The end of the major championship season is arguably the perfect time to look into how LIV Golf is performing as a tour as they continue their fight for credibility among the wider golfing public.
LIV Golf is edging towards the end of its fourth season. The first LIV event was held just over three years ago, and they have certainly managed to turn the golfing world on its head since.
Interestingly, any concerns the PGA Tour may have had about its future appear to have largely been put to bed. While there were suggestions that a merger could be imminent earlier in the year, it seems that the two tours are likely to continue on separate paths. In fact, there have been claims no talks between the PGA Tour and LIV Golf are currently taking place.
LIV is in such an interesting position right now. They undoubtedly have a number of the biggest names in the game in their league. And their fans are definitely witnessing something special in Joaquin Niemann winning five times this season.
However, Niemann’s inability to take that form into the majors poses a big problem for LIV. The Chilean has just one top 10 in 26 starts in the four biggest events of the year.
Dan Rapaport suggests what LIV Golf has been unable to do throughout its existence
The fact that he has won five times on LIV and made no impact in the majors this year – missing the cut at the US Open and The Open Championship – is impossible for the league’s critics to ignore.
And speaking on Dan on Golf, Dan Rapaport suggested that LIV has clearly got so much work to do having failed to make the kind of impact that they would have expected given the players they poached from the PGA Tour.
“I want to highlight some of the bigger name players that they paid a lot of money for to join their tour: Brooks Koepka, Dustin Johnson, Phil Mickelson, Bubba Watson, Matt Wolff, Cameron Smith. A lot of the big names that they’ve signed, their form has torpedoed. They paid a lot of money for these guys to join, and they’re coming and they’re playing in these LIV events, and they’ve almost disappeared from the conversation,” he said.
“Bryson [DeChambeau], [Tyrrell] Hatton and [Jon] Rahm are really putting a lot on their shoulders. Those three guys are going to be in the Ryder Cup, but they’re going to be the only three guys from LIV that are going to be in the Ryder Cup.
“The PGA Tour has an ability to coin new stars that LIV just doesn’t. They just don’t. The closest thing to a star that they’ve created is Joaquin Niemann, and all the discourse is about how he doesn’t do s–t in the majors. It’s not like, ‘oh, he’s a new star in the game’. It’s like, ‘well, he hasn’t proven it in the majors’.
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“Since LIV has started, Ludvig Aberg has emerged. Even recently, Chris Gotterup has emerged. The tour has this pipeline, with the PGA Tour U, and they’ve got Luke Clanton coming up, and they’ve got [Jackson] Koivun coming up. We’ve seen this long enough now to know we know what this looks like.
“And a lot of the worst possible outcome scenarios that the tour tried to make these guys be fearful of going to LIV: you’re not going to be able to play in the majors, you’re not going to be able to play in the Ryder Cup. It hasn’t come to pass. It’s not true. I think there were 18 LIV guys in The Open, and this is four years in.
“It’s not like this thing is not gaining traction because of the PGA Tour or because of all these bans. It’s that what works on a powerpoint doesn’t necessarily work in real life.
“I’ve seen the events. I haven’t been this year to a LIV event but from what I gather it’s a really nice experience and it’s different and there’s energy. I’m not debating any of that. But it just doesn’t have juice. I don’t know if that’s because their guys didn’t win a major this year or because of whatever the Niemann situation was. But the tour had these threats or painted this picture, it hasn’t come to pass, and they’ve still not developed.”
The one player who has secured their first professional win at a LIV Golf event since the league’s formation
Of course, there are extremely talented players on LIV. Niemann tipped Tom McKibbin for a bright future after they played together at JCB this past week. Meanwhile, David Puig is just outside the top 10 in the season standings and a first win for him looks to be a matter of time.
However, quite remarkably, there has only ever been one player who has secured their first professional win at a LIV Golf event.
That came in 2022 when Eugenio Chacarra won in Bangkok. Chacarra, of course, hit out at LIV after not having his contract renewed for the 2025 season. He is now back playing on the DP World Tour.
Perhaps it should not come as a surprise that the younger players are not yet winning. The league is still in its infancy in many respects.
But the next few years are going to be pivotal for LIV as some of their marquee signings start to edge towards the end of their careers at the very highest level.
