By coming to the golf scene, LIV Golf set out to change many things. The primary goal was to attract the popular names of this sport with money and to create a Tour that would be unsurpassed. Although the leaders of the Saudi Backed Tour managed to attract a large number of famous names from the PGA Tour, the fact is that some of the biggest names like Woods and McIlroy decided to remain part of the PGA.
Rumors that have been circulating in the past few days have caused concern among some of the fans. Namely, judging by the media headlines, LIV Golf officials want to change some things this month, offering huge money to some of the golfers to join this Tour. The top official of this Tour revealed that two golfers who previously rejected the offer, called to become part of this project, believing that they had previously made a wrong decision. The general manager also revealed that his phone was ringing constantly.
“Two guys that had very big offers that are now calling would love to be on [a LIV team] and said that was the worst decision they made is not accepting the offer and coming over.
My phone’s been ringing nonstop.”- he said, as quoted by Express.
If the headlines are to be believed, many PGA Tour golfers have the desire to become part of the Saudi-backed Tour, but the question is how open LIV is this time to really accept such. It was left with a few empty spots due to the departure of some of the popular names like Bubba Watson, as the most popular, and many others like Samooj, Vincet, Grace, and others.
It’ll be interesting to see what the next weeks and months will bring, considering that LIV officials are waiting for their chance, while on the other hand, many golfers also want to see what will happen. Although the merger between the PGA Tour and LIV Golf should mean that we’ll see as little of this kind of thing as possible, there is still no agreement. This deepens the crisis on the golf scene, and creates new rumors.
Young talents
It’s not just experienced faces and big stars of the PGA Tour. Young golfers also want to build a career at LIV, considering that it is an environment in which they can develop, and which can provide them with a better foundation for progress. Of course, the money that LIV has also gives them a certain security and motive. LIV Golfers want to base their policy on young talents, looking at who is their best and who can make a great career. Judging by what we see, the future will bear rivalry between the PGA Tour and LIV Golf at every level, including in the fight for young talents. Although the PGA Tour has managed to present a lot of talent in recent years, LIV Golf also wants to start such a practice.
“Young players that are playing well in the PGA tour, young kids that are coming out of college, that PGA Tour U is a huge, huge thing now and, you know, trying to identify somebody that’s potentially looking to turn pro.”- he said.
Even a year ago, Greg Norman spoke about the interest of golfers to participate in this Tour, considering that many like the format presented by LIV. He specifically referred to the arrival of Jon Rahm, which was probably the biggest thing for them. The arrival of the Spaniard obviously aroused the interest of other golfers, who wanted to follow the same path. However, from then until now, there have not been many transfers, and things have remained the same. The biggest reason for this is obviously the merger, but the agreement between the PGA Tour and LIV has not yet been finalized. Norman hopes that LIV will grow day by day, lead the way on the golf scene, and do magical things.
“The truth is that I think word of mouth has been very powerful among players around the world, even among the top players. They love our format, our platform and the spirit and atmosphere of teamwork that exists in around us. This year in particular, I’ve seen it resonate even stronger. Plus, having Jon on our team is an incredible addition that fills us with excitement,” Norman said.
Greg Norman© Australian Golf Digest. / Youtube Channel
We’ll get answers about whether there will be new transfers in the coming weeks or months. We still don’t have concrete information about which golfers are connected with LIV, but it is clear that something is happening behind the scenes. We could be surprised, we have no doubt about that.