LIV Golf reaches two major anniversaries with an uncertain future ahead

Yahoo

14 hours ago

We're in the midst of two pretty significant anniversaries for LIV Golf. If you weren't aware of that, well, that's one of the many challenges that the breakaway golf league continues to face, month after month, year after year.
Three years ago on June 9, 2022, LIV Golf's first-ever event teed off at the Centurion Club in London. Two years ago on June 6, 2023, LIV Golf and the PGA Tour announced a stunning 'framework agreement' that brought an end to the legal hostilities between the two tours and, in theory, laid the groundwork for future reconciliation and unification.
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Now, in 2025, the dream of a LIV-PGA Tour unification seems about as likely as Tiger Woods winning the U.S. Open next week … and no, Tiger Woods is not playing in the U.S. Open next week. Whatever LIV Golf is now, 'threat' is not it … and for all the PGA Tour's many missteps, misfires and mistakes, there's a very clear leader in the match-play duel between the two.
It's worth remembering that for several months in 2022, LIV appeared to pose an existential threat to the PGA Tour. Yes, that first tournament was more spectacle than competition, but it did feature some of the biggest names in the sport — Phil Mickelson, Dustin Johnson, Sergio Garcia — and some astounding paychecks. Soon afterward, Patrick Reed, Brooks Koepka and Bryson Dechambeau would join LIV, giving the breakaway tour a shot of juice and attitude the PGA Tour, at the time, simply couldn't match.
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The problem for LIV, though, was that attitude and gobs of cash were pretty much all the series had to offer. For instance, do you remember who won that first LiV Golf tournament? (Charl Schwartzel.) Do you remember literally any significant moment from any LIV Golf event? (Mayyyyybe DeChambeau's 58 in 2023 , but did you watch it live?)
That's the fundamental problem for LIV Golf — it's a series that still, three-plus seasons on, hasn't yet found a way to connect with most fans on a deep level. And two years out from the 'framework agreement,' the PGA Tour doesn't seem particularly inclined to do anything but wait out LIV until its Saudi financial backers either capitulate or pull the plug entirely.
This month marks those two significant anniversaries for LIV, but the real dates worth paying attention to are the ends of the most notable LIV contracts — specifically, those of Koepka and DeChambeau. Along with Jon Rahm, the two rivals-turned-bros are the most notable and globally competitive players on LIV, and unlike Rahm, their contracts are coming up for renewal soon.
LIV has succeeded in its effort to bring the game of golf around the world, like South Korea, but is still struggling to maintain any relevance. (Han Myung-Gu/Getty Images)
(Han Myung-Gu via Getty Images)
What they do next will shine a bright light on LIV's future path. Do they opt to re-sign with LIV, betting that the tour will increase its relevance? Or do they opt to end their contracts and sit out the year the PGA Tour requires to re-join its ranks? (They could, theoretically, still play in majors and on other non-LIV tours around the world, just not on the PGA Tour itself.)
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DeChambeau, in particular, is an interesting case. You could argue that LIV Golf is only his third-most-important golf commitment, behind the majors — where he's once again winning and threatening — and his own social media channel. You could also argue that LIV needs DeChambeau a whole lot more than DeChambeau needs LIV right now. The Mad Professor's next move will be a fascinating one to watch — and one he will surely describe in minute detail.
It's worth noting that LIV Golf is positioning itself as an organization whose goals aren't measurable by typical metrics like U.S. television ratings or existing fans' buy-in. The goal, as Mickelson noted earlier this week prior to LIV's Virginia event, is to expand the game's reach beyond what the PGA Tour can accomplish.
'We want all the best players in the world to be able to compete against each other more often and on a global scale, and the model that I was a part of for decades just didn't allow for that,' Mickelson said. 'We never played against each other. We didn't have elevated events. We never played all of us against each other outside of the majors. It was not able to move internationally. When they did have tournaments and [World Golf Championships] internationally, a lot of players didn't play. That's disappointing from a sponsor standpoint, from a fan standpoint. When you're paying for these events and television and you don't know what you're buying, that's frustrating.'
LIV has managed to snare some young potential future stars, including Tom McKibbin and Josele Ballester, and that could point to a viable future for the tour if it can sustain for that long. Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy were both once 'potential future stars' themselves, for instance. And there are certain LIV events — most notably Australia — which have resonated with local audiences. So far, though, LIV hasn't demonstrated it can elevate its own stars let alone create new ones.
But on a grander scale, LIV continues to face an uphill fight, a much more challenging one than its founders envisioned — or at least publicly proclaimed — back when LIV burst into existence. On its third anniversary, LIV's future is cloudier than it was on Day One. We'll see where things stand on the fourth.