Does Anybody Believe LIV Golf is Helping to Grow The Game

View From The Fairway by Derek Clements

Will you be glued to your TV when Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy take on Brooks Koepka and Bryson DeChambeau in the latest edition of The Match in December?

No? Me neither.

We are led to believe that this might be the first step in a long-awaited peace deal between the PGA Tour and LIV Golf. I don’t believe a word of it. In my view, this is just another cynical money-making venture that will further line the pockets of four of the wealthiest golfers on the planet and I have no interest in it whatsoever.

McIlroy said: "I’m thrilled to partner with Scottie in what promises to be an exciting duel against Bryson and Brooks in Vegas this December. This isn’t just a contest between some of golf’s major champions; it’s an event designed to energise the fans. We’re all here to put on a great show and contribute to a goodwill event that brings the best together again."

Energise the fans? A goodwill event? Oh come on Rory. Seriously?

Unbelievably, Greg Norman has been chief executive of LIV Golf for three years. And what a three years it has been.

With its seemingly unlimited treasure chest of Saudi-funded cash, LIV has turned our sport upside down, causing a huge rift in the men’s game. 

We have seen the likes of Jon Rahm, Bryson Dechambeau, Brooks Koepka, Phil Mickelson, Tyrrell Hatton, Patrick Reed, Sergio Garcia, Lee Westwood, Paul Casey, Graeme McDowell, Ian Poulter et al accept mouthwatering sums to play for Norman’s 54-hole circus. 

LIV have also gone out of their way to snap up some of the game’s brightest young prospects, thus denying them the prospect of playing in the sport’s majors.

It has led to the DP World Tour banning all Europeans who defected from playing in the Ryder Cup. Interestingly, the USA have opted to turn a blind eye, with Koepka qualifying for the American team last year, and DeChambeau looking like a shoo-in for next year’s contest. And Keegan Bradley has made it clear he wants the best players in his team in 2025.

For the past 15 months there has been talk of a peace deal, but it seems as far off as ever.

And it is quite clear that Norman doesn’t really care one way or the other.

You may have missed a statement he recently released to mark his three-year anniversary. Some of his assertions were extraordinary, to say the least.

He said: "Players are now earning more money today than ever before. Players’ families, fans and caddies are now a priority. Players Health & Wellness is now in the best place ever in professional golf history. Additional player pathways for them to compete."

What is beyond dispute is that those competing at the elite level on the PGA Tour have definitely benefited from LIV’s arrival. Determined to avoid further high-profile defections, the PGA Tour introduced a series of Signature Events offering huge prize funds. And Scottie Scheffler picked up $25m for winning the Tour Championship and FedEx Cup, taking his earnings for the season to a scarcely-credible $54m.

Norman went on to say: "In just 34 events our teams continue to grow, proving there is room for competition in our sport. LIV Golf belongs and LIV Golf is here to stay!"

That remains open to debate. I seriously doubt that real golf fans give a fig about LIV’s team element, or even know what the teams are called and who plays for them. 

And as for LIV Golf being here to stay, it is clearly not a financially viable model. I seriously wonder how long the Saudis are going to be prepared to pour millions of dollars at a tour that, quite frankly, doesn’t make a profit. In fact, it doesn’t come anywhere close to making a profit.

There will surely come a time when the paymasters ask themselves if the return they are getting on their money is worth all the adverse publicity it attracts.

But where Norman is most definitely way off the mark is in his assertion that LIV is helping to grow the game and attract youngsters. 

Golf is a game of history and tradition. Does anybody really care which LIV multi-millionaire wins its tournament in Chicago or at The Greenbrier? I would challenge the average golf fan to tell me who won at The Greenbrier.

For the record, it was Koepka.

And CW Network’s broadcast of the tournament drew a smaller audience than ESPN’s broadcast of a professional pickleball event. 

Speaking to the Press Association, Nick Faldo said: "They’ve had three seasons and they haven’t made much impact on the [viewing] numbers. Quite amusingly, pickleball was bigger than their two stars in a playoff, the sort of excitement everyone wants. But it got beat for viewership by pickleball.

"The bottom line is that the players have got the last laugh because they are being rewarded so much either through the size of the prize money or appearance fees and they are not moving the needle. And I can’t see that changing because, as we know, it’s been so damaging to the public’s attitude to golf. I still talk to my producer friends in TV, and people are just not watching. It’s hurt the attitude towards golf.

"I did 18 years of television, and I was told not to talk about prize money. When the FedEx Cup went to 10 million, I went, ‘Wow, look at this, this putt is worth 10 million!’ That was about the only time I mentioned money, and now, all of a sudden, it’s ridiculous amounts. It’s really changed it."

Faldo is quite correct. Every mention of LIV revolves around the money at stake. Sadly, the same can now be said of the PGA Tour.

And there is absolutely no evidence to support Norman’s claim that LIV is growing the game among youngsters. It cannot be denied that the galleries who attend LIV events are noisy and boisterous but that does not make them true golf fans. 

The PGA Tour’s Phoenix Open attracts the biggest galleries in our sport but even Jay Monahan would admit that the tens of thousands of drunken fans who attend the event are NOT golf fans. And I would seriously question how many of them have ever held a golf club in their hands.

Yes, Norman and LIV have changed our game. But does anybody really believe they have had a positive impact on our beloved sport? 

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