Will The LIV Golf Series Change The Future Of Professional Golf?
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Will The LIV Golf Series Change The Future Of Professional Golf?
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The LIV Golf Invitational Series has taken the sports world by storm. They have guaranteed Phil Mickelson at least $200 million to play in the new league, and former world number one Dustin Johnson also signed a deal worth at least $125 million.
Not only does that guarantee both golfers roughly double their lifetime career PGA earnings, but those figures represent more money than any single golfer has made on the PGA Tour in history, including Tiger Woods, the greatest golfer of all time.
It’s truly an insane amount of money, and that’s just a peek behind the curtain.
So, what exactly are they doing? Why is it important? And does this new league really have a chance of changing the way professional golf looks in the future? Let’s dive in.
The LIV Golf Invitational Series is an upstart professional golf league run by CEO Greg Norman, a former world No. 1, two-time Open Champion, and Hall of Famer.
The league is backed by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund—the world’s 6th largest sovereign wealth fund with nearly $600 billion in assets under management—and its mission is simple: to change the way professional goal operates forever.
There will be eight LIV Golf events this year, with tournaments worldwide, including London, Portland, Bedminster, Boston, Chicago, Bangkok, Jeddah, and Miami. And while the focus is still mainly on individual play, there will be twelve four-person teams competing in each event, selected weekly by captains via snake draft.
But the big story is prize money. The LIV Golf Invitational Series guarantees every person who plays in its tournaments a six-figure payout, with 48 players competing for $25 million in prize money in a 54-hole stroke play format with no cut.
And here’s the current list of players with their official world golf ranking (OWGR).
So there are a few different ways to look at this. Of course, many people see that Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund is bankrolling the project and immediately move to condemn anyone that is participating. I get that. The Saudi regime has spent billions of dollars over the last several years on everything from Premier League ownership to Formula 1 race hosting in an attempt to clean up the public image of their country.
The common term for this is sportswashing, or “the use of sports to present a sanitized, friendlier version of a political regime or operation.”
And the reality is that it is quite obviously a money-losing operation. The golf series doesn’t have any TV deals in place—you can watch online through YouTube, Facebook, or their website—and there is no way they can pay hundreds of millions of dollars in prize money through sponsorship, merchandise, and other revenue streams.
But this also puts the PGA Tour in a uniquely dangerous place. Why? Because LIV Golf has a bottomless pit of cash that they aren’t afraid to spend, and PGA Tour players are acutely aware of financial differences between the two competing leagues.
Non-golf fanatics may not realize that PGA Tour players aren’t actually guaranteed a certain amount of income — they are independent contractors. Sure, the top players might have seven-figure sponsorship deals, but those are the top players. Each player still has to show up every week, play well and make the cut to earn a good paycheck.
For example, take someone like Tiger Woods or Brooks Koepka. If they miss the cut at a big tournament, once you count up travel and lodging expenses for themselves and their family, there is a good chance they actually end up losing money that weekend, despite their star power playing a considerable role in the tournament’s promotion.
So not only is LIV Golf offering higher purses, but in the case of Phil Mickelson and Dustin Johnson, they are offering hundreds of millions of dollars in guaranteed money before they even step on the course. That’s completely unheard of, and while some people might claim it is irrational, it undeniably flips the current model on its head.
Phil Mickelson’s Career PGA Winnings: $95 million
Phil Mickelson’s LIV Golf Guarantee: $200 million
Dustin Johnson’s Career PGA Winnings: $75 million
Dustin Johnson’s LIV Golf Guarantee: $125 million
But the big-name players aren’t the only ones benefiting. Even if you come in last place this weekend in London, you would still earn a minimum of $125k, representing a significant amount for individuals who play outside the PGA Tour.
Individual LIV Golf Prize Money (Regular Season Events)
The top ten will make between $4 million to $560k in each event
The remaining players (11th to 48th) will make between $540k to $120k
Team LIV Golf Prize Money (Regular Season Events)
1st place will split $3 million in additional money
2nd place will split $1.5 million in additional money
3rd place will split $500k in additional money
The one important note to all of this is the PGA Tour’s response. Of course, they are not happy, and commissioner Jay Monahan has expressed that Tour players must choose either the PGA or LIV. But there is a unique caveat — the four major championships are separate from the PGA Tour and run by different governing bodies.
Maybe some of them decide to stick with the PGA’s stance, but the U.S. Open has already agreed to allow LIV players to participate, and others could follow that path.
“We pride ourselves in being the most open championship in the world, and the players who have earned the right to compete in this year’s championship, both via exemption and qualifying, will have the opportunity to do so,” the USGA stated in a press release. “Our field criteria were set prior to entries opening earlier this year, and it’s not appropriate, nor fair to competitors, to change criteria once established.”
It will be interesting to see how this plays out. There are many questions still left to be answered. For example, there are reports that Bryson DeChambeau and Patrick Reed will soon announce their intention to join LIV, so will other star players also decide to join Phil Mickelson and Dustin Johnson? How many people will watch each tournament? What punishment does the PGA decide to implement? Is this model sustainable, even for a massive sovereign wealth fund like Saudi Arabia’s?
Only time will tell on those things. And everyone can decide for themselves whether these athletes are making the right decision, both financially and morally. But LIV Golf has undoubtedly found a chink in the PGA Tour model, and it will be interesting to see how this all players out. As always, I’ll make sure to keep you updated.
Have a great day, and I’ll talk to you tomorrow.
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