This Thursday the world of golf can take the first step towards a change of capital proportions. The start of the LIV Golf Invitational Series in London, with Phil Mickelson, Dustin Johnson and Sergio García at the helm, trying to turn the PGA upside down at the tip of the checkbook and regulatory changes. The super league promoted by Saudi Arabia is undoubtedly the topic of the moment and that is that the eight tournaments and 250 million dollars in prize money seem to be enough to change the rules of the game.
Incentives that make the North American Tour nervous, which threatens to prohibit joint participation in these two circuits, but has not been able to stop the modern initiative. How it will be carried out, what the format will be, who agrees and who disagrees, are some of the questions that will be explained below.
First you have to understand what the LIV Golf Series is. This new circuit is born from the monetary support of Saudi Arabia and will have eight tournaments in 2022 (For 2023 they hope to be ten and in 2024 fourteen) that they will begin in June in London and continue in Portland, Bedminster, Boston, Chicago, Bangkok and Jeddah, ending in September in Miami.
The events will feature 48 players divided into 12 teams, who will compete over three rounds, with no cutoff and with everyone starting at the same time. In addition to these modifications, it was announced that all players and caddies will have microphones during all their games and that there will also be an individual competition. Guaranteed show.
Obviously the weight of this circuit is money. From the organization they have reported that each date will award prizes close to 25 million dollars, being the golf event that will distribute the most money in the world. If the comparison exercise is carried out on the PGA, on this tour the tournament that delivers the most money is The Players with a jackpot of 20 million dollars, being 3.6 for the champion. In the case of LIV Golf, the winner of each event will receive 4 million US dollars.
The Majors (the four biggest tournaments in the world and not owned by the PGA) are also left behind in this fight. The Augusta Masters distributed this year 15 million, being 2.7 for Scottie Scheffler, winner after a perfect week. In addition, the super league awards large prizes to the last classified of each date, managing to win 120 thousand dollars just for participating.
But this event would be nothing without its stellar figures. Greg Norman, golf legend and CEO of LIV Golf Investments, knocked on the door of most of the PGA’s top players and was invited in by more than a few. The first of them Phil Mickelson.
“Lefty” ya he had said months ago that the idea of an alternative circuit did not seem unreasonable, something that caused the winner of six majors to receive strong criticism for his comments. That made him not play tournaments for many months and he kept an almost spectral profile. That until now, since just days before the LIV in London begins, Mickelson delivered a statement where he told the worst kept secret of the event: Phil will play the super league and will give up his PGA card, this after threats from the circuit North American.
Another who made the same decision was Dustin Johnson, former world number one and winner of Augusta in 2020. Although the American initially showed his support for the PGA, he finally turned his jacket around and signed his presence, after payment of 125 million dollarson the new tour.
Branden Grace, Louis Oosthuizen, Charl Schwartzel, Kevin Na, Graeme McDowell, Lee Westwood and Sergio Garcia are also signed up for the first league tournament. The latter had already shown his discomfort after a run-in with a judge at the Wes Fargo Center where he visibly angrily yelled, “I can’t wait to leave this circuit! I can’t wait to go. Just a couple more weeks and I won’t have to deal with you guys anymore.”, commented the winner of the Masters in 2017.
But Saudi power does not stop there. A few hours ago the British media “The Telegraph” announced that in the next few days three top players will also show their support for the new initiative. Is about Bryson DeChambeau, Patrick Reed y Rickie Fowler.
The escape of the first could be expected, since he is a young player, with a lot of commercial impact and with a vision more linked to the show. But that of the other two hurts greatly in the PGA and that is that both Reed and Fowler are veteran players and emblems of the tour.
The position of the PGA before this new circuit has been clear. Those who play in the LIV Golf Series will lose their card on the North American tourseeing themselves harmed in the world rankings and in their chances of playing the most famous team competitions in the world (Ryder and Presidents), over all American players.
That is why Mickelson, Johnson, Garcia, Oosthuizen and Na have already resigned from the PGA, immediately being left without a card to play their events. Something that at the moment will not complicate the first to dispute the majors this year.
In fact, the American Golf Association (USGA) has already reported that it will not cause problems so that the golfers who compete in the LIV can be in the US Open, the third major of the year, which will be played between June 16 and 19. “We pride ourselves on being the most open championship in the world. Players who have earned the right to compete in this year’s tournament will have the opportunity to do so.”, although he warned, “This decision should not be construed as endorsing an alternative organizing entity, nor as endorsing the actions or comments of individual players.”.
This is partly explained because the majors are not owned by the PGA and operate under their own participation logic. Mickelson, Johnson and Garcia, for example, are guaranteed a lifetime presence at the Masters after having previously won the green jacket. Also, for example, certain past victories give them the chance to have a guaranteed invitation until certain years in other majors.
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Now, the biggest problem faced by LIV Golf players is that at the moment it does not have a score for the world ranking, so players who do not have extra permits will not be able to participate in the majors thanks to their positions in the overall listing.
Greg Norman gave one of the juiciest news in recent days by announcing that Tiger Woods turned down a nine-figure offer to be part of the Saudi league events. In fact, there are not a few sources that say that the offer was specifically 700 million dollars, just for participating. Something never seen before and that would take the native of Cypress to a considerable rise in a fortune that is already immense.
The refusal despite being surprised by the high amount of the sum, is not new if you see the comments that the winner of 15 majors had made some time ago. “I believe in history, in the big tournaments, in what Jack did [Nicklaus] y Arnold [Palmer], creating our circuit. There’s a legacy in that“, had said.
Rory Mcllroy on the other hand was more thoughtful when talking about this new league during his Memorial appearance. “When I became a professional I played for money. Now I play golf for money? No. My situation has changed over the years. Some guys are in a position where they’re not guaranteed a job next year. It’s hard to stay in the top 125, especially when you’re over 40 and maybe you don’t hit the ball as far as you used to. Today it is a youth game. So if another entity comes along and says, ‘we guarantee you this amount for three years,’ plus you play for a ton more prize money, you play fewer events and you get to spend more time with your family, it’s very attractive to some of those guys who are in that position. I wouldn’t do it, but you have to try to put yourself in the situation of others”, he added.
Jon Rahm, number two in the world, also took advantage of his participation in the Jack Nicklaus tournament to address the controversial initiative, launching a message of support but with hints of warning. “I stay true to the PGA Tour. So far we have a great product. The problem that he is going to have, because I want to play against the best in the world, is when someone who is not even among the top 150 in the world wins four million. That’s when you’re going to create a problem. Whatever happens, the players, especially the young ones, end up with the best product. Things will change for the better. At this point in my career, if I go there and get banned from the PGA Tour, I sacrifice too much. So for now I stay where I am and we’ll see how things go. You never know what is going to happen. The PGA Tour has been around for many years and if they scare you, I hope things improve”, he commented.
