LIV Golf takes front-nine lead in 2024 war with PGA Tour

The Saudi-backed league keeps adding big names while the PGA Tour has lacked sex appeal at the start of the season as merger talks go on behind the scenes

Greg Norman welcomed the latest signing for LIV Golf this week by tweeting: “When I think of Anthony Kim, I can’t imagine a more perfect fit for what we’re trying to do.” The former US Ryder Cup star is another high-profile addition to the LIV rosters following Jon Rahm and Tyrrrell Hatton.

Kim has not played golf on the PGA Tour since 2012, and it is unclear how he will perform in Jeddah. However, he has a knack for attracting media attention both on and off the field. And his reappearance in Saudi Arabia will be a hot topic in the third tournament of the LIV season, which has produced more winners and stories, and sometimes stronger, sexier fields, than any of its PGA Tour rivals thus far. is certain.

The first two LIV tournaments were won by Joaquin Niemann and Dustin Johnson since being invited to the Masters. Three players, including amateur Nick Dunlap, won for the first time in the first eight tournaments on the PGA Tour this season. Jake Knapp won his first Mexican Open title last weekend, beating newcomer Sami Valimaki of Finland, Stefan Jaeger of Germany, Justin Lower of the United States and Cheng-Tsun Pang of Taiwan. It wasn’t really a “who’s who?” » Golfers around the world: “Who is this? Former PGA Tour winner Mark Rye writes in X. A very good player, but who is this? This is a new low…”

In early February, AT&T Pebble Beach’s Pro-Am field was shortened to 54 holes due to weather conditions to eliminate the possibility of a final-day showdown between winners Windham Clark and Ludwig Berg. Niemann won a thrilling four-hole playoff at LIV Golf Mayakoba the same weekend, and SI.com reported that viewership on the LIV Golf YouTube channel for the Mexico tournament increased by 173.3% compared to last year. The second LIV event was held in Las Vegas during Super Bowl week.

The Saudi-backed league has gradually become more competitive with some of the biggest and most high-profile players, if not all of the best, including Phil Mickelson, Patrick Reed, Bryson DeChambeau, Rahm, Hatton, and now Kim. The contract has been successful. Scottie Scheffler, Xander Schauffele, and Patrick Cantlay are great PGA Tour players, but they haven’t had much success at the box office.

This week’s Signant Classic at PGA National in Palm Beach Gardens features a stronger field with 19 of the world’s top 50 players, including Rory McIlroy, at the start of the Florida swing is. This season, LIV Golf changed its formula by adding an additional team, including Rahm and Hatton, and two wild card players.

There is still a serious problem of running out of ranking points in 54-hole uncut LIV tournaments, causing players to lose their rankings and become ineligible for major tournaments. There are currently 13 LIV players competing in the Masters, including former champions Phil Mickelson and Sergio Garcia, up from 18 last year.

This prompted Taylor Gooch, ranked 449th in the world who won three LIVs last season, to say, “If Rory McIlroy did a Grand Slam without the best players in the world, he would just get an asterisk.” ” he declared.

And with LIV’s refusal to sack captains like Lee Westwood, who finished bottom of the standings at the end of the season, LIV’s team competition still doesn’t feel like a real sport. Eddie Pepperell tweeted. “The problem with LIV isn’t that the field is weak, because it clearly isn’t. The problem is that despite having great players, the product itself is still very poor and hard to watch. is. This shows that something fundamentally is missing anyway.

However, these are uncertain times as negotiations between the PGA and DP World Tours and the Saudi Public Investment Fund continue. And the fact that McIlroy did not rule out participating in this week’s LIV Golf, albeit with a wide grin, is a hint of what could happen. The Ulsterman joining Rahm in LIV would be a disaster for the PGA Tour. However, fragmentation and dilution of the field is not good for golf, and the competition between LIV players and PGA Tour players will be in the spotlight. Any agreement that would allow LIV players to return to the PGA Tour would be particularly important, especially since the U.S. Tour is currently backed by a $3 billion investment from Strategic Sports Group, which includes Liverpool’s Fenway Sports owner. This poses a difficult problem.