War between LIV Golf and the PGA Tour! Is it more about money or moral principles?

For many years, the US PGA Tour has been considered the best golf competition in the world. In a way, it is like the NHL in hockey, the Premier League in football or the NBA in basketball. But now a competitor is coming from Saudi Arabia called the LIV Golf Tour. A competition that is dividing fans and players alike.

Although the word “competition” is seen as a positive factor in the sport, world golf is certainly not jumping for joy yet. The advent of competitive golf stirs the emotions and stomachs of many direct or indirect participants. More money, but also a lot of bad blood, has appeared in golf practically at the snap of a finger.

WHAT IS THE LIV GOLF TOUR?

For fans who don’t follow world golf events literally minute by minute, this is one of the most crucial questions these days. Even more so when the new LIV Golf Tour has already held its first tournament on the American continent (its second in total, the first being held near London in early June).

The LIV Golf Tour is a professional golf competition funded by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, which is run by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. It is now attempting to compete with the PGA Tour, hence the name “Saudi Golf League” for many.

In its inaugural season, it will offer a total of eight tournaments with a total purse of $250 million. By 2023, there will be ten tournaments, rising to fourteen a year later. The LIV designation symbolizes the Roman numeral for the number of holes per tournament, which is not 72, but only 54, compared to the traditional PGA Tour.

The fundamental difference from the PGA Tour is the number of tournaments, but not least the amount of prizes. By comparison, the second tournament of the LIV Golf Tour series in Portland, USA, had a prize purse of USD 20 million. The recent U.S. Open, which is regarded as one of the most prestigious majors on the traditional PGA Tour, had prize money of $17.5 million.

Only, while 156 players competed in the 122nd U.S. Open, only 48 competed in the LIV Golf Series tournament. That number of entrants is to be maintained for upcoming tournaments, which in simple math means only one thing – more money for the players.

And in the case of the U.S. Open, we’re talking about an over-subsidized tournament. Some PGA events are somewhere around $8 million, for example.

Already, big names have defected to the LIV Golf Tour, such as former world No. 1 and two-time major champion Dustin Johnson, six-time major champion Phil Mickelson, four-time major champion Brooks Koepka, U.S. Open 2020 Bryson DeChambeau, The Masters champions Patrick Reed, Sergio Garcia and Charl Schwartzel, former The Open champion Louis Oosthuizen and Ryder Cup stars Lee Westwood, Ian Poulter and Martin Kaymer.

Many of them explain their move mainly by the fact that they will be able to play golf for more money, while not having to tour dozens of tournaments a year week after week. They can focus more time on family and enjoy golf in a completely different dimension, with the different three-round format not being the biggest attraction by far.

Each participant in the LIV series will be guaranteed a guaranteed payout at each tournament. Not to mention a fat bonus just for making the move in the first place.

For example, Justin Johnson told Todays Golfers, “I usedto be determined to stay with the PGA. But I also don’t want to play for a living. And this gives me a chance to make sure.” Johnson has made roughly $74 million in his career so far. However, he cashed in the fabulous sum of $150 million just for signing with LIV.

The Saudi golf competition has also tried to poach marketing ace Tiger Woods, who would earn hundreds of millions of dollars, according to LIV Golf Tour boss Greg Norman. However, Tiger, like a number of other PGA Tour players, flatly rejected the generous offer. According to unofficial reports, for example, Phil Mickelson cashed in a $200 million bonus just for signing with LIV Golf. In Tiger’s case, there is talk of an even higher sum.

Woods says that the PGA Tour has a huge history behind it, made up of tremendous players. If some golfers are purely about finances, then he understands their decision to move to the LIV Tour. But the PGA Tour is more than just a generous ATM for him. It’s exciting for him just to be a part of such history.

“I believe in a certain legacy. I believe in great champions. I believe in great events that have a history, and I believe in comparing myself to historical figures of the past. We would have missed out on all of that if it wasn’t for the PGA,” the arguably greatest golfing legend currently playing proudly stated.

PGA TOUR FUNDAMENTALLY OPPOSED

The players themselves and the legendary PGA Tour puts their hands as far away from the LIV Golf Tour as possible, as they are all about moral principles. They describe Saudi Arabia as a country with a rich history of human rights abuses.

PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan doesn’t understand how players can walk out on a competition that is subsidised by the kind of money that many people are not afraid to label as bloody.

“I would ask any player who has left, or any player who has considered leaving:: Have you ever had to apologize for being a member of the PGA Tour?” asked Monahan during the CBS station’s broadcast of the RBC Canadian Open.

Players who have voluntarily decided to disaffiliate from the PGA Tour say it was the PGA Tour, in turn, that didn’t look at the problems, concerns and demands of the players. They said they felt like they were just a tool to make a lot of money for the whole business.

The PGA Tour even decided to completely suspend players who joined the LIV Golf Tour at the opening event at Centurion Golf Club near London. This is despite the fact that they were not allowed to participate in the tournament under PGA Tour rules. The PGA Tour intends to suspend other players in the same manner in the future.

Already, LIV Golf Tour participants have to undergo a series of uncomfortable questions at press conferences about whether it’s even worth it. There was even a pointed question from one journalist: “If Vladimir Putin hosted a tournament and paid handsomely for it, would you play in it?“

It should be noted that the LIV Golf Tour is far from the only sporting body that is subsidised by the Saudi public investment fund. Money also flows into Formula 1, boxing and football, for example. This money also played a major role in the recent takeover of Newcastle United football, which caused a great stir, and not just among the club’s fans.

Now, Dustin Johnson, Bryson DeChambeau and co. will be eligible at most for the majors they have qualified for before, perhaps by triumphing in one of these events. But otherwise, the door will be closed to the PGA Tour. For how long, it’s hard to say. The same is currently true for these golfers in the Ryder Cup and President’s Cup.

But not everyone is happy with this major decision by the PGA. Ian Poulter, for example, would like to play both tours. He has expressed frustration at the restriction and wants to appeal legally: “It doesn’t make sense. I’ve always had the opportunity to play golf all over the world. What’s wrong with that? I didn’t do anything wrong,” Poulter complained in an interview with ESPN.

Many other golfers would probably be happy to accept the LIV Golf Tour as just a decent income while still having the opportunity to play on the PGA Tour. In a statement, LIV Golf called the PGA Tour’s punishment “vindictive” and said it only deepens the divide between the Tour and its members.

As a result, July’s 150th edition of The Open is likely to be the last tournament to see the world’s best players together for some time. The LIV Golf Tour tournaments won’t even count towards the world rankings. At least not anytime soon.

The LIV Golf Tour is also opposed by a number of sponsors who want nothing to do with a competition subsidised by Saudi money. For example, RBC immediately ended its sponsorship of Dustin Johnson and Graeme McDowell after their decision to join the LIV Golf Series.

Rocket Mortgages immediately terminated their agreement with Bryson DeChambeau. Or Phil Mickelson’s deal with Callaway had been “on hold” since February, when the Golf Hall of Fame member’s transfer was being born.

EVERY MAN ON HIS OWN TURF

Greg Norman, the two-time champion of The Open who heads the LIV Tour, says he doesn’t answer to Saudi Arabia. He says it is absurd to condemn the competition that golf needs. Even though so far it has rather boiled bad blood among players and fans.

The PGA Tour has thus lost, and will probably lose, a number of interesting global names in recent weeks. It is trying to respond by significantly increasing the fees from next season, although PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan himself admits that the traditional circuit cannot compete with the highly subsidised Saudi league.

Although Monahan himself would welcome good and healthy competition, he regards the LIV Golf Tour as more of an irrational threat that doesn’t deal with return on investment or the actual growth of the game. He literally said that the LIV Golf Tour, unlike the PGA, is subsidized by a foreign monarchy that spends billions of dollars in an effort to buy golf. He referred to the competition as an exhibition, not a healthy sporting entity.

Rory McIlroy, one of the most popular golfers on the PGA Tour, also had interesting words. He is clearly on the side of the traditional event, and the advent of the LIV Golf Tour, in his opinion, will only damage the whole of golf, even with its rich history. He adds that what world golf needs above all is cohesion, which the Saudi project devalues.

“There is a lot of money there, which is tempting for some people. But I think they are thinking short-term. Everyone has to sort out within themselves if what they are doing is right,” McIlroy explained his clear stance.

Source: Todays Golfer, PGA Tour, LIV Golf Tour