After the pro golfers of America wrestled control of their organization from the PGA of America in 1974, the newly minted PGA Tour had close to two decades of harmony with its sponsors, its fans, and its players. While the Arnold Palmer era was slowly coming to an end, the likes of Jack Nicklaus, Lee Trevino, and Tom Watson continued to garner headlines. In the middle 1980s a foreign contingent of gifted European golfers rose to the forefront led by the likes of Seve Ballesteros, Nick Faldo, Sandy Lyle, Bernard Langer, and others of note. During that time a colorful bomber from Australia by the name of Greg Norman rose to the top of leader boards. The Great White Shark as he was nicknamed won a pair of majors, a slew of money, and was almost a Shakespearian figure in the ways he lost tourneys due to dramatic shot-making by his closest pursuers. Norman lost all four majors in playoffs during the 1980s and 1990s.
In the early 1990s, Norman reached the number one spot in the world rankings. As he looked around at the PGA Tour and all that it represented, Norman had the idea of forming a separate tour that would be underwritten by media mogul Rupert Murdoch, a fellow Australian. Instead of having tournaments with up to 156 golfers, a 36 hole cut, and a payout to those 60 or so golfers who played 72 holes, Norman envisioned smaller tournaments with fields limited to only the top 30-50 golfers in the world. The payouts would be greater, there would be no cut, and the top golfers in the world would compete against one another on a regular basis.
When Norman presented his plan to an assembled group of players, he got immediate pushback from the top professionals. The biggest obstacle to Norman’s plan came from the PGA Tour’s biggest name, Arnold Palmer. Palmer said he helped to build the tour and he would be damned if its model of meritocracy were to be seriously altered. Norman’s plan fell by the wayside although the PGA Tour in unison with other tours piggybacked off the idea and developed a series of World Golf Championships. The WGC events featured big money, no cuts, and limited fields. Greg Norman was embittered with the PGA Tour basically stealing his idea and running with it. It was a bitterness he would harbor for the next 30 years.
Some 10 years ago a new idea started floating around regarding team golf. The Formula 1 racing model was the basis and the group called itself the Premiere Golf League. They didn’t get too far with their idea from the PGA Tour perspective, but they did initially partner up with the Public Investment Fund (PIF) of Saudi Arabia for financial support. The COVID epidemic got in the way of furthering the plans of the Premiere Golf League. As time went on the golf loving director of the PIF, Yasir Al-Rumayyan, started to conceptualize a plan for what would turn out to be LIV Golf. There would be limited fields of 48 golfers and 12-four man teams, big purses, 54 hole contests, no cuts, and purses in the range of $20-$50 million. That was far more money than the top players on the PGA Tour were earning. Greg Norman was brought in as commissioner of LIV Golf, and the plan was to have an eight tournament circuit start up in 2022. Norman set about recruiting professionals to join this upstart endeavor.
Initially LIV Golf was able to sign bonus contracts with a handful of golfers who had names, but were past their prime. This group included Ian Poulter, Graeme McDowell, Sergio Garcia, Henrik Stenson, Lee Westwood, Richard Bland, Louis Oosthuizen, and Charl Schwartzel. American journeymen such as Peter Uihlein, Charles Howell III, and Pat Perez signed on as well. All were long in the tooth and $5 million signing bonuses were well worth jumping ship. Had they stayed on the PGA Tour and the European DP World Tour, they never would have earned that much as 40-somethings. Plus they assumed the purses would be bigger as well
LIV made a big splash by adding Phil Mickelson and Dustin Johnson to its stable of golfers. Phil had worn out his welcome on the PGA Tour while DJ claimed he wanted to play less golf and make more money at the same time. Injured PGA Tour stars such as Bryson DeChambeau and Brooks Koepka jumped ship as did top golfers Patrick Reed and Tailor Gooch. LIV Golf held its first tournament in London in June of 2022, it was won by Schwartzel, and he pocketed $4 million for his win. It was far more than what he had made in the previous five years on the PGA Tour. The team component also paid out money to the tune of $750,000 to each winning member. If you shot straight 80s and came in last place, you received $120,000.
The PGA Tour loyalists were stunned by the financial impact of LIV Golf and wanted changes made to the structure of the PGA Tour. Commissioner Jay Monahan and the so-called Delaware 23 of top pros floated the idea of increased purses, elite events, and no cut tournaments to meet the demands of the likes of Rory McIlroy, Jon Rahm, Scottie Scheffler, and the others who moved the needle. At the same time the PGA Tour and LIV Golf sued and counter-sued one another, were involved in Congressional hearings, and planned for future court dates based on monopolistic tendencies. Meanwhile the rank and file members of the PGA Tour were fighting their own internal war over what journeyman James Hahn called “the obnoxious greed” of the Delaware 23. Hahn envisioned the squeeze-out of the rank and file.
On April 4th of this year, LIV Golf lost its injunction to the DP World Tour regarding its exclusivity clause. Two months later on June 6th the PGA Tour, the DP World Tour, and LIV Golf announced its version of a cease fire. Costly litigation would end and an effort would be made for all three tours to exist under the same umbrella with major funding coming from PIF Saudi Arabia. While there was some form of a settlement, nothing was etched in concrete and nothing was apparent to sponsors, the pros, and fans alike. The Alan Shipnuck book, LIV and Let Die: The Inside Story of the War Between the PGA Tour and LIV Golf (Simon & Schuster), does a great job of spelling out the recent history of this battle between millionaire golfers and competing tours.
From a simplistic viewpoint, this is all about money. Back when Palmer and Nicklaus led the breakaway from the PGA of America, they wanted to be able to make the same kind of money that Willie Mays and Wilt Chamberlain made. Claude Harmon III, the golf instructor who works closely with Brooks Koepka, was quoted as saying that “Brooks is finally getting paid like a Super Bowl winning quarterback.” Of course with this emphasis upon star power, limited fields, and guaranteed money, what exactly does happen to lesser tournaments and their sponsors and what does happen to the likes of James Hahn and the pros who finish 100th on the money list? I’m not sure how this will play out, but I do know that fans of the game only care about the golf.
