This is it, a grown up plan to take Men's Professional Golf into the 21st century, 25 years after everyone else
24 February 2025 - SHANK Media, by Matt Hooper: It is now 630 days since Jay Monahan and Yasir Al-Rumayyan sat with CNBC's David Faber to announce that "they were coming together to unify the game of golf under one umbrella".
"We are creating a for-profit LLC that the PIF is going to invest in, alongside the DP World Tour, and together we are going to move forward, and take efforts to grow and expand this great game and expand it to new heights" said a beaming Jay Monahan on the CNBC set in New York in June 2023.
"We have recognised that working together, we can have a far greater impact on this game, than we can working apart" said the PGA TOUR Commissioner.
Immediately the media went into a frenzy about a MERGER of PGA TOUR, DP World Tour and LIV Golf. The American-based media, including the loud, opinionated and bigoted views of the likes of Chamblee and Lynch, heralded it as the end of LIV Golf. Even Rory McIlroy proclaimed that he hoped this meant LIV Golf was dead.
But, one crucial sentence in the CNBC Interview, uttered by Yasir Al Rumayyan, was missed, seemingly by all of us. "The idea is to keep everything independent, but strategically aligned. The idea is instead of competing, we are all going to be complimenting, and to look for additional revenues, and that is where the PIF capital investments will kick in" said the Chairman of Newcastle United FC.
Monahan expanded on what the two could achieve together: "look at the structure of our sport, you look at our schedule itself, there's a lot of fragmentation, there's a lot of different golf organisations, that creates inefficiencies, and we can address that."
Golf has ALWAYS been fragmented, long before the emergence of LIV Golf. The Four Men's Majors are run by Augusta National Golf Club, PGA of America, USGA and the R&A, the Ryder Cup is run by Ryder Cup Europe and the PGA of America, and there is the PGA TOUR, DP World Tour, Asian Tour, Japan Golf Tour, Sunshine Tour and PGA Tour of Australasia, each operating multiple tours across the world. In addition this the rules of golf are organised by the R&A and USGA, every country has a PGA (which is responsible for club professionals and teaching), and a national golf federation (including Scottish Golf). So do not believe the nonsense narrative that LIV Golf has divided the sport, and that golf was some unified heavenly game before 2022. It simply isn't true, in fact it is a lie spun by the establishment.
And, after months and years of negative press, negative comments from players, and the establishment, it is absolutely clear, LIV Golf is not going away.
In January they unveiled Scott O'Neill as the new CEO of LIV Golf, replacing Greg Norman as the head of the organisation, on the next day they announced the US broadcast deal with FOX, and since the franchises have announced numerous sponsorship and partnership deals. The league has signed several young and ambitious talented golfers over the off-season, and broke new ground with an entirely floodlit season-opener in Riyadh last week. LIV Golf is in a positive place, and has grown its following across social media to just shy of 3 million users in less than 3 years, and audiences in places outside of the United States continue to grow, with LIV Golf Adelaide being among the most-watched programmes on Australian television for the last two years.
To me, it is now abundantly clear that the idea of the sport 'coming back together' in the manner of LIV Golf disappearing, and players being integrated back into the PGA TOUR, is dead. LIV Golf is on the verge of a major breakthrough, and the I cannot really foresee a situation where LIV Golf events, format, teams and players are part of the existing landscape of the PGA TOUR.
So, here is my vision for the future of Men's Professional Golf, in line with the quote by Yasir Al Rumayyan - "independent, but strategically aligned".
Summary
Move the PGA Championship to October, reduce the field size and include match play
WGC (PGA Tour World Championship) is created through a merger of the PGA TOUR, DP World Tour, Japan Golf Tour, Sunshine Tour and PGA Tour of Australasia
LIV Golf League merges with the Asian Tour and creates the LIV Golf League Championship Series, LIV Golf League International Series and LIV Golf League Asian Series immediately. Through collaboration with the PGA TOUR and Sunshine Tour, the LIV Golf League creates series of events across the rest of Africa (outside South Africa) and South America
The DP World Tour currently allows LIV Golf members, who are members of the DP World Tour, to compete in certain events in its schedule, and we have seen the likes of Jon Rahm, Patrick Reed and David Puig do so in the middle east in January and February this year. A future structure will allow LIV Golf members to participate, where eligible and via sponsors invites, at certain PGA TOUR-sanctioned events throughout the season.
PGA TOUR (members of the proposed WGC) golfers would be able to compete as a wildcard in LIV Golf events
As part of the PIF Investment into PGA TOUR ENTERPRISES and WGC PGA Tour World Championship, the PIF Saudi International powered by Softbank Advisers would become a WGC tier one event
All golfers playing on an official world golf ranking tour, including LIV Golf League and WGC would become members of a new union for tour professionals - TPGU - The Touring Professional Golfers Union. The WGC PGA TOUR World Championship would be run by its administration, as would the LIV Golf League, and the players would unionise, just like every other major sport in the world.
A New, universal streaming and broadcasting platform for golf and golf entertainment, GOLF TV, would be launched
The detail
The Future of Men's Professional Golf has to be built upon collaboration and a spirit to take the sport forwards, while the Major Championships, LIV Golf League and WGC PGA TOUR World Championship strive to be the very best they can be.
Major Championships
The PGA Championship returns to being 'Glory's Last Shot'
We have a Spring Major in the shape of The Masters at Augusta National, and we have the two 'Open' Championships in the US Open and The Open in the Summer, golf needs an autumn major championship. The PGA Championship would be moved to October.
The field would be reduced to a similar size to that of The Masters (approx. 90), with amateurs replaced by PGA Professionals (7)
The PGA Championship would feature 36 holes of strokeplay, followed by match play knockout rounds of 32, 16, 8, Semi-Finals and Final
General, across the LIV Golf League and WGC PGA TOUR World Championship
INVITATIONS FOR LIV GOLF LEAGUE PLAYERS TO PGA TOUR EVENTS
Currently the minimum number of events which players have to play in to keep their DP World Tour card, and be eligible for the Ryder Cup is 4 tournaments. Using this number as a base figure for the number of invitations players can receive to the PGA TOUR World Championship, LIV Golf League players would be able to play in up to 4 sole sanctioned PGA TOUR World Championship events outside the Major Championships.
ELIGIBILITY AND QUALIFICATION FOR OTHER WGC PGA TOUR WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP EVENTS
LIV Golf members with eligibility for The Players Championship would be able to play, in addition to the 4 events they can accept invitations to
New exemption category created for LIV Golf League players, with the top 5 players on the individual standings qualifying for The Players Championship
New exemption category created for LIV Golf League players for all the events on tier 1 of the WGC (some tier 1 WGC events may be played opposite LIV Golf League events)
National Opens: Each National Open which is part of WGC would create an exemption category for LIV Golf League players, with up to 10 players able to enter per event, in addition to the 4 events they can accept invitations to
ELIGIBILITY AND QUALIFICATION FOR WGC PGA TOUR WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP PLAYERS TO PLAY IN LIV GOLF LEAGUE REGULAR SEASON EVENTS
LIV Golf League fields for the 12 regular season events (as will be outlined below) will expand to 72 players, allowing for a shotgun start of 18 fourballs across the 18 holes of the course, this allows for 18 additional golfers to participate in each of the 12 regular season events
Wildcard spots would be given to 2 players from the LIV Golf League International Series, and 1 each from the Asian Series, African Series and South American Series (5)
This leaves 13 spots for members of the WGC PGA TOUR WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP, 13 different players from the new membership (remember this membership is from the PGA TOUR, DP World Tour, Japan Golf Tour, Sunshine Tour and PGA Tour of Australasia, approximately 1000+ players), would enter the draft ahead of each LIV Golf League event, and would be selected by a LIV Golf League team to join them for that week. More details will be outline below.
WGC PGA TOUR WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP members could play a maximum of 4 LIV Golf League regular season events
FULLY JOINT WGC PGA TOUR WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP AND LIV GOLF LEAGUE EVENTS
Throughout the year there would be two fully co-sanctioned events by WGC PGA TOUR World Championship and LIV Golf League
The first would be the global season kick-off at Pebble Beach. The Pebble Beach Pro-am is a tired event, and whilst a pro-am would still take place ahead of the tournament, the new Pebble Beach All-Star Cup would take fan engagement to a new height. Fans would have the opportunity to vote for 50 golfers from the entire membership of the WGC PGA TOUR World Championship and LIV Golf League. The 50 players with the most votes by December 31 would receive an invitation to play in the Pebble Beach All-Star Cup. Tournament would take place over 72 holes.
The second would replace the week in which the Zurich Classic of New Orleans is played, and has been much speculated upon on social media and in the media, PGA TOUR vs LIV GOLF. The Zurich Classic would be moved to a different spot on the new schedule. PGA TOUR vs LIV GOLF would also replace LIV Golf Riyadh, and be played at Riyadh Golf Club, as a Riyadh Season event. The event would take place under floodlights, and build on much of the great work done at LIV Golf Riyadh earlier this year. The match would feature teams of 12 representing the PGA TOUR and LIV GOLF, and would include 6 foursomes matches on Thursday, 6 fourball matches on Friday, and 12 singles matches on Saturday. Sunday would see a skills challenge take place, inspired by Augusta National's Drive Chip and Putt National Finals.
LIV Golf is here to stay. This was almost guaranteed by the announcement of an extension for LIV Golf Adelaide through 2031. So rather than look for ways to eliminate it, the establishment should embrace it and allow it to thrive within the ecosystem, and help it to become the 'Indian Premier League of golf', which would grow the game around the world, make the sport more entertaining, and more accessible, resulting in bigger audiences for the WGC PGA TOUR World Championship.
Recent financial results showed that LIV Golf Adelaide generated more than $16million of revenue for LIV Golf in its first year alone, and there can be no doubt with increased crowds in 2024 and 2025, that this number will be nearer $25 million now. LIV Golf Adelaide has to be the floor for LIV Golf, and they need to use it to gain momentum worldwide. Phil Mickelson, during his interview with Golf Digest Australia, compared Adelaide to the Daytona 500 in terms of it being the biggest even on LIV, as the Daytona 500 is for NASCAR. Daytona kicks off the NASCAR Cup Series, and LIV Golf Adelaide should tee off the LIV Golf League season and use it as a launchpad.
As I previously stated, the LIV Golf League regular season would be reduced to 12 events, with 2 being played in the United States around the Masters and US Open and 10 being played across the rest of the Americas, Africa, Australasia, Asia and Europe. Fields would expand to 72 players, from 54 but the tournaments would remain 54-holes without a cut. The expanded field allows for a shotgun start of 18 fourballs across the 18 holes of the course, this creates space for 18 additional golfers to participate in each of the 12 regular season events. Wildcard spots would be given to 2 players from the LIV Golf League International Series, and 1 each from the Asian Series, African Series and South American Series (5), which leaves 13 spots for members of the WGC PGA TOUR WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP, 13 different players from the new membership (remember this membership is from the PGA TOUR, DP World Tour, Japan Golf Tour, Sunshine Tour and PGA Tour of Australasia, approximately 1000+ players), would enter the draft ahead of each LIV Golf League event, and would be selected by a LIV Golf League team to join them for that week.
When LIV Golf launched at the Centurion Club near St Albans in 2022 they began the week with a draft, with each franchise captain selecting their players in a similar fashion to the NFL Draft. The LIV Golf League Draft would be a televised event at the start of tournament week, adding more interest to the tournaments from the outset. The draft would go in reverse order of the LIV Golf League standings, so for Adelaide the order would be determined by the previous season's final standings. Iron Heads GC would go first, and imagine if they could select Rory McIlroy, or Scottie Scheffler, or would they select Tom Kim as another Korean, or Hideki Matsuyama as another Asian golfer? Would Ripper GC select Adam Scott, or Min Woo Lee, or Jason Day? The draft itself would create a buzz and an anticipation for that week's event, and if LIV could put together a schedule of genuinely exciting destinations and courses around the world it could peak at least 4 times a season with even better fields, and greater interest on and off the course.
From Adelaide, the league would head across the Tasman Sea to New Zealand, LIV Golf New Zealand could be played across the country at a variety of golf courses, in partnership with the New Zealand Tourist Board and Golf NZ. New Zealand is a passionate sporting nation, with the All Blacks being universally recognized as the most successful national team in Men's Rugby, having won 3 Rugby World Cups, and 20 editions of the Rugby Championship. They have also played the British and Irish Lions 41 times, winning 30, and having only lost 1 series against the visitors from the Northern Hemisphere.
Rugby is by far the most popular spectator sport in New Zealand, but remarkably Golf is the most played sport in the country. The New Zealand Open is one of the top 10 oldest national opens in the sport, and has some big names on its roll of honour, but the country has never attracted the kind of field that LIV Golf could provide, and surely its more than 500,000 golfers (out of 5.223million) would lap it up and generate a completely remarkable atmosphere to rival Adelaide.
New Zealand is a Major Sporting Nation, having hosted the Rugby World Cup in 1987 and 2011, co-hosted the 1992 and 2015 Cricket World Cups with Australia, and co-hosted the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup with Australia. The fact that the wider golf world has ignored this golf-crazy country for so long is quite breathtaking.
India is actually home to the world's oldest golf course outside of Great Britain and Ireland, the Royal Calcutta Golf Club being built in 1829, but the sport has struggled to reach its potential. However, this year's International Series India, played at DLF Country Club attracted the biggest crowds in the history of Indian golf, with Bryson DeChambeau and Joaquin Niemann headlining the field on the Asian Tour.
India is the country which gave us the IPL, a league which is on its way to becoming the biggest sports league in the world, and with the world's largest population, if LIV Golf can make a breakthrough there then it would be a game-changer. India has 200,000 golfers (out of 1.8 billion), so the sport is still minute in comparison to Cricket and Football, in participation but also in terms of watching on TV or streaming, or attending events in person. More than 600 million people watched cricket on television or streaming services between November 2023 and January 2024 in India, and more than 300 million watched football in the same period. So golf is up against a juggernaut, but International Series India showed there is a spark of interest, and if there was a LIV Golf India then that spark could be ignited.
Stinger GC include 4 South Africans, and there have been as many as 12 African golfers to have played on LIV Golf since it launched in June 2022. One of the major reasons for the success of LIV Golf Adelaide is the connection between the host nation and one of the teams, Ripper GC. This makes you think that the same could happen in South Africa, IF they find the right venue in the right destination. Most of South Africa's biggest golf events are played in the Johannesburg area, or Mpumalanga for the Alfred Dunhill Championship and North West for the Nedbank Golf Challenge. Cape Town is the administrative capital of the country, and has a young, aspirational population, and it is one of the most beautiful cities on earth.
LIV Golf Cape Town could establish itself as one of Cape Town's biggest sporting festivals, in the same way it has done in Adelaide. There are several championship level courses in the Western Cape, and a few of them in the immediate vicinity of Cape Town and the iconic Table Mountain itself. Royal Cape Golf Club is the oldest golf course in South Africa, located in the heart of the city, and it recently hosted the Cape Town Open, a tournament on the Sunshine Tour and Challenge Tour. Atlantic Beach Golf Links is on the edge of the city, with stunning views of the city and Table Mountain, and could be a genuine candidate to stage a LIV Golf event, not being a current tournament host on the Sunshine Tour.
Further afield Pearl Valley Golf Estates (70km) is a former South African Open host, and Erinvale Golf Club (50km) previously hosted the World Cup of Golf and South African Open. LIV Golf Adelaide generates $80 million of economic impact for South Australia, and surely that would be attractive to the government of Cape Town if the league can get a foothold.
There are 3 South Americans playing in the LIV Golf League including Joaquin Niemann, Mito Pereira and Sebastian Munoz, all play for Torque GC, and if LIV is to truly grow the game it needs to take an event to the continent. The Rio Olympic Golf Course has long been speculated as a potential venue, but personally I feel it would be better suited for an upgraded Brazil Open on the WGC PGA TOUR World Championship schedule. So, with Niemann being the captain and owner of Torque GC I think it would be great if the League created LIV Golf Chile, playing at the Prince of Wales Country Club.
According to the R&A Global Golf Participation report, there are 54,000 golfers in Chile, and golf participation across the continent of South America has rapidly increased since the 2016 Rio Olympics, with more than 200,000 people taking up the game in the years between 2016 and 2023. A city-centre course like the Prince of Wales Country Club, which currently hosts the Korn Ferry Tour, could attract large crowds, and put Chile on the map globally.
Pre-Masters and US Open American-based events would be played at courses not seen much recently in professional golf. Perhaps the Pre-Masters event could be played at Pinehurst Number 9, LIV Golf Pinehurst would illustrate that the establishment and LIV Golf can work harmoniously. Pinehurst Number 9 was designed by Jack Nicklaus and opened in 1989, it features 6 water hazards and its tall pines and immaculate fairways can help to create the feel of Augusta, which comes up the following week. The pre-US Open event could be LIV Golf Firestone. The South Course at Firestone was a regular venue on the PGA TOUR for decades, and hosted the PGA Championship, World Series of Golf and WGC-Bridgestone Invitational, before the TOUR went elsewhere. It would be great to see it on a schedule again.
PGA TOUR vs LIV GOLF would then take place two weeks after The Masters, in the slot currently held by the Zurich Classic and LIV Golf Mexico City, with the Mexico City event and LIV Golf Riyadh dropping off the LIV Golf League schedule.
LIV Golf Korea will debut this year and it makes sense to keep the event as one of three Asian events on the LIV Golf calendar. Korea is one of the most passionate golfing nations on earth, and the PGA TOUR had a tournament in the country, the CJ Cup at Nine Bridges, but used the Covid19 pandemic as a reason to move the tournament to the United States in 2020, and it has never returned to Korea. The DP World Tour co-sanctions the Genesis Championship with the KPGA Tour, but that does not deliver a field in the class of LIV Golf to the country. With a new draft system for WGC PGA TOUR World Championship players surely the likes of Tom Kim, Byeong-Hun An, Si Woo Kim, KH Lee, and Sungjae Im would look to enter the event. With all of Korea's star golfers playing alongside the likes of DeChambeau and Rahm it would surely be a major event, and well-attended.
LIV Golf Canada would follow the US Open, and would take the golfing world to arguably the world's most spectacular golf course, Banff Springs. Banff is a tourist town within Banff National Park, and its golf course, designed by Stanley Thompson was the first million dollar golf course in the world. Part of the Fairmont St Andrews, the course is set among the Canadian Rockies and runs alongside the Bow River, providing a canvas unlike any other for the best golfers in the world.
The RBC Canadian Open is Canada's National Open, and one of the oldest tournaments in golf, but over the years its focus has been visiting golf courses in the big metropolitan areas of the country including Toronto and Montreal. LIV Golf Canada can be a partnership with the Canadian Tourism Board, and Fairmont has previously hosted an event on the LIV-backed International Series, in Scotland, at the Fairmont St Andrews. The best Canadian golfers on the WGC PGA TOUR World Championship would undoubtedly enter this event, and in the future a Canadian Franchise could happen, which would add more energy to a Canadian event. It would also attract backing from the Canadian Tourism Board and major companies such as Fairmont, I am sure.
LIV Golf UK is set to be played at the JCB Country Club for a second time later this summer, but several players have made the case for a links course being on the schedule, and for this one LIV should think outside the box. South West England is disgracefully underserved with professional golf events, and I speak from experience on this, having grown up there. As a young golfer the only tournament golf I attended anywhere near my home was the Challenge Tour Championship at Bowood, an event with understandably low crowds and very little media interest. North West England, and Surrey/Berkshire are more famous for golf, and host the vast majority of professional tournaments in England.
Trevose is one of the most spectacular links golf courses in the whole world, but has been seen by relatively few people in comparison to the famous courses which host The Open, Alfred Dunhill Links, and Scottish Open. Situated 11 miles north of Newquay in Cornwall, Trevose is a resort which has 3 golf courses, and plenty of room for the infrastructure to put on a Major event. The Championship course has hosted several amateur events over the years, and currently hosts the Legends Links Championship on the Legends Tour. LIV Golf UK could really forge a niche in the area, making Trevose home and creating a festival of golf, which could be modelled somewhat after the Boardmasters World Surf League event and music festival.
LIV Golf UK would be played two weeks before The Open, the week prior to the Genesis Scottish Open, enabling players to have up to two weeks of Links golf ahead of the third Major of the season.
The LIV Golf regular season would conclude after The Open with 2 additional events - LIV Golf Europe, and LIV Golf Tokyo.
Working in partnership with Ryder Cup Europe, LIV Golf Europe would play on the Ryder Cup courses of Europe, and potential future Ryder Cup courses. Valderrama would continue as host in 2026 and 2027 before the event plays on a rota of courses including the Belfry, Gleneagles, Celtic Manor, the K Club, Adare Manor, Le Golf National and Marco Simone Country Club.
LIV Golf Tokyo would conclude the regular season, and could be staged at Kasumigaseki Golf Club, which hosted the 2020 Olympic Golf tournament.
So, the 12-event regular season is complete, what next? One of the ways to make the franchise model work, to make it financially successful, is to build a golf course for each team, a place which each team can call home. LIV Golf are investing in the North Adelaide Project for LIV Golf Adelaide, in partnership with the South Australian Government and Greg Norman Design. This course will stage the LIV Golf Adelaide event, but imagine if Ripper GC had its own golf course, which it could make money from year round, and use as a home venue during the LIV Golf League Playoffs. This would make Ripper GC and attractive investment proposition, with income from green fees and corporate events year-round.
Potentially Greg Norman Design could be employed to design all 13 courses, in partnership with a local authority, creating 13 public access courses across the world, on every continent.
Ripper GC (Brisbane, Queensland Australia)
Stinger GC (Western Cape, South Africa)
Majesticks GC (Buckinghamshire, England)
Torque GC (Santiago, Chile)
Iron Heads GC (Seoul, Korea)
Cleeks GC (Pulheim, Germany)
Legion XIII (Bilbao, Spain)
Fireballs GC (Valencia, Spain)
Crushers GC (Dallas, Texas USA)
4Aces GC (South Carolina, USA)
HyFlyers GC (California, USA)
Rangegoats GC (Florida, USA)
Smash GC (Florida, USA)
The LIV Golf League Playoffs would take place over the course of three successive weekends, with the leading 8 franchises after the 12 regular season events qualifying. The teams will be seeded according to their regular season ranking, with the highest ranked franchise hosting the match in each round of the playoffs. Based upon the current LIV Golf Rankings this would be the draw for the Quarter-Finals:
Quarter-Final 1 - Legion XIII (1) v 4Aces (8) - Bilbao, Spain
Quarter-Final 2 - Fireballs GC (2) v Majesticks GC (7) - Valencia, Spain
Quarter-Final 3 - Crushers GC (3) v Torque GC (6) - Dallas, Texas
Quarter-Final 4 - Ripper GC (4) v Rangegoats GC (5) - Queensland, Australia
Semi-Final 1 - Winners of Game 1 would host Winners of Game 4 in the semi-finals
Semi-Final 2 - Winners of Game 2 would host winners of Game 3 in the semi-finals
Final - The highest ranked franchise out of the two finalists would host the final
Each match would be played across Saturday and Sunday as follows:
Saturday - Morning Foursomes x 2 / Afternoon singles x 4
Sunday - Morning Fourballs x 2 / Afternoon singles x 4
The team that reaches 6.5 points wins
The LIV Golf League Playoffs would be the ultimate team golf series which would provide an unrivalled crescendo to the season.
Whatever comes out of the negotiations between the PGA TOUR and PIF, one thing is for sure, the establishment tours in golf cannot ever be the same again. Change must happen. Dramatic change.
This isn't an anti-American article, I am not anti-American, but I am anti the American takeover of golf, and the assertion that everyone should have to play full time in one country, this sport was invented in St Andrews, Scotland and first went to Calcutta, India through the British Empire, and then was taken to North America in the late 1800's by John Reid. The National Opens of Canada, Australia, South Africa, Argentina, France and New Zealand are older than 99% of the PGA TOUR schedule, and many of the world's greatest golf courses are located all around the world, outside the United States of America, the viewing public needs to see them, and the players need to play them.
To crown a true World Number One you need to test yourself in all conditions, in all parts of the world. EVERY major individual sport has a worldwide schedule, from Formula 1 to Tennis, from Surfing to Alpine skiing, from Snooker to Pool. The ultimate World Championship is F1. This year it will stage Grands Prix in Australia, China, Japan, Singapore, Saudi Arabia, Abu Dhabi, Bahrain, Qatar, Mexico, Brazil, Canada, Florida, Texas, Nevada, Monaco, Hungary, Austria, Spain, Italy, England, Netherlands, Belgium, and Azerbaijan. 24 races in 23 countries on 5 continents. Drivers have be fitter than ever before, they have to adjust to altitude, they have to drive in a variety of track conditions, during the heat of the day, and under the floodlights at night. After Football, this is the most viewed sport in the world, with enormous crowds at every race weekend, and vast television viewing figures throughout the season across the world.
F1 is what Golf should aspire to be like, and the legacy will be enormous, because it can inspire people to take up the game, and it is much easier for someone to pick up a set of clubs and play on a course, than it is to get in a car and race at a track. Golf's popularity is growing, but it is nowhere near what it should be, and a true world tour can help it reach the level it should be at, as well as clearly identifying the best golfers on the planet. An American-centric schedule will always lead to the situation we have now, with 25 of the world's top 50 on the OWGR being American. This impacts the composition of the fields in the Major Championships, and makes it more likely an American wins the Majors, 14 of the last 18 Major Champions have been American.
LIV Golf has 17 Americans among its 54-player roster, but its global schedule leads to more global leaderboards. In Adelaide just 2 Americans made the top 11, following on from Riyadh, where only 1 American made the top 10. This is a small sample, but it is proof that globalizing the schedule assists players from around the world to be more competitive, and inspire more interest from fans around the world too.
Not only does the schedule need to be more global, we need to see an end to the platform of multiple tours across the world, we need one PGA TOUR World Championship. This means merging the DP World Tour, Japan Golf Tour, Sunshine Tour, and PGA Tour of Australasia with the PGA TOUR. So what does this mean?
A tiered schedule comprising 140 tournaments (including the 4 Majors), with a new match play event with a ticket to Augusta up for grabs, and part of an ecosystem with more team golf than ever before, and more match play than for a long time.
Each tier would award points in line with the importance of the events (points awarded by percentage in line with prize fund distribution)
4,000 points for the Majors
2,500 points for the Signature Events
1,500 points for the National Open Series and American Series
750 points for the European Series, MENA Series, Safari Series, South African Series, Japan Series and Australasian Series
The PGA Tour Playoffs, FedEx Cup, and Race to Dubai would be discontinued, the WGC PGA TOUR World Championship showcases an individual sport at its best, and we do not need a contrived system with Playoffs and fake seeding like we have seen on the PGA TOUR and DP World Tour in the last two decades. This will be a pure world championship, with the biggest, most traditional events across the world showcasing the best of the sport, with the player with the most points after the TOUR Championship being crowned World Golf Champion.
Whilst the overall schedule will be global, 35 of the leading 60 tournaments will be played in the United States.
There will be some tournament alterations though to enable this to happen:
The calendar will run from February to November, with the TOUR Championship being played at a different global destination, across America and the rest of the world each year, like the Super Bowl of Golf. The leading 30 players on the season standings will qualify.
When the TOUR Championship isn't played at East Lake, the Atlanta course will host the Coca-Cola Cup, a match play single elimination tournament, with the winner earning the final spot in the field at The Masters. The Coca-Cola Cup would be played the week prior to the Masters. 128 players will play.
The BMW Championship would revert to being the Western Open, which was the oldest event in America outside the US Open, first played in 1899. The Western Open would be a signature event, played at Cog Hill near Chicago.
The FedEx St Jude Championship would become a full-field signature event.
The Sentry, or Tournament of Champions, would be discontinued.
Rather than dictating that a player must play a minimum of 15 events, it simply will be the player with the most points wins, incentivising players to play more.
Eligibility for all 136 non-Major events will be largely determined by the end of the calendar year, and players would have to commit to their schedule before start of the following season. This should help to better promote each event, with the organisers knowing where and when the best players in the world are going to be playing.
Below is a detailed breakdown of the events.
Major Championships - 4 events - $25million purses - 4,000 points
The Masters (April)
US Open (June)
The Open (July)
PGA Championship (October)
Signature events - 15 events - $20million purses - 2,500 points
Genesis Invitational
Arnold Palmer Invitational
The Players Championship
Western Open
FedEx St Jude Championship
Truist Championship
Travelers Championship
The Memorial Tournament
BMW PGA Championship (former DP World Tour)
Nedbank Golf Challenge (former Sunshine Tour)
Dunlop Phoenix Tournament (former Japan Golf Tour)
PIF Saudi International (former Asian Tour)
Hero Dubai Desert Classic (former DP World Tour)
Australian Masters (former PGA Tour of Australasia)
TOUR Championship
The National Opens - 12 events - $8million purses - 1,500 points
RBC Canadian Open
Investec South African Open
VISA Argentina Open
Brazil Open
Open de France
Open de Espana
Open D'Italia
Genesis Scottish Open
AMGEN Irish Open
Hero Indian Open
Australian Open
New Zealand Open
The American Series - 24 events - $8million purses - 1,500 points
Coca-Cola Cup
Waste Management Phoenix Open
The American Express
Farmers Insurance Open
Sony Open in Hawaii
Cognizant Classic in the Palm Beaches
Valspar Championship
Texas Children's Houston Open
Valero Texas Open
RBC Heritage
Zurich Classic of New Orleans
The CJ Cup Byron Nelson
ONEFlight Myrtle Beach Classic
Charles Schwab Challenge
Rocket Classic
John Deere Classic
ISCO Championship
Barracuda Championship
3M Open
Wyndham Championship
Procore Championship
Sanderson Farms Championship
Black Desert Championship
RSM Classic
The European Series - 15 events - $5million purses - 750 points
Soudal Open
Austrian Alpine Golf Open
BMW International Open
Turkish Open
Danish Golf Championship
Betfred British Masters
OMEGA European Masters
Alfred Dunhill Links Championship
Czech Masters
Mallorca Classic
Scandinavian Masters
Finnish Open
Open de Bretagne
Open de Portugal
KLM Open
The MENA Series - 9 events - $3million purses - 750 points
Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship
Commercial Bank Qatar Masters
Oman Open
Ras Al Khaimah Championship
Bapco Energies Bahrain Championship
Moroccan Open
Egyptian Open
Tunisian Open
Saudi Open
The Safari Series - 9 events - $3million purses - 750 points
Magical Kenya Open
Johnnie Walker Uganda Open
Ivory Coast Open
Nigeria Open
Zambia Open
FBC Zim Open
Namibia Open
Botswana Open
Mauritius Open
The South African Series - 13 events - $3million purses - 750 points
Cape Town Open
NTT Data Pro-am
Joburg Open
Alfred Dunhill Championship
South African PGA Championship
SDC Open
MyGolfLife Open
Vusi Ngubeni Tournament
Blue Label Challenge
Fortress Invitational
SunBet Challenge
Bain's Whisky Ubunye Championship
Vodacom Origins of Golf
The Australasian Series - 16 events - $3million purses - 750 points
Australian PGA Championship
New Zealand PGA Championship
South Australian Open
Western Australia Open
WA PGA Championship
NSW Open
NSW PGA Championship
Queensland Open
Queensland PGA Championship
Victoria Open
Victoria PGA Championship
Sandbelt Invitational
Fiji International
PNG Open
South Pacific Open
The Japan Series - $3million purses - 750 points - 20 events
The Crowns
Japan Open Golf Championship
Taiheiyo Masters
Casio World Open
Token Homemate Cup
Maezawa Cup
Kansai Open
Japan PGA Championship
Mizuno Open
BMW Mori Building Cup
Hana Bank Invitational
Japan Players Championship
ISPS Handa Championship
ISPS Handa Summer
KBC Augusta
Fujisankei Classic
Shinhan Donghae Open
ANA Open
Panasonic Open
Tokai Classic
ACN Championship
The fifth tier of the WGC PGA TOUR World Championship would consist of tournaments from the current Korn Ferry Tour, Hotelplannner Tour and feeder tours to the Japan Golf Tour and Sunshine Tour, and would award 375 points at every event.
Other tours which are ranked by the OWGR would eventually be folded into the WGC PGA TOUR World Championship to create a sixth tier, with their events offering 185 points at every event.
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A Collaborative schedule for the betterment of Golf, with a 2-month off-season, multiple team events, 5 weeks of match play and the best golfers coming together more often, across America and around the world, with the Major Championships being the standout pinnacle of the sport
GOLF TV would be a linear channel and streaming service for golfers, and golf fans worldwide, which would be revolutionary. GOLF TV would be owned by the major stakeholders in the game - PGA TOUR STUDIOS, LIV GOLF STUDIOS, Augusta National Golf Club, USGA, R&A and PGA of America, and would be distributed by a variety of partners around the world as a Linear channel and an app. The linear channel would be operated by NBC in the USA, Sky in the UK, Ireland, Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Italy, FOXTEL in Australia and other partners around the world.
Pricing and availability
First of all, the streaming app would be available at a discounted rate to golf club members, with the cost part of a golf club membership at every club in the world, the fee would be equivalent to the fees club members pay for affiliation to Scottish Golf or Golf England. Club members would receive an activation code and be able to activate the app on all devices (Smart tv, Amazon Fire TV, Amazon Fire stick, Roku stick, Apple iOS, Android, mobile, tablet, Windows, Apple Macintosh, MacBook pro, MacBook air and others). (£11.25 per year)
Non Golf club members would pay a monthly fee similar to the rates used by Disney+ in the UK (£4.99 per month)
GOLF TV would be priced to make it more affordable to the average golfer and golf fan, and general audience.
Content
PGA TOUR LIVE - exact same service as ESPN provides, but rolled out over every WGC sanctioned tournament, with enhanced coverage of the Majors and Signature events
LIV GOLF every player, every shot
Archive footage
Instruction
Golf course reviews and golf holiday magazine shows
Content from golf content creators
Partnership with FTA television around the world
The PGA TOUR currently has lucrative deals with CBS and NBC Sports to cover weekend action at all PGA Tour FedEx Cup events, and this is the same for the four Major Championships, and these would continue, with the Tour trying to do the same across the world
ALL OF THESE CHANGES, I BELIEVE, CAN SUPERCHARGE THIS SPORT AND BRING THE WORLD THE GREATEST POSSIBLE PLATFORM FOR PROFESSIONAL GOLF POSSIBLE
WILL IT HAPPEN?
IT WILL TAKE AN OPEN MIND, AND AN OPEN HEART ON ALL SIDES AND THEY NEED TO PUT SELF INTEREST TO THE SIDE TO CONSIDER WHAT IS BEST FOR THE SPORT AND INDUSTRY THEY WORK IN
ONLY TIME WILL TELL IF THIS IS POSSIBLE OR NOT, IF IT ISN'T THEN NOBODY WINS
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