As LIV Golf Attempts to Snag Top Players, Most Headliners Appear Set to Stay at PGA Tour
Rory McIlroy's win at the RBC Canadian Open could not have come at a better time for the PGA Tour and its beleaguered commissioner Jay Monahan.
Just a day before McIlroy successfully defended his title at the Canadian Open, earning $1.566 million, the upstart LIV Tour crowned its first champion in South African Charl Schwartzel, but his payday was just a smidge north of McIlroy’s at $4.750 million for winning a 54-hole shotgun start exhibition.
While the LIV event was not covered by any television network or cable channel, it did get more publicity than it clearly deserved for the quality of golf displayed.
The media frenzy for the LIV event is an outgrowth of the war that is raging between the PGA Tour and LIV Golf — a war that has so far been marked by small skirmishes, but would only take a few dominos to fall one way or the other to determine the outcome.
The battle lines have been a moving target over the last two weeks, with considerable movement coming when the field for the inaugural LIV event in Britain was announced.
The PGA Tour countered by reminding any player that participates in the LIV event that they would face disciplinary action.
Once the first balls were struck in the first round on Thursday outside of London, the PGA Tour announced its suspension of the 17 members that teed it up at Centurion Club.
In between the first shots on Thursday and the Schwartzel win, Bryson DeChambeau, Patrick Reed and Pat Perez also joined the new tour and will play in the next LIV event in Portland at the end of June.
With Mickelson already part of LIV and DeChambeau’s recent recruitment, LIV has bought themselves two needle movers, but their value has diminished somewhat with the discussion of Saudi involvement, i.e., money and sportswashing by the media.
While it is clearly a loss for the tour to see names like DeChambeau and Mickelson jump to LIV, they can point to the remaining needle movers that include Tiger Woods, Jordan Spieth, Rickie Fowler, Justin Thomas and McIlroy.
Woods is the ultimate needle mover, but his inability to play more than some of the majors due to injury leaves his status more of that of "emeritus." Considering he has reportedly turned down over $500 million offered by LIV, it seems unlikely that he would change his mind and decide to make the jump.
Even if he did, Woods could not play in many events and in his mind there is no such thing as competitive hit and giggle golf, so Woods seems firmly ensconced in the Tour's camp.
After Woods the player that can make or break the PGA Tour is McIlroy. Everyone loves the once-curly-haired man from Northern Ireland.
His presence in any field makes headlines and when his name pops up on the leaderboard it becomes a must-follow event.
With 21 PGA Tour wins under his belt and status as one of the four player members of the PGA Tour policy board, McIlroy is like the old E.F. Hutton commercial: When Rory McIlroy talks, people listen.
Those people are Monahan and the remainder of the PGA Tour policy board, both playing and non-playing members.
Basically, McIlroy has clout and he is willing to use it when necessary, but his goal seems crystal clear — to support the PGA Tour in its hour of need and defeat the interloper.
Like Woods, McIlroy is uninterested in the money LIV can offer and while the numbers he may have been offered have never been revealed, it would clearly be in the $200 million or higher category.
Again, like Woods, McIlroy believes in the establishment and does not want to change the ecosystem of professional golf.
Which leaves LIV either trying to convince McIlroy to disregard his principals and take the money or find others currently on tour that will enhance their product as much as possible to a level that McIlroy would.
“In terms of what it means for legacy, I don't know, but I just know it feels really good to win this week of all weeks,” McIlroy said after his win in Canada.
He clearly does not sound like a guy ready to jump ship and one that not only Monahan but his other PGA Tour members can count on.
So where does that leave LIV? It’s clear that the top needle movers are not available.
Thomas has steadfastly made his position known that the PGA Tour is the only place he wishes to call home.
“I'm very content with the direction the PGA Tour is going, and I think it's just continued to go get better and better, very quickly, too,” Thomas said on the eve of the PGA Championship at Southern Hills in May. “I think a lot of players feel the same way, which is very important. We have a lot of loyalty to the tour. They have done a lot for us.”
Spieth has been relatively quiet in public on the subject, but in private seems squarely behind the efforts of those that support the tour.
Fowler is a wild card. He has listened to the pitches by LIV and just two weeks ago at the Memorial said he was not willing to make the leap.
“I've been in talks with them for a long time,” the 33-year-old Fowler said. “It's something to definitely look at. At this point, it wasn't the right move or decision for us, but I'm not saying I'm for sure here or I’m going to go there. I’m going to just kind of leaving my options open and see how things play out.”
Unlike Woods, McIlroy or Thomas, who have all slammed the door shut on LIV, Fowler is open to talking, which if history is any judge means sooner rather than later, Fowler will be in the LIV camp.
With three needle movers, LIV can survive, but they can never defeat the PGA Tour in the short term or grow to their potential without McIlroy. He is the key.
And he isn’t going anywhere.