It’s official – LIV Golf is no more.
Last week it was announced the LIV organizers had met with bankruptcy courts and that the league was going to cease operations.
One of the easiest predictions in golf was to forecast was the demise of LIV. The signs started when Brooks Koepka forked over $5 million to charity and followed the other rules set forth by the PGA Tour for him to return.
Then Patrick Reed left and look the course of playing on the DP World Tour for a year to earn his way back to the PGA Tour. LIV tried to push the narrative that new financing was coming, and the league would continue for another season.
But the writing was on the wall and the league is no more. Why was LIV going to be any different in golf than other sports faced in rival competitions.
The USFL took on the NFL and lost. The ABA lasted for a while but was eventually absorbed by the NBA. The XFL flashed quickly and then died. The other professional football league still alive are not competitors, but rather compliments the NFL, playing during the offseason, trying to give players to show the NFL they deserve a shot.
The World Hockey Association existed from 1972-1979 and set the standard for bringing European players to the United States. The WHA always had a feeling of being shaky but when the folded, four teams did join the NHL.
It served a purpose, much the same as LIV did with the PGA Tour. LIV did force the PGA Tour to increase its purses, and they also added extra players incentives. Once they did that, LIV’s days were numbered.
Now that LIV is gone, what happens to those players that fled the PGA Tour, often bad mouthing the PGA Tour along the way?
They are going to jump through hoops to get back in a that is as it should be. Say what you want about Koepka, but he saw the writing on the wall and took advantage of a PGA Tour offer to Major champions. He donated $5 million to charity just to get back to the PGA Tour.
Most of the LIV players did not take the offer and now they are golfers without a league. They do have the recourse to go the DP World route like Reed did and a few have already declared as much.
The PGA Tour has yet to offer a plan for golfers to come back but be sure of one thing – it’s not going to be cheap, nor should it be.
The players on the forefront of conversation are Bryson DeChambeau, Jon Rahm, Dustin Johnson, Phil Mickelson, and perhaps Cam Smith.
DeChambeau has publicly flirted with the idea of being a YouTube golfer, a spot where he has found success already. But he loves being in the spotlight and the public loves him, so I see him eventually coming back.
Rahm was the last major player to jump to LIV and he was very successful, but he is also not going to come close to seeing the money that LIV owes him. He was a surprise to me when he jumped and now, I would bet he is not happy he made the move.
Dustin Johnson has always been a popular player with the fans, and I see him eventually figuring out a way to come back.
Mickelson is done with professional golf for the most part. He burned a lot of bridges and has his own demons which seemingly never seem to stop coming. I have a feeling the PGA Tour wants nothing to do with him.
Smith is a fine player, capable to winning every week but there’s not a lot of personality and he does not even begin to move the needle when it comes to popularity.
There are others but they don’t carry the star power of the golfers I mentioned.
Eventually everyone will he a chance to come back but it is at least a year if not two away.
For me, I am glad to see LIV go away. The PGA Tour is better now, thanks to pressure LIV applied to amp up their purses and bonus money.
As the tour continues to evolve it’s only going to get stronger I look forward to watching every weekend during the season!
By Dennis Miller