Crowds gather around the 18th hole during the first round of LIV Golf Adelaide (Photo by Montana Pritchard/LIV Golf)
7 JUNE, 2023 - SHANK MEDIA, BY MATT HOOPER: 12 MONTHS AGO TODAY THE WORLD OF GOLF WAS ABUZZ AHEAD OF THE FIRST DAY OF THE LIV GOLF INVITATIONAL AT CENTURION COUNTRY CLUB, NEAR LONDON. I MADE THE FOLLOWING POST ON MY FACEBOOK PAGE: "All the mockers, the doubters, the establishment may well have to eat their words come the weekend. Do I think this is the long term future of the sport? No. Can it change the game for the better? Yes.
LIV Golf's legacy can be to force the much needed merger of the PGA Tour and European Tour, along with the Sunshine Tour, PGA Tour of Australasia, PGA Tour Canada and PGA Tour Latinoamerica. The sport needs a radically new platform to galvanise what we have in the Majors and the Ryder/Solheim Cups."
REMARKABLY YESTERDAY, AFTER JUST 15 EVENTS, LIV GOLF MERGED WITH THE PGA TOUR AND DP WORLD TOUR. THIS STUNNING LATEST DEVELOPMENT IN THIS SAGA WAS SOMETHING I HAD HOPED FOR AND INDEED PREDICTED, BUT NEVER IN MY WILDEST DREAMS BELIEVE IT WAS ANYWHERE NEAR TRANSPIRING. IT TRULY HAS BEEN A SHOCK AND AWE MOMENT IN THE WORLD OF GOLF SEEING YASIR AL RUMAYYAN AND JAY MONAHAN SAT TOGETHER ON THE CNBC SET UNVEILING THE PLANNED MERGER. THE GOLF MEDIA HAS IN LARGE NUMBERS GONE INTO TOTAL MELTDOWN, WITH MANY CRITICISING THE PLAN AND MANY WILDLY SPECULATING THAT LIV GOLF MERGED BECAUSE IT WAS FAILING.
SOME HAVE SPECULATED (ALAN SHIPNUCK, FIREPIT COLLECTIVE) THAT THE TEAM ELEMENT OF THE NEW ENTITY MIGHT JUST BE SIX EVENTS WITHIN THE SEASON, OR EVEN TAKE OVER THE 'SMALLER' EVENTS ON THE PGA TOUR (MATT GINELLA, FIREPIT COLLECTIVE), BUT BOTH SEEM TO ME TO BE WIDE OF THE MARK, AND I WILL EXPLAIN WHY LATER IN THIS PIECE. THE FINAL AGREEMENT MERGING THE COMMERCIAL ASSETS OF LIV GOLF, PGA TOUR AND DP WORLD TOUR WILL BE FINALISED OVER THE COMING WEEKS AND MONTHS, AND EACH OF THE TOURS WILL COMPLETE THEIR 2023 SCHEDULE BEFORE ANY POTENTIAL FUTURE CHANGES.
BETWEEN NOW AND THEN THERE IS SURE TO BE MUCH MORE HEATED DEBATE, ESPECIALLY BETWEEN THE PLAYERS ON THE PGA TOUR, DP WORLD TOUR AND THEIR LEADERSHIP. THERE WILL ALSO BE MUCH WILD SPECULATION BY THE MEDIA AND OTHERS, INCLUDING ME, AND IN THE ABSENCE OF ANY REAL DETAIL ABOUT THE FUTURE THAT IS CLEARLY INEVITABLE. IN FEBRUARY 2022 I SET OUT A VISION FOR THE FUTURE IN MY FEATURE 'SHEIKHING UP THE GAME - BATTLE FOR THE FUTURE OF GOLF', SOME 16 MONTHS LATER, HAVING SEEN THE LAUNCH OF LIV GOLF AND THE PLANS FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE PGA TOUR AND DP WORLD TOUR I HAVE COME TO THE OPINION THAT A NEW VISION FOR THE FUTURE OF GOLF NEEDS TO BE SET OUT.
THE HEADLINE IS THAT THE PGA TOUR, DP WORLD TOUR AND LIV GOLF ARE MERGING, BUT IN ESSENCE THIS IS A MERGER OF THE ENTIRE WORLDWIDE MAJOR TOUR NETWORK. LIV GOLF IS THE MAJOR INVESTOR IN THE ASIAN TOUR, OWNING THE INTERNATIONAL SERIES EVENTS AND CONTRIBUTING $300 MILLION OVER 10 YEARS TO THE TOUR; THE DP WORLD TOUR CO-SANCTIONS EVENTS WITH AND HAS A STRATEGIC ALLIANCE WITH THE JAPAN GOLF TOUR, KOREAN PGA, SUNSHINE TOUR AND PGA TOUR OF AUSTRALASIA, AS WELL AS RUNNING ITS OWN SECONDARY CIRCUIT, THE CHALLENGE TOUR; AND THE PGA TOUR RUNS THE FEDEX CUP, KORN FERRY TOUR AND THE PGA TOUR AMERICAS. THIS MERGER WILL BRING ALMOST ALL OF MEN'S PROFESSIONAL GOLF TOGETHER GOING FORWARD. IT HAS BEEN SAID THAT FOR NOW THE INDIVIDUAL TOURS WILL REMAIN INDEPENDENT OF ONE ANOTHER IN TERMS OF SCHEDULE, BUT FOR ME I JUST CANNOT SEE HOW THAT IS FEASIBLE GOING FORWARD.
IT WILL SURELY COME TO PASS THAT THIS MERGER HAS TO SEE A NEW PLATFORM, SIMILAR TO THE ATP TOUR MODEL, CREATED FOR WORLD GOLF, AND IF YOU INCLUDE THE FRANCHISE TEAM ELEMENT THEN PERHAPS THE UCI WORLD TOUR MODEL WOULD BE A BETTER FIT FOR A FUTURE ENTITY. SO THIS IS WHAT I THINK SHOULD HAPPEN NEXT:
THE 2024 SEASONS ON THE PGA TOUR, DP WORLD TOUR, LIV GOLF, JAPAN GOLF TOUR, ASIAN TOUR, SUNSHINE TOUR AND PGA TOUR OF AUSTRALASIA WILL DETERMINE ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA FOR THE NEW PLATFORM IN 2025, WITH ALL EVENTS SANCTIONED BY THESE TOURS BEING AWARDED POINTS SIMILAR TO THE FEDEX CUP.
THE TOURS WILL AGREE ON TIERS OF EVENTS WITHIN THE EXISTING SCHEDULE WHICH WILL ENABLE THEM TO AWARD THE CORRECT LEVELS OF POINTS TO PLAYERS COMPETING IN EACH EVENT IN 2024.
IN 2024 THE PGA TOUR, DP WORLD TOUR, JAPAN GOLF TOUR, ASIAN TOUR, SUNSHINE TOUR AND PGA TOUR OF AUSTRALASIA WILL CO-SANCTION A NUMBER OF EVENTS THROUGHOUT THE SEASON AS A FORERUNNER TO THE NEW ENTITY FULLY LAUNCHING IN 2025. (THESE EVENTS COULD BE NEDBANK GOLF CHALLENGE, ZOZO CHAMPIONSHIP, KOREA CHAMPIONSHIP, DUBAI DESERT CLASSIC, SAUDI INTERNATIONAL, HERO INDIAN OPEN, AUSTRALIAN OPEN, BMW PGA CHAMPIONSHIP, GENESIS SCOTTISH OPEN, HORIZON IRISH OPEN, SPANISH OPEN AND THE RBC CANADIAN OPEN)
EXISTING LIV GOLF MEMBERS WITH STATUS ON THE PGA TOUR, DP WORLD TOUR, ASIAN TOUR, JAPAN GOLF TOUR, SUNSHINE TOUR AND PGA TOUR OF AUSTRALASIA WILL BE ABLE TO PLAY EVENTS ON THOSE TOURS AS ADDITIONAL PLAYERS IN THE FIELD, MEANING MEMBERS OF THOSE TOURS WILL NOT BE EXCLUDED FROM PLAYING IN 2024.
EXISTING MEMBERS OF THE PGA TOUR, DP WORLD TOUR, ASIAN TOUR, SUNSHINE TOUR, JAPAN GOLF TOUR AND PGA TOUR OF AUSTRALASIA WOULD BE ABLE TO ENTER A WEEKLY DRAFT AT LIV GOLF EVENTS IN 2024.
AT THE END OF THE 2024 LIV GOLF SEASON THE NUMBER OF FRANCHISES OPERATING EXPANDS FROM 12 TO 18, AND THE TEAM CONCEPT IS REBOOTED ACROSS THE NEW PLATFORM, WITH TEAMS BUILDING SQUADS OF MANY GOLFERS WHICH COMPETE ACROSS EVERY LEVEL OF THE NEW PLATFORM. THE EXISTING LIV GOLF SCHEDULE OF EVENTS WOULD BE DISCONTINUED, BUT THE LIV GOLF CONCEPT WOULD LIVE ON WEEK TO WEEK ACROSS THE WORLD IN EVERY EVENT, AS IN RESPECT OF THERE BEING A TEAM LEADERBOARD AND POINTS AWARDED EACH WEEK TO THE TEAMS. THIS WOULD BE MUCH MORE LIKE THE UCI WORLD TOUR MODEL AND WOULD ENABLE EACH FRANCHISE TO RECRUIT GOLFERS AT VARIOUS STAGES OF THEIR CAREER, PROVIDING PATHWAYS AND SUPPORT TO NEW PROFESSIONAL GOLFERS. THIS ALSO RAISES THE POSSIBILITY OF THE LIKES OF RORY MCILROY, HIDEKI MATSUYAMA, AND TIGER WOODS OWNING AND OPERATING THEIR OWN FRANCHISES WITHIN THE NEW ENTITY.
IN 2025 THE NEW PLATFORM WOULD FULLY LAUNCH WITH TIERED SERIES OF EVENTS FROM THE CURRENT SCHEDULES OF THE PGA TOUR, DP WORLD TOUR, JAPAN GOLF TOUR, ASIAN TOUR, SUNSHINE TOUR AND PGA TOUR OF AUSTRALASIA. I WOULD PREDICT THAT THE TOP TIER OF EVENTS WOULD BE 18 EVENTS WITH 8 IN THE US AND 10 WORLDWIDE, THE 8 AMERICAN-BASED EVENTS WOULD MOST LIKELY INCLUDE 3 PERMANENT EVENTS (GENESIS, API, MEMORIAL) AND 5 ROTATING US-BASE EVENTS WHICH WOULD ENABLE TOURNAMENTS ACROSS AMERICA TO ATTRACT THE VERY BEST GOLFERS IN THE WORLD. THE 8 WORLDWIDE EVENTS WOULD SURELY BE SPREAD ACROSS THE GLOBE WITH TOURNAMENTS IN SOUTH AMERICA, AFRICA, AUSTRALASIA, ASIA, THE MIDDLE EAST AND EUROPE. THESE CAN BE EXISTING EVENTS OF HISTORY AND PRESTIGE INCLUDING THE AUSTRALIAN OPEN, DUNLOP PHOENIX TOURNAMENT, SAUDI INTERNATIONAL, DUBAI DESERT CLASSIC, NEDBANK GOLF CHALLENGE, BMW PGA CHAMPIONSHIP, GENESIS SCOTTISH OPEN, SPANISH OPEN, CANADIAN OPEN AND BRAZIL OPEN.
THE TIERS UNDERNEATH THIS TOP TIER WOULD BE LARGER AND WOULD BE MADE UP OF THE EXISTING EVENTS ON THE PGA TOUR AND DP WORLD TOUR, AS WELL AS SELECTED EVENTS FROM JAPAN, ASIA, SOUTH AFRICA, SOUTH AMERICA, MIDDLE EAST AND AUSTRALASIA, WITH THE REMAINING EVENTS ON THE TOURS OUTSIDE EUROPE AND THE US MAKING UP THE VAST MAJORITY OF THE LOWER TIERS IN THE NEW SYSTEM.
WILL ANY OF THIS HAPPEN? POSSIBLY AND POSSIBLY NOT. IT IS INCUMBENT UPON ALL PARTIES INVOLVED TO ENSURE THAT THIS ISN'T JUST MAKING THE PGA TOUR RICHER AND MORE INTROVERTED. GOLF IS A GLOBAL GAME AND GOLFERS AT THE TOP LEVEL SHOULD BE PLAYING GLOBALLY, IT IS THE ONLY WAY THEY WILL FULFIL IN THEIR MISSION TO GROW THE GAME GLOBALLY. I, LIKE ALL OF YOU, WILL WATCH ON WITH GREAT INTEREST AND CONCERN AT THE NEXT STEPS TAKEN BY YASIR AL RUMAYYAN AND JAY MONAHAN. AS WE SIT HERE TODAY IT IS MY FIRM BELIEF THAT THIS IS A GREAT MOMENT IN THE MODERN HISTORY OF OUR SPORT AT THE PROFESSIONAL LEVEL. IT HAS THE POTENTIAL TO TRANSFORM AND ELEVATE THIS SPORT TO NEW HEIGHTS.
