LIV Tour

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The LIV Tour[1] is a series of professional golf tournaments started in 2022.

It is headed by Australian golfer Greg Norman and funded in large part by the Private Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia. It's purpose is to compete with the more established PGA Tour, which is considered by some to be "Woke", "anti-Trump" or simply out of touch with modern trends, given the decline in golf as both a spectator sport and a leisure activity.

Format

Each individual tournament consists of 48 players, organized into 12 teams of four golfers each. As of 2022 a total of eight tournaments are played both in the United States and abroad, with plans to expand in the following years.

Golfers are paid for both joining the tour and for their success in both individual and team play. The golfers play only 54 holes in a tournament, 18 holes over three days (Thursday through Saturday), with no "cuts" after 36 holes. Thus, outside of a golfer withdrawing or being disqualified, a golfer is guaranteed no less than the 48th place prize money in a tournament.

Controversy

The largest source of controversy is the funding source, given Saudi Arabia's notoriously poor human rights record.[2]

Another controversial aspect is the format itself. Whereas PGA Tour golfers must both pay to enter tournaments and become eligible (or obtain one of a limited number of "sponsor's exemptions", which are given to up-and-coming golfers or notable local ones), and outside of the most successful ones can actually find themselves losing money over a season (thus needing sponsorships to continue to play) because of missing cuts or finishing poorly, LIV Tour golfers are paid to appear at tournaments and are guaranteed no worse than the lowest-place prize money for both individual and team success. This has led to criticism that LIV Tour players will lack "incentive" to improve their game.

PGA Tour Reaction

In response, the PGA Tour has informed players who join the LIV Tour that they will be barred from PGA Tournaments (including the PGA Championship, one of the four "major" golf tournaments)[3] and will not be allowed to compete in the season-ending FedEx Cup for additional prize money. Although the PGA Tour allows its players (who are technically independent contractors, and not employees of the Tour) to be occasionally released to play in other tournaments whenever they would conflict with a scheduled PGA Tour event, it has chosen not to do so to allow a player to participate in a LIV Tour event (even if the player is ineligible, based on past performance, for the upcoming tournament and has not been given a "sponsor's exemption" to participate).

The DP World Tour (formerly the European Tour), which works closely with the PGA Tour, has followed suit in barring LIV Tour players from its tournaments. In addition, some players have lost sponsorships as a result of joining the LIV Tour.

The actions of the PGA Tour have led to litigation by several players (headed by Phil Mickelson, a multiple-time major champion) arguing that the PGA is engaging in an illegal monopoly. A preliminary injunction allowing LIV Tour players to compete in the FedEx Cup was denied; the judge ruling that the players could not show "irreparable harm" since LIV Tour was paying more than the maximum prize money for winning the FedEx Cup (not considering other factors, such as potential sponsorships for winning the FedEx Cup).

Notable LIV Tour Players

These players have either formally resigned from the PGA (subject to likely not being allowed to return) or have been removed as a result of their decision to join the LIV Tour. The strategy for those players who preemptively resigned appears to have been motivated by a desire to avoid being sanctioned by the PGA, which could cause ineligibility for major tournaments and lost sponsorships, and/or a desire to avoid a protracted dispute with PGA, which could distract from their focus on playing golf.[4]

References

  1. ↑ Pronounced "live" as in "living". However, LIV is also the Roman numeral for "54", a nod to its format.
  2. ↑ For example, Saudi Arabia forbids Bibles to be allowed into its borders, even by Christian expatriates for their own personal use, and also forbids women to drive or to appear in public unless accompanied by a male family member.
  3. ↑ In professional golf, the four major professional championships are (in calendar order) the Masters, the United States Open, the PGA Championship, and the Open (often called the British Open to differentiate it from other countries' Open championships); a player who wins all four in a lifetime is considered to have accomplished a "career grand slam" (the only "active" PGA Tour player to have accomplished this feat is Tiger Woods). The PGA has control only over the PGA Championship in terms of participation; the United States Open and the Open have both allowed LIV Tour players to compete in their 2022 tournaments (the Masters will not be played again until April 2023 and has yet to decide if LIV Tour players will be allowed to compete).
  4. ↑ https://www.golfdigest.com/story/why-are-liv-players-resigning-from-the-pga-tour-legal-action-majors
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