Golf has long been a game of honor and integrity. Created in Scotland in the 15th century,
the worlds greatest golfers have all wanted to compete to win championships. The PGA Tour has been
the dominating tour in golf for the better part of a century.
In 2021, that all changed. A new league named LIV Golf was founded
to poach the best players from the PGA Tour, and to try to become the dominant force in the professional golf scene. With it's Saudi-backed funding,
the league quickly came into controversy with the PGA Tour, as well as the public audience.
About the PGA Tour
Founded in 1929, the PGA Tour has been the pinnacle of professional golf in North America. The goal of
every golfer has been to play on the tour, because playing there means something. The long and storied
history has long been a part of why players want to compete on this tour.
The format of a PGA Tour tournament is as follows:
Average field size of 144-156 players
Individual stroke play
72 holes played over 4 days
36 hole cut - Top half of the field plays the weekend
Tee time start - Every player tees off at a designated time spread out over the day
Prize money distributed based on 72 hole results - Players who get cut don't get paid
Competitive tournaments is what the PGA Tour is all about. With the bottom half of the field being cut from
every tournament, this makes players compete to make the cut and get paid.
Season Long Race for the FedexCup
The FedexCup is a season long race to see who the best player was that year. Every tournament has a
specified amount of points rewarded to players based on their placement, and those points are totaled
over every tournament. The top 100 players at the end of the year get to keep their PGA Tour membership card
and are eligible to play in tournaments the next year. If a player is outside the top 100 in the FedexCup,
they have to fight to qualify for tournaments in the "minor leages", which is the KornFerry Tour. This system
allows players to compete for a spot on Tour, and prove that they deserve to be playing at the highest level.
At the end of the regular season, the top 70 in FedexCup points will enter the playoffs. After the first playoff event,
the top 50 will move on to the next playoff event, and after that, the top 30 will move on to the Tour Championship.
This is the most entertaining part of the season, because you get to watch players fight for the future of their playing
careers. The competition on the PGA Tour is unmatched, and this is what the players want. A truly competitive tour where
winning means more than money, it's about the history of the game and making a name for yourself.
About LIV Golf
Founded in 2021 by Greg Norman, LIV Golf was created as a direct competitor to the PGA Tour. With guaranteed money up from for
players, this became an immediate attractor. Funded by the Public Investement Fund (PIF), LIV was immediately under scrutiny due
to their connection with the sovereign wealth fund of Sauda Arabia.
After founding the league, LIV immediately began recruitng players. They went to the PGA Tour and started offering ridiculous amounts
of money to players to get them to join their league. All of this money would be presented up front, so it would take away the incentive
to compete for your money. It was reported that Jon Rahm, a spanish golfer, was offered $300-500 million dollars to join LIV, which he took.
LIV claimed that their league would be different from the PGA, and embracing a more "fun" and "fast-paced" kind of golf. This appeals
to certain viewers, but not ones who appreciate the roots of the PGA, and the history of the game.
The format for LIV Golf tournaments are as follows:
Field size of 54 players
Teams of 4 players
Individual stroke play, with a team aspect as well
54 holes played over 3 days
No cut - All players play all 3 days
Shotgun start - All players start at the same time but on different holes
Prize money distributed based on the individual winner, as well as the winning team
The team aspect to this league is what brought some attention to it in the first place. The length of tournament, team aspect, no cut,
and a shotgun start is what sets this league apart from the PGA Tour. They are trying to appeal to the younger audience of golf, and
cut down on the time spent watching.
