Editor’s note: “In Case You Missed It” is a periodic GGP+ feature that highlights a story from the Global Golf Post Monday magazine.
During a question-and-answer session with the media last week in Memphis, Tennessee, PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan was asked whether the release of the tour’s 2025 schedule – which looks almost identical to the 2024 schedule – suggests there are no changes coming that would involve LIV Golf in the next two to three years.
“I think that’s fair,” Monahan said.
In other words, don’t expect to see Jon Rahm or his Legion XIII team playing the PGA Tour any time soon.
That’s not a surprise. Though Monahan insisted talks between the tour and Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund are ongoing – “I’d just say that we’re in a good place with the conversations. That’s the most important thing,” Monahan said – golf’s great compromise still seems a long way off.
On the same day Monahan was discussing what has been an entertaining PGA Tour season, LIV Golf was at the Greenbrier in West Virginia celebrating the approaching 100th competitive round in the league’s still-young history.
It came with LIV’s familiar hyperbole, but considering how close the whole thing came to tanking before it began, the milestone moment was understandable even if the backslapping was a little much.
“We’ve changed the face of golf,” Bubba Watson said. “So, to be on that side of history is pretty special.”
Feel free to insert a big-eyed emoji here.
“As I look at a five-year vision, 10-year vision, I just see this thing exploding here shortly,” said Bryson DeChambeau, whose YouTube viewership numbers dwarf the number of eyeballs LIV attracts.
LIV proponents were saying the same thing two years ago, and here we are.
That said, rumors persist that the Saudis’ PIF is closing in on a deal to buy PGA National in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, which would create a conflict for the PGA Tour’s Cognizant Classic, which is played there, but it would provide a home course for Brooks Koepka and his Smash GC teammates.
As much as most of us would like to see a kumbaya coalition of some sort between the dueling sides, that remains unlikely as professional golf trundles ahead for the foreseeable future.
The tradition of griping about the format of the FedEx Cup playoffs has begun to wane in recent years because it’s tacky to complain about $100 million, which is what the 70 qualifiers will divide, knowing that the bulk of it likely will go to Scottie Scheffler, Xander Schauffle and Rory McIlroy because they are that good.
While LIV continues to talk about its growth while looking for a streaming partner that can bolster its still anemic TV ratings, the PGA Tour is doing just fine.
Should the Saudis dangle enough money in the next few months to persuade a couple of the tour’s brighter stars to change sides, that would be another bruising blow, but with the success of the tour’s signature-event model and the $20 million purses that come with those, the alarm bells have quieted.
The PGA Tour season is racing to a finish in two weeks at newly renovated East Lake in Atlanta where it is almost as unpleasantly hot as it was in Memphis last week.
If you ever wonder how much corporate dollars matter in golf, just look at the FedEx Cup playoffs. The first event is in Memphis – in August – because that’s where FedEx is based. The finale is in Atlanta – in August – where Coca-Cola and the Southern Company are based.
Big money, no-cut events with all the electrolytes and cold towels necessary.
The tradition of griping about the format of the FedEx Cup playoffs has begun to wane in recent years because it’s tacky to complain about $100 million, which is what the 70 qualifiers will divide, knowing that the bulk of it likely will go to Scottie Scheffler, Xander Schauffle and Rory McIlroy because they are that good.
Scheffler called the format “silly” last week because it’s possible for him to have been the best player on the planet this year and still finish 30th at East Lake if his neck issues flare up. That doesn’t make it silly. It makes it the playoffs, at least golf’s version of the playoffs.
Did David Tyree and the New York Giants think it was silly when they beat the undefeated New England Patriots in Super Bowl XLII in 2008 after squeaking into the playoffs with a 10-6 record?
That’s why Rory McIlroy got it right when he said, “Is it the fairest reflection of who’s been the best player of the year? Probably not. But I think at this point we’re not in for totally fair; we’re in for entertainment and for trying to put on the best product we possibly can.”
The trimmed-down playoff system works. It was too bulky when there were four tournaments and 125 players made it. Now, it’s three events. Twenty of the 70 players who were in Memphis were eliminated, and the 50 who are playing this week at Castle Pines near Denver have earned their spots in the signature events next year.
Monahan pointed out that two-thirds of the players who made the top 50 last year are there again this year, which means there is enough turnover to keep things fresh.
Two weeks remain in the meaty part of the PGA Tour season – the fall events are like an after-dinner cordial – and then it’s football season.
The finish line is in sight. The question is who gets there first.