Greetings!
New here.
I honestly tried to make it through most of the meat of this thread (116 pages on LIV is a tough read any day of the week), but fell off at certain, often ad nauseam, talking points and lose interest in making it to the end
So I’ll just get going by saying I am absolutely, firmly in LIV’s court, and far away from that of the PGAT’s for near 2 years now
I’m a Canadian, so that first week in 2022 was quite conflicting. This controversial rogue tour was starting up on the same week as my national open (coincidentally the first time it was even being held since 2019!). Very frustrating. Made it easier for me to hate LIV and I did. Rory won a fantastic tournament that featured JT, Tony, Sam Burns and Scottie battling it out for the title, among others. He took a shot at Greg Norman with his 21 wins comment. I thought it was funny, and effectively buried LIV. At that point they only possessed what could be described as “less than likable” personalities. Bryson, DJ, Reed, Sergio ... I don’t even think Brooks joined at this point
But, then I started really paying attention to how the PGAT operates, and tried to really give a fair shake to the vision of what LIV will or is trying to produce
(For those that immediately jump to, or think of mentioning money here, I understand. But I have already read the OP warning about bringing politics or the source of the funding into this, as tough as that is, so I will continue to do my best to ignore that not to turn a blind eye to it, but to avoid serious conflict on this board I do not wish to provoke)
- A Global Tour
- Reduced schedule, not solely to make the lives of pro players easier (I could care less
really), but to increase the emphasis on the select few tournaments that will feature the
world’s best players
- 54 holes tournaments
- Shotgun starts
- A different way to broadcast the sport (increased use of graphics, data, drone footage)
- Piggybacking off the last point, targeting yourself towards a younger audience
- No commercials - utilizing YouTube because it’s 2024 and you do not have to be archaic
in your presentation of the sport
- Shorts (!)
Among the many things there (and anything else you think could be included), the main ones that stand out are the Global Tour and marketing yourself towards a younger audience.
Golf is largely too American, and targeted towards an older audience. This may never truly, fundamentally change, but it is worth a shot trying to change it
I’m not saying LIV is perfect, we can debate that throughout, but what I’m saying is that these ideas need to be at least considered and approached with an open mind. And some people just flat out do not do that. I can just tell from many posts on this board, and from things I hear at my club that people are just not approaching this with any sort of impartiality, but come in with a predetermined frame of mind. I know, the politics and money get in the way, and it’s a massive cloud hanging over this, but as a Canadian, International, someone not from the USA, you can absolutely miss me with the “iT’s SauDi rUN!” and use morality as a defense. Please touch grass and read the news.
The PGAT sat on its high horse for years, so they don’t have anyone to blame but themselves. LIV golfers suck because they’re making boatloads of cash for playing no-cut events, so you’re response is to make your tour largely no-cut events for boatloads of guaranteed cash? Yeah, just say you had ZERO plan. Almost like they were running a Monopoly and wanted no one to ever question it
Most people I see who “hate” LIV have a staunch attitude towards the PGAT or the USA, so I really don’t know how to dance around the subject sometimes. Like I said, I believe people are rooted to what they want to believe and nothing will change them on that. As weird as that is to type out and then actual process.
But anyways, for me, I love LIV. I believe the coverage is night and day compared to the commercial-laden PGAT. The Miami tournament was absolutely thrilling, with a great finish. And this was topped by a spectacular spectacle in Adelaide this past weekend. The atmosphere was amazing to see even through TV, and the first ever team playoff was an absolute hit for me. The Aussie crowd has been robbed of top-level golf and they showed out this weekend. Loved it!
