The PGA and LIV Golf Must Co-Exist For The Good Of The Game

LIV Golf is here, and they are here to stay. That’s no secret at this point.

PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan said himself that the PGA cannot compete with the money that LIV Golf is dishing out.

He had hoped that tradition, legacy, and morals would be enough to keep players from jumping ship. But that hasn’t been the case.

If you are one of those people who are still acting like LIV Golf hasn’t landed big names, it’s time to stop kidding yourself.

Whether you want to admit it or not, Patrick Reed, Bryson DeChambeau, Phil Mickelson, Dustin Johnson, Brooks Koepka, Sergio Garcia, and others, is an impressive haul for a start-up tour in year one.

And it’s only the beginning. With rumors swirling that Hideki Matsuyama is going to LIV, and with Cam Smith not shooting down the rumors that he is also leaving, it’s time that Jay Monahan and LIV Golf commissioner Greg Norman start working together.

Most golf fans didn’t want LIV Golf to succeed. I know I didn’t. Even though the money is significant, and I could understand why golfers would be inclined to take it, I still had hoped that most professional golfers would do what’s in the best interest of the game of golf.

No fan wants to see the best players in the world play less golf. No fan wants to see elite professional golfers no longer playing in majors or signature PGA Tour tournaments, ones that we all grew up loving.

We didn’t want to see the top players in the sport leave for an exhibition series of tournaments where there is no context, no pressure, very little competition, and nothing on the line beside a fat stack of cash.

LIV Golf and the PGA Tour can co-exist

The professional golf world is fractured, and it’s on the brink of being completely broken. Fans want to see the best in the world compete against the best in the world more than four times per year.

So, I’d like to propose a question to Jay Monahan. You’ve already lost a good number of top players, and more are certainly going to follow. So isn’t it best to allow the guys who want to play both tours to do so?

Sure, not every LIV golfer wants that. Some are very set on playing 14 times per year and walking away their money.

But there are some guys who would prefer to keep status on both tours. If someone who jumped ship to LIV wants to keep their PGA Tour membership and play the minimum of 15 tour events to do so, then they should be able to.

14 LIV events and 15 PGA Tour events is a very attainable schedule. Especially if both tours worked together to form a schedule that made sense for everyone involved.

It seems like it would be in the PGA Tour’s best interest to allow that if it keeps some guys from completely jumping ship and never playing on the PGA Tour again.

Jay Monahan and the PGA Tour hoped that LIV Golf would just be a phase. That it wouldn’t be a serious tour that had intentions of sticking around for a long time. It was a bad miscalculation on their part.

LIV Golf is a clear attempt at ‘sportswashing’ by the Saudi government. They are not looking for a legitimate return on their investment.

This means they are completely content with burning billions of dollars on this golf league for years to come. The PGA Tour has no answer for that.

At this point, Jay Monahan needs to do everything in his power to help fix the professional golf world, and sitting down with Greg Norman is the first step.

The two tours can sit down and come up with a schedule that makes sense for everyone involved.

They can adjust the required number of starts so the top golfers can play both tours if they choose to do so. They can come up with a LIV vs PGA Tour team event that professional golf fans would absolutely love.

There are so many possibilities on the table for these two tours to peacefully co-exist.

Will the PGA Tour be fine in the long run if the two tours don’t come together in any capacity? Probably. Rory McIlroy, Justin Thomas, Tiger Woods, Jordan Spieth, and others aren’t going anywhere, and the PGA Tour will always be the most competitive professional golf tour in the world.

But the product will continue to weaken unless changes are made, and they are made fast.

Once the PGA Tour season is over, who knows how many more members will jump ship to go to LIV. It’s time that Jay Monahan does the right thing and tries to work towards a compromise with LIV Golf.

Because it’s not only the state of professional golf as we know it that’s on the line. Jay Monahan’s job could be on the line too.