There were some minor tremors last week – think a 2.0 earthquake – in the golf world when LIV Golf announced their tour would go from their 54-hole rounds to 72 holes for each tournament.
It was done in hopes of LIV getting Official World Golf Rankings (OWGR) points for its players, with the main hope being that LIV players would have a chance to qualify for the majors.
Right now, the main ways for LIV players to qualify for majors are through DP Tour events or exemptions from previous majors.
One of the OWGR’s problems with LIV was the 54-hole tournament event but that wasn’t the only issue. The no-cut format and smaller fields have also been points of concern.
Moving the tournaments to 72-holes is a step in the right direction but not the total package needed. I am guessing they will get some ranking points, but it won’t be on an even basis with the PGA Tour.
There is a tremendous sense of irony to the change since the 54-format was a major selling point of LIV to lure players away from the PGA Tour. That, and the insane amount of money going to the players for no cut events.
While players that signed with LIV have certainly made more money than most of them would on the PGA Tour, they have also lost some very important things as well.
As mentioned above, qualifying for majors. And with that comes a big thing – relevance. So many of the players have lost any relevance they had on the PGA Tour.
Whether it’s because there is nowhere near as good as exposure on LIV on TV as compared to the PGA Tour, or very few LIV players qualifying for majors.
Outside of players like Bryson DeChambeau, Jon Rahm, and to a lesser extent, Brooks Koepka, LIV players are hardly talked about.
Probably the one who has suffered the most is Taylor Gooch. He was a promising young player on the PGA Tour when he chased the LIV money.
Now, he struggles to be relevant and is left to make statements where is sounds like a whiny brat in his pathetic attempts to have relevance.
It’s not working as it has turned people off to his moronic takes.
I do think LIV took another step in the right direction when they got rid of Greg Norman as their leader. Norman was necessary when LIV was launching as he has always been someone that stirs the pot. Once LIV got going, the need for Norman was less as his act grew old and the longer, we had to deal with his rants, the more it turned people off.
I think where we are with LIV is about as good as it is going to get for that organization. It is not going to be the PGA Tour. I honestly feel like the PGA Tour should offer an amnesty period for players that left, and I think you would see a number of players come crawling back.
As the young players on the PGA Tour continue to grab the spotlight and the exposure that comes with it, they will become the household names of the future.
And those left in LIV will continue to ply their skill set in obscurity except for the very few players that still enjoy popularity.
DeChambeau has made the effort to stay popular. He showed up to the Procore Championship at the Silverado Resort PGA Tour event as a spectator to team-build with his Ryder Cup teammates.
It’s efforts like that that still endear DeChambeau to golf fans in the United States. It’s something Gooch will never enjoy.
I miss the days of just the PGA Tour but as each year passes I think LIV won’t grow where organizers hoped and eventually it will wither away to nothing.
By Dennis Miller