deserve to play on the weekend should but those that miss the cut need to be compensated for expenses and make a little something for the effort.
While Scheffler has certainly proven that he can almost be as dominant as Tiger Woods in his prime, can he move the needle? Can he bring eyeballs to the TV? Can we get to a point where the odds are 50/50 Scheffler versus the field in a major championship? It’s not fair to expect anyone to supplant Tiger or even resemble what he did but with ratings dropping off significantly and professional golf splintered by rival associations, things must change.
Don’t look now but the previously mentioned two-time major champion Bryson DeChambeau has reimagined himself as a loveable and relatable star. He’s even spent time practicing his fist pump to achieve greater appeal with the fans. His YouTube channel has become must-see TV. With his growing number of subscribers eclipsing 1.5 million, he has surpassed the PGA Tour’s number. With his Break 50 phenomenon featuring guests like John Daly, Tony Romo and former president Donald Trump, his popularity is growing like out-of-control fescue.
DeChambeau’s prodigious length, quirkiness and newfound likeability makes him exactly what the PGA Tour is lacking and desperately needs. His performances in the majors have been impressive and there has been a 180 degree turn in his popularity. He could easily become the next John Daly without the baggage.
He has made a conscientious effort to let the fans in on who he really is and to show the rest of his peers that it’s important to make the events entertaining and show the fans they are valued and appreciated. He is trending toward becoming a John Daly-Chi Chi Rodriquez hybrid. He can drive par 4’s while entertaining and engaging the gallery. That is a much-needed commodity to keep the sponsors onboard and happy.
While I still can’t give you the blueprint for the integration of LIV into the PGA Tour, I can pump a made for TV event that should be a blast to watch on TNT in December. How about a little Rory and Scottie going head-to-head with Bryson and Brooks? Scheduled to be held in Las Vegas in mid-December, PGA Tour stars Rory McIlory and Scottie Scheffler will square off against marquee LIV players Bryson DeChambeau and Brooks Koepka. We are still awaiting the details on the venue, the format and prize money but it is going to happen and will hopefully prove to be the beginning of plausible future merger between the two entities.
Many are struggling with the logistics and overall look of what a combined PGA/LIV Tour would like but this event certainly shows tremendous progress in that direction of a merger. Considering where the dialogue was two years ago with the likes of Rory and Brooks, this is a huge step forward. When this news broke, this is what Rory said. “I’m thrilled to partner with Scottie in what promises to be an exciting duel against Bryson and Brooks in Vegas. This isn’t just a contest between some of golf’s Major champions, it’s an event to energize the fans. We’re all here to put on a great show and contribute to a goodwill event that brings the best together again.”
Bring the best together again. That is certainly the goal and sadly, all the negotiating and changes at the top and in the boardroom of the PGA haven’t exactly brought about hope and optimism. This is what Bryson DeChambeau said after winning the US Open at Pinehurst.
“If I’m to be frank, I hope we can figure things out quickly. All I want to do is entertain and do my best for the game of golf, execute and provide some awesome entertainment for the fans,” DeChambeau continued. “From at least what I can tell, that’s what the fans want, and they deserve that. You can say what’s happened in the past. You know, you were part of the reason. Let bygones be bygones and go figure it out. Let’s figure out this amazing game that creates so much positivity and get it back to where it belongs.”
There was another sign that the impending truce can be realized and that was the presence of LIV CEO and Commissioner Greg Norman at the Masters and Open Championships. He mentioned that he loves seeing how things are settling down. At the same thought, PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan is preaching patience. He says all the right people are at the table with the right mindset, but the conversations are complex and it’s going to take time.
I’m not exactly sure how to read between the lines. Patience is indeed a virtue, but the PGA Tour needs an influx of life, excitement and the ability to cash in on the unprecedented popularity of the game they play. There is no real urgency on the LIV side because they have unlimited funds and don’t really seem to care how quickly they can merge. So, it looks like it is somewhere between the movement of a glacier and the swing speed of Bryson DeChambeau’s driver on a par 5. Stay tuned.
