Golf Still Misses Seeing Biggest Names Competing Against Each Other

I make no apologies for once again addressing the lack of progress being made in reaching an agreement to bring down the barriers that currently exist between the PGA Tour and LIV Golf.

Why? That’s simple enough. It is an issue that continues to exercise the minds of the world’s best players. 

We have also had to read and listen to some utter drivel.

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Phil Mickelson has never been knowingly undersold when it comes to stirring the pot and last week he announced that, in his view, Joaquin Niemann is the best golfer in the world. 

He is not. Period. Don’t get me wrong, I regard Niemann highly and he has enjoyed real success on the LIV Golf Tour. But the best golfer on the planet? It is absurd.

In 19 starts in majors he has a best finish of tied 16th at the 2023 Masters. There have been seven missed cuts. His best world ranking came in 2022 when he rose to 15th. He has won twice on the LIV Tour in 2025. Rory McIlroy has won twice on the PGA Tour. But there is no real comparison. Niemann’s victories came in 54-hole tournaments against 54-man fields. McIlroy beat larger fields over 72 holes to win the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am and the Players Championship.

It is also worth pointing out that a three-hole playoff for the Players Championship, screened at 1pm in the UK and 9am in Florida, was watched by 1.5m people. The final round on Sunday peaked at more than 6m. These are viewing figures that LIV can only dream of achieving.

The only way that Niemann, and others like him, can prove their worth is by competing against world-class fields in 72-hole tournaments.

And Scottie Scheffler agrees. He said last week: "I definitely miss the competition. They got some pretty good players on their tour. I still think the PGA Tour has by far the best players in the world. The depth of our fields and the competition that we have is still hands down the best competition that there is in the game of golf. That’s why I’m still playing on the Tour. 

"I love the competition. I wish some of those guys had stayed, but at the end of the day, they made their choice. They knew the consequences of that decision, and I’m not here to change their minds. I hold no ill will toward any of those guys that left.

"They did what they wanted to do, and I can’t control their life. I’m not going to sit here and say they should have done something differently. They made their choice. If we want to figure out why the game of golf is not back together, go ask those guys. Go to wherever they are playing this week and figure out when the game is going to come back together."

It goes without saying that most right-minded golf fans want to see Scheffler, McIlroy and Co going head to head once again with the likes of Niemann, Jon Rahm, Brooks Koepka and Bryson Dechambeau. Between them, Scheffler and Rahm have won the past three Masters. DeChambeau is the current US Open champion.

I am guessing that the LIV players will expect to be able to walk back in without any consequences. That surely cannot be allowed to happen - and is at the heart of the problem. So how will the rebels reintegrate?

Scheffler said: "One of the great joys of my career is going up against Jon Rahm. He’s a tremendous player, tremendous talent. I was definitely surprised to see him leave last year and I for sure miss playing against him. We had some great battles over the years. We had some great battles in the Ryder Cup.

"He’s a great guy to compete against. So, I definitely miss playing against him. I wish we got to do it more often, but I definitely will soak in all the opportunities that I get to compete against him going forward."

During the Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass, PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan revealed that we are still in a stalemate when it comes to uniting the game - and refusing to go into detail with the world’s media about precisely where we stand.

Adam Scott, who is the player-director on the PGA Tour’s Player Advisory Council, did shed some light on proceedings.

He said: "The biggest hangup is in how we see the highest level of competitive golf going forward. The product of LIV and the product of the PGA Tour work in very different ways. So I think the challenge is figuring out how that can come together and be really reunification, which is kind of what everyone is shooting for.

"The Tour’s being very careful and respectful of everyone and wanting to give everyone, the golf fans and the media and the players, the product that they want. But we’re starting from two different sides of this, so I think it’s hard to find the balance that’s acceptable for everybody. And it also may not be ultimately possible."

And at last we have an admission that makes some sense - we may just have to accept that there will not be a deal happening anytime soon.