{"id":791003,"date":"2026-05-12T11:57:18","date_gmt":"2026-05-12T11:57:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/791003\/"},"modified":"2026-05-12T11:57:18","modified_gmt":"2026-05-12T11:57:18","slug":"the-pga-tour-has-won-out-over-liv-golf","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/791003\/","title":{"rendered":"The PGA Tour has won out over LIV Golf"},"content":{"rendered":"

Neither \u201cGolf, but Louder,\u201d its original slogan, nor \u201cLong LIV Golf,\u201d the current replacement, applies anymore. Here we sit instead, with LIV quietly limping into the fading background. Ultimately, the experiment may have wildly enriched a few, but it served more to enhance the PGA Tour, forcing some good changes to its pay structure and player autonomy, with elevated events and bigger purses. Meanwhile, LIV is constantly playing catch-up with its own product. Not even the long-sought acquisition of world ranking points<\/a> or a move to four-round play could offset the fundamental problems with a tour that turned its players into shells of their former selves, where guaranteed payouts and no-cut tournaments sapped them of competitive juice.<\/p>\n

Why else would Brooks Koepka say this after quitting LIV<\/a>, paying his exorbitant penalty, and carding a back-nine 29 during a round of the Myrtle Beach Classic: \u201cThat\u2019s the most excited I\u2019ve been playing golf in a long, long time. I can tell you that much. It\u2019s been a long time since I\u2019ve had fun playing golf. It\u2019s been at least a year. I was very frustrated last year, just wasn\u2019t in a good place.\u201d<\/p>\n

That place? LIV Golf.<\/p>\n

\""It’s“It\u2019s been a long time since I\u2019ve had fun playing golf,” Brooks Koepka said at last weekend’s PGA Tour Myrtle Beach Classic.Raj Mehta\/Getty<\/p>\n

Now, as the PGA Championship gets ready to tee off Thursday in Pennsylvania and bring us to the halfway mark of golf\u2019s major season, the questions swirl around the few remaining stars who defected from the PGA Tour and backed up their cars for the blood-soaked cash. Bryson DeChambeau is the game\u2019s most fascinating free agent, with an expiring LIV contract, an enormous off-the-course social media profile, and an ego to match them both. As he whines publicly that a return can only happen if the rest of the PGA Tour players \u201cwant\u201d him back, figuring he can just go grow his YouTube channel<\/a> if they don\u2019t and play whatever fields will have him, it remains obvious he has always valued his personal brand over the game itself.<\/p>\n

I can\u2019t help but hear the words of Rory McIlroy<\/a>, the PGA Tour king who recently addressed the apparent demise of LIV. Forget about the over-the-hill defectors such as the MIA Phil Mickelson and the petulant Sergio Garcia, or the otherwise ignorable Dustin Johnson or Bubba Watson. It\u2019s the guys such as DeChambeau, Jon Rahm<\/a>, and Cam Smith, who wasted so much of their primes for the cash grab. If they ever again want to be considered among the best in the game\u2019s history, they are going to have to swallow their pride and play against the best golfers in the game\u2019s present.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not going to judge anyone for not wanting to play on the PGA Tour,\u201d McIlroy said after the second round of last weekend\u2019s Truist Championship. \u201cBut \u2026 if you want to be the most competitive golfer you can be, this is the place to be. And if you don\u2019t want to play here, I think that says something about you.\u201d<\/p>\n

It says you valued the money over the prestige, no matter how much the evidence mounts that LIV failed to deliver on any of the promises sworn by Greg Norman, Mickelson, and Saudi investment chair Yasir Al-Rumayyan. Well, any of the promises other than the money. More time with family thanks to a different schedule and three-day tournaments? Koepka waxed poetic about his return to Florida and the time it means for a family that is so much happier when he also is happier. Patrick Reed gladly took a spot on the DP World Tour to work his way back to the PGA Tour<\/a>, no matter how much international travel that demands.<\/p>\n

\"PatrickPatrick Reed gladly took a spot on the DP World Tour to work his way back to the PGA Tour.Ross Kinnaird\/Getty<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a question if they do want to come back,\u201d McIlroy said. \u201cObviously, we have seen the quotes over the last few days [that some said they don\u2019t want to]. Again, it all depends on what happens to LIV. But if it is a scenario where they have the option to come back and play on the traditional tours, you know, I think [PGA Tour CEO] Brian Rolapp has said anything that makes this tour stronger, anything that makes the DP World Tour stronger, I think everyone should be open to that. That\u2019s just good business practice.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut again, I think there\u2019s going to be a lot of sort of bridges to cross to get there.\u201d<\/p>\n

Once upon a time, LIV was happy to blow up the bridges and paint the wreckage pretty colors, figuring it would never have to worry about going back. Reality tells a different story.<\/p>\n

Tara Sullivan is a Globe columnist. She can be reached at tara.sullivan@globe.com<\/a>. Follow her @Globe_Tara<\/a>.<\/p>\n