[LIV Golf Review] Despite the Lavish Money Fest, Concerns Over the 'Galapagos League'

Total Prize Money of 361.5 Billion Won Across 8 Tournaments... Top Rankers Including Smith Join
54 Holes, Team Events, and Shotgun Start Introduced, but Viewership Plummets Instead

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Seohee Lee] The LIV Golf Invitational Series, which caused a seismic shift in the global men's golf market, concluded its inaugural season last month with the Team Championship held in Miami, USA. Backed by the powerful financial resources of the Saudi Arabian sovereign wealth fund, LIV Golf sparked numerous controversies and clashed with the U.S. Professional Golfers' Association (PGA) Tour at various points.

However, opinions on LIV remain divided. Some believe it will soon replace the PGA Tour, while others point out the league's inherent limitations. Here, we review LIV Golf's first season and look ahead to next year.

$35.76 million (approximately 50.4 billion KRW) ? this is the prize money earned by Dustin Johnson (USA), a former world number one, in the four months after joining LIV Golf. This amount is nearly half of the $74.89 million he earned over 15 seasons from 2008 until his transfer. He secured $17.63 million in prize money from tournament results, including one individual win and two team wins. Additionally, he received an $18 million bonus for finishing first in the season-long standings. Adding the reported $150 million transfer fee at the time of his move, it is estimated that Johnson earned roughly 200 billion KRW in his first year with LIV Golf.

The 'record-breaking' prize money was the driving force behind attracting key PGA Tour players to LIV Golf. The total prize money offered across eight tournaments this year by LIV Golf reached $255 million. Although the number of tournaments is about one-sixth of the PGA Tour's 47 events, the total prize money exceeds half of the PGA Tour's $421.8 million.

The power of money was significant. Dustin Johnson, Bryson DeChambeau, Pat Perez, and even Cameron Smith, who was ranked second in the world at the time of transfer, all joined LIV Golf. It is reported that these players received signing bonuses ranging from tens of millions to over $100 million just for moving to LIV Golf.

However, there was a price for choosing the record-breaking prize money. LIV Golf tournaments are played over 54 holes in three days, but no world ranking points are awarded even for winning. No matter how well players perform on the LIV stage, their rankings continue to decline. Therefore, LIV players must participate in other tours such as the DP World Tour or Asian Tour to maintain their world rankings and qualify for major tournaments. Alternatively, they must forgo participation in majors altogether.

In fact, players who moved to LIV Golf this year saw their world rankings plummet. Dustin Johnson, former world number one in men's golf, dropped to 31st place as of October 30. Phil Mickelson fell from 71st at the beginning of the year to 155th recently, making his participation in the Masters Tournament and The Open Championship unlikely.

This poses a considerable burden for young, developing golfers. Chasing only 'money' could mean missing out on competing on the world's biggest stages like The Open Championship and the Masters Tournament. There are concerns that if LIV Golf does not resolve these issues, it could become a 'Galapagos Tour' isolated from the global golf ecosystem.

LIV Golf plans to seek a breakthrough by partnering with the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) Tour. The proposal is to register all LIV Golf players as members of the MENA Tour. The MENA Tour, affiliated with the Royal & Ancient Golf Club (R&A) and the Arab Golf Federation, has awarded world ranking points since 2016. However, due to the nature of world ranking points being awarded differentially based on tour recognition and tournament difficulty, the points obtainable from the MENA Tour are incomparable to those from the PGA Tour and DP World Tour.

Interest in the 'party for themselves' drops... Decreased spectators and broadcasters turn away

LIV Golf features 48 players competing in three rounds of 54 holes without any cuts. This differs from the PGA Tour, where about half the field is cut after two rounds and players compete over four rounds (72 holes) across four days. Additionally, LIV uses a shotgun start where all players tee off simultaneously, reducing overall event duration. These conditions may be attractive to players.

However, these factors are widely seen as negative for LIV Golf's popularity. Without the pressure of cuts like the PGA Tour and with prize money awarded even to the lowest-ranked players, the chance of thrilling 'comeback' moments is low. Critics also describe it as a 'party for their own players.'

Many players are in their 40s, past their prime, leading to criticism that the tour is a gathering of aging players nearing retirement. LIV Golf demands less physical exertion and faster pace than the PGA Tour, making it suitable for players seeking work-life balance with family over career. Rory McIlroy criticized this, saying, "Many players over 40 compete in LIV Golf. Most are past their prime." He also admonished younger players, saying, "It seems like they are choosing the easy path."

This has also affected broadcasting rights. Currently, the LIV Series is broadcast only on limited channels such as YouTube. LIV Golf approached major broadcasters like ESPN, CBS, NBC, and Fox to negotiate contracts but failed to secure deals. Recently, LIV Golf reportedly offered broadcasting rights to Apple and Amazon, but these companies also declined.

Gallery interest has also declined. Over 600,000 spectators attended the final rounds in Boston, Chicago, and Bedminster, but subsequent tournaments saw a sharp drop in attendance. The audience size at the Bangkok tournament in October was one-third of Chicago's and one-fifth of Boston's.

In contrast, the PGA Tour recently signed a nine-year broadcasting contract with CBS, NBC, and ESPN+, securing coverage through 2030. The annual revenue from this contract is estimated at about $700 million. The U.S. broadcasting industry estimates the PGA Tour's broadcast value during the contract period to reach approximately $6 billion.

LIV expands the battlefield... PGA's response is formidable

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Despite these setbacks, LIV has declared it will intensify its offensive against the PGA Tour next season. It plans to increase the number of tournaments, expand prize money, and recruit more top-ranked players.

The number of tournaments will increase significantly from eight this year to 14 next year. The total prize money for the 14 events will be $405 million (approximately 576.1 billion KRW), doubling this year's $225 million.

The number of host countries is also expected to expand. LIV Golf previously announced plans to extend to North America, Latin America, Asia, Australia, the Middle East, and across Europe next year. Nine tournaments will be held in the U.S., and five in other countries. This year, five of the eight tournaments were in the U.S., with one each in the UK, Thailand, and Saudi Arabia.

Additionally, LIV plans to recruit more top-ranked players. CEO Kosla stated, "There will be announcements about additional player signings in the new year." Subsequently, the BBC reported, citing LIV Golf officials, that "at least two and up to four players ranked within the top 15 in the Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR) could transfer to the LIV Series."

However, the PGA's response is also formidable. In August, the PGA announced that for the 2022-2023 season, the total prize money for eight major tournaments would increase from $15 million to $25 million, a $10 million raise. Additionally, a $145 million bonus pool was established. Of this, $75 million will be distributed based on FedEx Cup points, and $20 million will be shared among the top 10 players. The remaining $50 million will be allocated through an evaluation system called the 'Player Impact Program.'

Most experts believe that as long as top-ranked players like Scottie Scheffler, Rory McIlroy, and influential figures like Tiger Woods firmly support the PGA, it will be difficult for LIV Golf to overturn the global golf landscape.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.