DUBLIN, Ohio – Rory McIlroy struck an upbeat tone in describing the first in-person meeting between a PGA Tour transaction committee and the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia, which backs LIV Golf.
The committee, including Tiger Woods, met with the PIF and governor Yasir Al-Rumayyan on Friday evening in New York. McIlroy joined via video conference from the Memorial Tournament, where he is competing this weekend.
“Very productive, very constructive, very collaborative,’’ McIlroy said after the third round at Muirfield Village Golf Club. “I think those are probably three words I would use to describe it. Yeah, it was really good. Definitely things are heading in the right direction. A lot of progress was made. I can't really say much more than that, but it was really positive.’’
McIlroy, who shot 73 and is tied for 11th in the tournament led by Scottie Scheffler through three rounds, was pessimistic about the state of negotiations just a few weeks ago at the PGA Championship in the aftermath of PGA Tour Policy Board member Jimmy Dunne’s resignation.
Dunne, who resigned on May 13, had been part of the negotiations more than a year ago that led to the initial “framework agreement’’ that was announced June 6, 2023. Dunne was the first one to reach out to Al-Rumayyan in an attempt to bring peace to the men’s professional game.
Woods, McIlroy and Adam Scott were named last month to a “transaction committee’’ that is to deal directly with the PIF as part of a plan to get investment in the new PGA Enterprises.
The others on the committee are PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan; former Tour player and board liaison Joe Ogilvie; Joe Gorder, who is an executive with Valero and the chairman of PGA Tour Enterprises; and John Henry, a principal with Fenway Sports Group and part of the Strategic Sports Group, which earlier this year invested $1.5 billion in PGA Tour Enterprises.
McIlroy said he prepped with the transaction committee for 90 minutes prior to the three-hour meeting.
“Maybe not surprised but maybe more encouraged,’’ McIlroy said. “I think a lot of progress had sort of been made. But definitely encouraged.’’
McIlroy said in an interview on Thursday that the committee and the PIF have been meeting remotely three times a week for the past several weeks.
“In terms of the deal, like the financials and the legals and all that, I think those three calls a week were more to do with their investment committee and SSG ... that's what those calls were.
“But I think last night was more talking about the future of the game and the vision and that was where I thought there was a lot of progress that was made.’’
Asked if he has a better understanding of what the PIF’s goals are in investing in PGA Tour Enterprises, McIlroy said:
“You've got to understand, they're a sovereign wealth fund. They invest in companies and in different things and they want a return on their investment. That's what they want. It doesn't seem like they're getting that at the minute within golf [with LIV Golf], and this—hopefully if things progress and we get to a certain point, then hopefully they see a future where that can happen, they can start to get some returns on their money.’’
The PGA Tour earlier in the day released a statement about the meeting in which it said progress was made.
“Representatives from the PGA Tour Enterprises Transaction Subcommittee and the PIF have been meeting multiple times weekly to work through potential deal terms and come to a shared vision on the future of professional golf,’’ the Tour said. “On Friday evening, an in-person session in New York City included the entire Transaction Subcommittee and PIF governor Yasir Al-Rumayyan and his team, where more progress was made.
“We remain committed to these negotiations, which require working through complex considerations to best position golf for global growth. We want to get this right, and we are approaching discussions with careful consideration for our players, our fans, our partners and the game’s future.’’
Jon Rahm, who has struggled in the major championships so far this year, withdrew from the LIV Golf Houston event on Saturday afternoon due to a foot injury, with the U.S. Open looming next week.
Rahm, who won the 2023 Masters and is seventh in the Official World Golf Ranking, had an issue during Friday’s first round with a cut, or cuts, between his toes, leading to him seeking attention during the round.
He played on and shot 3-under-par 69 at the Golf Club of Houston, a round that included five birdies and a double bogey.
Rahm played six holes of his second round on Saturday before withdrawing. LIV Golf had yet to provide any further information.
The two-time major winner, who won the 2021 U.S. Open at Torrey Pines, has yet to win on LIV Golf after becoming the biggest offseason signing for the league. He is the captain of his own team, Legion XIII. In seven events, Rahm has finished inside the top 10 each time, with two third-place finishes.
But he tied for 45th in his Masters defense and then missed the cut last month at the PGA Championship, his first missed cut in a major after making 18 straight.
DUBLIN, Ohio — Rory McIlroy considered heading to New York following the second round of the Memorial Tournament on Friday but will instead take part via video conference in the first in-person meeting of the PGA Tour’s transaction committee and the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia.
Saying that players Tiger Woods, Adam Scott and himself will be more in the background because “this is big boy stuff,” McIlroy said it is about the PIF—which backs LIV Golf—and a possible investment in PGA Tour Enterprises and what that could mean for the future of the men’s professional game.
And as part of that, McIlroy believes that LIV Golf will continue to operate, regardless of how a deal might look.
“I certainly don’t see in the next couple of years LIV slowing down,” McIlroy told a small group of reporters following an opening-round 70 at Muirfield Village Golf Club. “They’re buying office space in New York. They have over 200 employees. I don’t see a world where—and I haven’t heard any of those guys say that they don’t want to play over there either, right? You’ve got guys who are on contracts until 2028, 2029.
“Looking a few years down the line, LIV is going to continue to sort of keep going down its path. But hopefully with maybe more of a collaboration or an understanding between the tours. Maybe there is some cross-pollenation there where players can start to play on both. I guess that will all be talked about in the coming weeks.”
McIlroy along with Woods and Scott were named last month to a “transaction committee” that is to deal directly with the PIF as part of a plan to get investment in the new PGA Enterprises and bring peace to the game.
The others on the committee are PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan; former Tour player and board liaison Joe Ogilvie; Joe Gorder, who is an executive with Valero Energy and the chairman of PGA Tour Enterprises; and John Henry, a principal with Fenway Sports Group and part of the Strategic Sports Group, which earlier this year invested $1.5 billion in PGA Tour Enterprises.
The group is meeting in New York on Friday afternoon with the PIF, including its governor, Yasir Al-Rumayyan.
McIlroy said the transaction committee has met a few times amongst themselves and every Monday, Wednesday and Friday with representatives of the PIF for the last few weeks.
It’s been a year since the “framework agreement” was announced, with no deal made and plenty of conjecture back and forth. The SSG commitment stalled talks with the PIF, but seemingly have resumed with plenty of ground to cover.
“There’s going to be people in that room on the PGA Tour side who are going to take the lead,” McIlroy said. “And it’s not going to be Adam, Tiger or I. That’s going to be Jay, Joe Gorder, Joe Ogilvie, John Henry. It’s going to be the business guys. We’re there to maybe give a perspective from a player’s point of view.
“This is a negotiation about an investment in the PGA Tour Enterprises, this is big boy stuff. And I’ll certainly be doing more listening than I will be doing talking.”
McIlroy said it is unknown at this point what PIF’s role might be going forward.
“I think depending on what the DOJ (the U.S. Department of Justice) allows, it might have to be a very passive investment,” McIlroy said. “I don’t know what’s in their head. I don’t know if that is something that they are willing to do. We’ll find out.”
McIlroy added: “There’s a lot of stuff that goes beyond my knowledge and expertise in terms of the investment side of things. And certainly the regulatory side of things as well. We’re on this transaction committee to sort of give a perspective from a player. But that’s going to be a conversation between SSG and the executives of the Tour.”
Asked if he believes the PIF—which was attempting to get into golf long before LIV Golf was launched—is looking at PGA Tour Enterprises as something aside from its LIV investment, McIlroy said:
“First and foremost, Yasir is the governor of the PIF and the chairman of Aramco (Saudi Arabia’s lucrative oil company). Those are the two titles that he holds. His biggest thing is making returns on his investments and to do good by the Kingdom. That’s his whole purpose in what he is doing. If he thinks that investing in PGA Tour Enterprises is a good investment and he can make return on his money and also get a seat at the table, as it were, he may see that as a win.”
McIlroy noted that collaboration going forward is tricky. The DOJ rejected original language in the framework agreement which said LIV Golf could not poach players from the PGA Tour. “It was anti-competitive; antitrust,” McIlroy said.
That, and so many other things, make for a complicated situation, he said.
“My stance on some of the LIV stuff has softened,” McIlroy said. “They’re contracted to play 14 events, but the other 38 weeks of the year you’re free to do what you want.
“The only thing is there are so many tours and so many golf tournaments. There are only a certain amount of weeks in the year. That’s the complicated part. Trying to figure out which tournaments go where, when do we play them, how many players, what players.”
How did professional golf's split come to life? Here's a timeline compiled by Bob Harig, from the initial reports of a rival league in January 2020 until now, one year after a "framework agreement" was supposed to unify the sport.
January: Reports first surface about the potential for a rival golf league that has been meeting with players and agents behind the scenes and touting an 18-event circuit with just 48 players, 12 teams and guaranteed pay. Initial ideas saw $10 million purses with no cuts and a windfall for 12 team captains. The concept was called the Premier Golf League.
Jan. 29: Phil Mickelson plays in the pro-am for the Saudi International, an event that is sanctioned by the European Tour. In his group is Majed Al-Sorour, CEO of the Saudi Golf Federation; Andy Gardiner, a director at Barclays Capital and a founder of the PGL; and Colin Neville of the Raine Group, also a backer of the PGL, which had Saudi Arabia backing as well through the Public Investment Fund.
Jan. 30: Greg Norman, who once tried to spearhead a rival league with the backing of Fox Sports, sees viability in the PGL a day after the pro-am in Saudi Arabia. “It’s just a matter of getting all the right components together, whether players stay together," says Norman, whose World Golf League in 1993-94 was thwarted by the PGA Tour. “With my original concept, some players loved it, and others didn’t like it. I had corporate, I had television but you need 100% of the pie to be together before we can bake it. From what I’m seeing here, this one has every chance of getting off the ground."
Greg Norman tried to spearhead a rival league decades ago and is a central figure in one now. / Reuters via USA TODAY Sports
Feb. 11: Speaking at the Genesis Invitational, Tiger Woods says he’s been approached about the PGL. “My team’s been aware of it and we’ve delved into the details of it and trying to figure it out just like everyone else. We’ve been down this road before with World Golf Championships and other events being started. There’s a lot of information that we’re still looking at and whether it’s reality or not, but just like everybody else, we’re looking into it."
Asked why he might even be interested, Woods said: “I think just like all events, you’re trying to get the top players to play more collectively. It’s one of the reasons why we instituted the World Golf Championships, because we were only getting (the top players) together five times a year, the four majors and the Players, and we wanted to showcase the top players on more than just those occasions. So this is a natural evolution, whether or not things like this are going to happen, but ideas like this are going to happen going forward, whether it’s now or any other time in the future."
Feb. 18: A week later at the WGC-Mexico Championship, Rory McIlroy seemingly deals the PGL a serious blow: “The more I’ve thought about it, the more I don’t like it. The one thing as a professional golfer in my position that I value is the fact that I have autonomy and freedom over everything I do. I pick and choose—this is a perfect example. Some guys this week made the choice not to come to Mexico. If you go and play this other golf league, you’re not going to have that choice.
"I read a thing the other day where it said if you take the money they can tell you want to do. And I think that’s my thing, I’ve never been one for being told what to do, and I like to have that autonomy and freedom over my career, and I feel like I would give that up by going to play this other league. For me, I’m out. My position is I’m against it until there may come a day that I can’t be against it. If everyone else goes, I might not have a choice, but at this point, I don’t like what they’re proposing."
Spring/Summer: Talk of the rival golf circuit dies down considerably amid the global Coronavirus pandemic. Talk shifts to when golf will resume and how it will take place amid a health crisis. The PGL idea goes into the background.
Fall: The PGL approaches the European Tour, now the DP World Tour, with a proposal to merge or cooperate. CEO Keith Pelley turns down the PGL and instead forms a "strategic alliance" with the PGA Tour that will see some crossover events, the Tour take an ownership stake in European Tour productions, and effectively—at the time—hold off the outside threat.
May 4: A report surfaces that a new Super Golf League has emerged and that it is either the new name for the PGL or something different. Phil Mickelson and Dustin Johnson are among those linked to it. Sometime during the spring and summer of 2021, the PGL sees some of its personnel switch allegiances to a new entity that will have full Saudi backing and will come to be known as LIV Golf.
Oct. 27: At a private unveiling in New York, LIV Golf Investments is announced with Greg Norman as its CEO, with the idea of first helping to back golf in Asia with the $300 million investment in the Asian Tour, which will be used to finance a new elevated series of events called the International Series. It is eventually disclosed that Norman will also be the commissioner of a new tour called the LIV Golf League, with plans to launch in the spring of 2022.
Nov. 21: PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan sends a memo to players outlining how 55% of the Tour’s revenue will be paid out to players in the form of prize money, bonuses and other benefits—believed to be in response to Phil Mickelson saying on a podcast that only 26% of revenue was going to the players.
Feb. 2: While playing in the Saudi International for the third straight year, Phil Mickelson does an interview with Golf Digest in which he refers to the PGA Tour’s "obnoxious greed" as a reason why players might be interested in LIV Golf. He also maintains that the Tour is sitting on millions of dollars that should be going to the players. "It’s not public knowledge, all that goes on," Mickelson said. “But the players don’t have access to their own media. If the Tour wanted to end any threat, they could just hand back the media rights to the players. But they would rather throw $25 million here and $40 million there than give back the roughly $20 billion in digital assets they control. Or give up access to the $50-plus million they make every year on their own media channel."
Phil Mickelson set golf ablaze with comments early in 2022 accusing the PGA Tour of "obnoxious greed," then after a hiatus emerged as one of LIV Golf's headliners. / Reuters via USA TODAY Sports
Feb. 17: Even Tiger Woods and the Genesis Invitational—where he is not playing—take a back seat to the drama that unfolds when Alan Shipnuck releases an excerpt from his soon-to-released biography of Phil Mickelson in which the golfer, among other things, says he is willing to use the Saudi-backed LIV Golf League as leverage against the PGA Tour and that he and other players paid attorneys to help LIV Golf develop its business plan.
Feb. 20: With Phil Mickelson’s comments the talk of the tournament, players such as Dustin Johnson and Bryson DeChambeau come out in support of the PGA Tour, viewed as a blow to LIV Golf. It is later learned that Mickelson’s comments and the subsequent back-tracking of several players who were interested in LIV set back the league’s plans and sent it into disarray.
Feb. 22: In the wake of his comments, Phil Mickelson offers an apology and says he will step away from the game for a period of time and offers to pause relationships with sponsors. “I have always known that criticism would come with exploring anything new. I still chose to put myself at the forefront of this to inspire change, taking the hits publicly to do the work behind the scenes.”
Mickelson said that he offered the brands with which he was associated “the option to pause or end the relationship as I understand it might be necessary given the current circumstances.” KPMG and Amstel Light end their relationships with Mickelson, and a few days later, Callaway announces that it is pausing a relationship that dates to 2004.
March 8: With Phil Mickelson missing—and, later it was learned, suspended—PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan addressed the media at the Players Championship. A typical state-of-the tour-type news conference turned into questions about Mickelson and LIV Golf. "The PGA Tour is moving on," he said. "We have too much momentum and too much to accomplish to be consistently distracted by rumors of other golf leagues and their attempts to disrupt our players, our partners, and most importantly our fans from enjoying the Tour and the game we all love so much.
"I am grateful for the strong support our top players have shown recently and publicly, and I’m extremely proud that we’ve turned the conversation around to focus on what we do best: delivering world-class golf tournaments with the best players to the best fans, all while positively impacting the communities in which we play. We are and we always will be focused on legacy not leverage."
March 16: Despite numerous setbacks, LIV Golf announces an eight-tournament schedule to begin in June. It won’t be the LIV Golf League, as planned, but the LIV Golf Invitational Series. Purses will be $20 million for the individual portion with $5 million more set aside for the teams. At the time, LIV Golf was unsure if it would be able to fill a 48-player field so it announced that the entire purse would be paid out regardless of the number of players who started. Total prize money for the eight events was set at $255 million, with $50 million set aside for a season-ending Team Championship.
May 10: PGA Tour players and Korn Ferry Tour players interested in competing in the first LIV Golf event outside of London in June need to seek conflicting event and/or media releases but are denied. The Tour tells players it is not an authorized event. Greg Norman, the LIV Golf commissioner, pushes back. "Sadly, the PGA Tour seems intent on denying professional golfers their right to play golf, unless it’s exclusively in a PGA Tour tournament. This is particularly disappointing in light of the Tour’s non-profit status, where its mission is purportedly to promote the common interests of professional tournament golfers.
"Instead, the Tour is intent on perpetuating its illegal monopoly of what should be a free and open market. The Tour’s action is anti-golfer, anti-fan, and anti-competitive. But no matter what obstacles the PGA Tour puts in our way, we will not be stopped. We will continue to give players options that promote the great game of golf globally.”
May 31: Dustin Johnson, a two-time major winner who has 24 PGA Tour titles, headlines the field announced for the first LIV Golf event to be played at The Centurion Club outside of London. Others listed are past major winners Sergio Garcia and Louis Oosthuizen, as well as Kevin Na, Ian Poulter and Lee Westwood.
June 6:Phil Mickelson ends a four-month hiatus in which he missed the Masters and defense of his PGA Championship title, emerging as LIV Golf’s latest signee who is set to compete later in the week at the first tournament. At a news conference prior to the tournament, Mickelson is asked several times about his past comments regarding Saudi Arabia, its human rights record and the death of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, believed by U.S. government officials to have been carried out by the Saudi regime.
“Well, certainly, I've made, said and done a lot of things that I regret, and I'm sorry for that and for the hurt that it's caused a lot of people. I don't—I don't condone human rights violations at all. Nobody here does, throughout the world. I'm certainly aware of what has happened with Jamal Khashoggi, and I think it's terrible. I've also seen the good that the game of golf has done throughout history, and I believe that LIV Golf is going to do a lot of good for the game as well. And I'm excited about this opportunity. That's why I'm here."
Charl Schwartzel owns a unique piece of golf history: winner of the first LIV Golf event. / Reuters via USA TODAY Sports
June 11: Charl Schwartzel, the 2011 Masters champion, wins the first LIV event, holding on for his first victory anywhere in nearly six years. The win was worth $4 million from the $20 million purse and because Schwartzel’s team, Stinger GC, won the team competition, he pocketed another $750,000 from the $3 million paid to the winners.
June 21: Following other players who committed to play for LIV during or after the first LIV event, then-four-time major champion Brooks Koepka is announced as the latest addition. He joins the likes of Bryson DeChambeau, Pat Perez, Patrick Reed and Abraham Ancer as those who were now set to play in LIV’s second event.
June 22: During a news conference at the Travelers Championship, PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan outlines a plan that will see the PGA Tour return to a calendar-year schedule in 2024 while also increasing the purses substantially at eight events, including the legacy events for Tiger Woods, Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus. The FedEx Cup season is also changed to see smaller fields at the first two playoff events.
Aug. 2: Eleven LIV golfers sue the PGA Tour to challenge suspensions and claim a restraint of trade. Phil Mickelson and Bryson DeChambeau are among those named in the suit. Three other players—Talor Gooch, Hudson Swafford and Matt Jones—seek a temporary restraining order so they can play in the FedEx Cup playoffs. (The restraining order is denied on the eve of the FedEx Cup playoffs.)
Aug. 16: Tiger Woods flies to Delaware and heads a players-only meeting at the BMW Championship along with Rory McIlroy where details are hashed out that will lead to substantial purse increases and benefits for players. It would later commonly be referred to as "the Delaware Meeting."
Aug. 24: On the back of the Delaware meeting, PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan announces a hastily-devised plan that will see eight tournaments in 2023 with boosted purses. First called designated events, these tournaments would have $20 million purses except for the Sentry, which will be $15 million. For several of the events, the result means more than doubling the purse. For the legacy events, it means adding $8 million per event. And the first two playoff events will also have $20 million purses.
Aug. 30: Just more than a month after his victory at St. Andrews, British Open champion Cam Smith becomes the latest player to join LIV Golf, doing so in time for its event in Boston. Smith is joined by Joaquin Niemann, who attended the Delaware meeting, along with Marc Leishman, Harold Varner III, Anirban Lahiri and Cameron Tringale. At the time, it gave LIV Golf six of the top 30 players in the Official World Golf Ranking.
One month after winning the 150th British Open, Cam Smith left for LIV Golf. / Michael Madrid-USA TODAY Sports
Oct 5: LIV Golf announces a strategic alliance with the MENA Tour, a developmental tour that has had Official World Golf Ranking accreditation since 2016. LIV Golf incorporates its events into the MENA Tour schedule and says it believes it should be granted OWGR immediately due to the association. The move is scoffed at as an end-around to try and obtain points and the OWGR does not grant points to LIV Golf.
Oct. 29: Martin Slumbers, the CEO of the R&A, makes it clear that the British Open is not going to ban LIV golfers who are otherwise eligible for the 2023 championship. "We are not going to abandon 150 years of history have the Open not be open," Slumbers said.
Oct. 30: LIV Golf completes its first season with Dustin Johnson’s 4Aces team winning the team championship in Miami. The four team members share a $16 million payday.
Nov. 15: At the DP World Tour Championship in Dubai, Rory McIlroy says it is time for golf’s warring factions to figure something out. But he says it needs to happen without LIV Golf commissioner Greg Norman. “Greg needs to go. He needs to exit stage left. He’s made his mark but I think now is the right time to say you’ve got this thing off the ground but no one’s going to talk unless there’s an adult in the room that actually try to mend fences."
Nov. 29: At his Hero World Challenge event in the Bahamas, Tiger Woods also says that Greg Norman needs to go. Woods had been planning to play for the first time since the British Open but withdrew due to plantar fasciitis. “I think (Greg Norman) has to go, first of all, and then obviously the litigation against us and then our countersuit against them. Those would then have to be at a stay as well, then we can talk, we can all talk freely. Right now as it is, not right now, not with their leadership, not with Greg there and his animosity towards the tour itself. I don’t see that happening. But why would you change anything if you’ve got a lawsuit against you? They sued us first."
At his Hero World Challenge in 2022, Tiger Woods said Greg Norman would have to depart before a discussion could take place between the rival tours. / Michael Madrid-USA TODAY Sports
Dec. 16: Only a year into the job, the Chief Operating Officer for LIV Golf leaves his position. Atul Khosla was hired by LIV Golf in December 2021 from the Tampa Bay Buccaneers NFL team, where he held the title of chief corporate development and brand officer. Khosla was also chief operating officer for the Chicago Fire soccer club in the MLS and also worked for General Electric and NBC Sports. In his role at LIV Golf, he reported to CEO and commissioner Greg Norman. His role was taken over by executives of the Performance 54 agency and not filled for nearly a year.
Dec. 20: Augusta National makes clear it will be inviting those eligible for the Masters to participate. “Regrettably, recent actions have divided men’s professional golf by diminishing the virtues of the game and the meaningful legacies of those who built it," Masters chairman Fred Ridley said in a statement. “Although we are disappointed in these developments, our focus is to honor the tradition of bringing together a preeminent field of golfers this coming April.”
Jan. 19: LIV Golf announces it has a long-awaited television partner after its events were available only via streaming in the first year. The CW Network—the C is for CBS, the W for Warner Media—enters into a multi-year agreement to televise LIV Golf tournaments. The deal will not see LIV Golf get paid a traditional rights fee but that is "mutually financially beneficial." It is believed that LIV will share advertising revenue with the CW and will also likely be expected to shoulder a good bit of promotional work.
Jan. 24: Jay Monahan and Keith Pelley recuse themselves from reviewing LIV Golf’s application for Official World Golf Ranking points. Monahan, the commissioner of the PGA Tour, and Pelley, the CEO of the DP World Tour, are two of the seven members of the OWGR board of directors that ultimately decides the fate of tours seeking accreditation. Keith Waters, who heads up the International Federation of PGA Tours and is the DP World Tour’s chief operating officer, also recused himself from the application.
“I have not looked at the LIV application," Pelley says during a session with reporters in Dubai. “So I can’t give an opinion on an application I have not seen. It is in the hands of the technical committee. On the advice of legal counsel, myself and Jay recused ourselves from the separate committee. Representatives of the four majors will now determine the LIV application. We are not involved and we have no influence on what transpires as far as LIV goes."
April 5: The DP World Tour wins an arbitration case against LIV Golf players who were seeking to play the former European Tour. The arbitration panel rules that the DP World Tour had the right to fine and suspend players for violating its membership regulations in order to compete in LIV Golf events. Lee Westwood, Ian Poulter and 10 other players had brought the action in response to fines levied for not being granted permission to compete in LIV Golf events. A separate antitrust case between LIV Golf and the PGA Tour is still scheduled for 2024.
May 4: Amid its investigation of former President Donald Trump’s handling of classified documents, the Department of Justice looks specifically at his dealings with LIV Golf, according to the New York Times. Two of Trump’s courses hosted events in 2022 with three scheduled to do so in 2023.
June 6: The golf world is stunned to learn that secret negotiations have been taking place and resulted in a "framework agreement" between the PGA Tour, DP World Tour and Public Investment Fund. Initially said to be a "merger," it is later reframed as an agreement that would see the entities have an alliance. The biggest part of the news is that all of the lawsuits have been dropped. The idea is to have a final deal by Dec. 31, 2023.
As more details emerge, it is learned that PGA Tour Policy Board members Jimmy Dunne and Ed Herlihy secretly met with Yasir Al-Rumayyan, the governor of the PIF, for several weeks prior to the announcement. PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan also had clandestine meetings with Al-Rumayyan. On the day of the announcement, they appeared together on CNBC.
June 7: While surprised that everything came together so quickly, Rory McIlroy says that the PGA Tour’s partnership with the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia will ultimately be good for the game of golf. Speaking after his pro-am round at the RBC Canadian Open, McIlroy learned of the agreement shortly before the rest of the world but said much of it has been mischaracterized and that it should not be viewed as a merger with LIV Golf.
“LIV has nothing to do with this. It’s the PGA Tour, the DP World Tour and the Public Investment Fund that are basically partnering to create a new company. That’s where I was a little frustrated. All I’ve wanted to do was protect the future of the PGA Tour and protect the aspirational nature of what the PGA Tour stands for. I think this does this. If you look at the structure, this new company sits above everything else. (PGA Tour commissioner) Jay (Monahan) on top of that. Technically, anyone involved with LIV would answer to Jay. The one thing whether you like it or not, the PIF were going to keep spending money in golf. At least the PGA Tour controls how that money is spent. You’re dealing with one of the biggest sovereign wealth funds in the world. Would you rather fight against or have them as a partner?"
June 7: Although not involved in the negotiations, LIV Golf CEO and commissioner Greg Norman has a positive message for the staff. Norman, who was not mentioned in any of the news releases associated with the agreement, tells more than 100 people on a 30-minute call that LIV will see no operational changes and that work is already being done on a 2025 schedule. “The spigot is now wide open for commercial sponsorships, blue chip companies, TV networks. LIV is and will continue to be a standalone enterprise. Our business model will not change. We changed history and we’re not going anywhere."
Eight days after appearing with Yasir Al-Rumayyan on CNBC to announce the "framework agreement," PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan took a leave of absence for health reasons. He later took responsibility for an "ineffective" rollout of the agreement which caught most PGA Tour players by surprise. / John David Mercer-USA TODAY Sports
June 14: On the Tuesday of the U.S. Open week, PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan announces through the Tour a health-related leave of absence that will see Tour executives Ron Price and Tyler Dennis take over his duties.
July 7: In a memo to players, PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan says he will return from his leave on July 14, which is the Monday of British Open week.
July 9: Randall Stephenson, a longtime member of the PGA Tour and former head of AT&T, sends a resignation letter to Monahan and the board and specifically cites his displeasure with the framework agreement.
July 11: Among wish-list ideas proposed by the LIV Golf League in the time leading up to the framework agreement was giving Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy LIV Golf League franchises and seeing them compete in LIV Golf events. It was just one of the ideas that discussed by the parties as part of documents released by a Senate subcommittee during a hearing in Washington, D.C., led by Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.). The PGA Tour rejected it as part of the negotiation.
The committee is concerned about the foreign involvement in an American sports league as well as possible antitrust violations. Some of the ideas include having a "World Golf Series" team event that would be played in Saudi Arabia; LIV operating as it is but being played in the fall or with the idea of LIV coexisting along with the PGA Tour; two of the PGA Tour’s designated events that would be branded by the PIF or the Saudi Arabia oil company, Aramco.
July 18: Masters champion Jon Rahm says he has no trust issues with PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan—unlike several of his peers—and suggests time is needed. “As it comes to what he's been doing for us and the PGA Tour, I think he's done a fantastic job. I would say it was unexpected what happened. I think what the management of the PGA Tour, the turn they took without us knowing was very unexpected, but I still think he's been doing a great job. And right now after that happened, I only think it's fair to give them the right time to work things out. I still think they have the best interest of the players at heart."
Rahm, speaking before the British Open, also reiterates he is not interested in LIV Golf. “We all had the chance to go to LIV and take the money and we chose to stay at the PGA Tour for whatever reason we chose. As I've said before, I already make an amazing living doing what I do. I'm extremely thankful, and that all happened because of the platform the PGA Tour provided me. As far as I'm concerned they've done enough for me, and their focus should be on improving the PGA Tour and the game of golf for the future generations."
Aug. 1:Tiger Woods is named to the PGA Tour Policy Board, giving the players a power boost as he becomes the sixth player director on the board. Part of the move includes a stipulation that will see a change in PGA Tour governance that means the player directors will have final say in any decisions going forward.
Aug. 8: PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan speaks with reporters for the first time since his leave and after returning to work and takes responsibility for the way the negotiations for the “framework agreement" were secretly handled and the subsequent rollout. “It was ineffective and as a result there was a lot of misinformation. And anytime you have misinformation that can lead to mistrust. And that’s my responsibility. That’s me and me alone. I take full accountability for that. I apologize for putting players on their back foot. But ultimately it was the right move for the PGA Tour. I firmly believe that as we go forward time will bear that out. It was the right move and obviously we’re now in a position with NewCo (PGA Tour Enterprises) that provides the opportunity to have productive conversations."
Oct. 19: On the eve of LIV Golf’s final event of 2023, CEO and commissioner Greg Norman speaks with reporters publicly for the first time since the agreement was announced and says he has "zero" concern about the future of the league, regardless of what happens with the “framework agreement."
“All indications are showing that the position of LIV has never been stronger and that the success of our players and our brand has never been in a better place. And as we look forward into 2024, we’ve got a full schedule. We’ve got some places we’ve been to before, but we’ve got some new venues as well and we’re reaching different regions."
Nov. 28: Tiger Woods speaks publicly for the first time since the framework agreement was announced and he joined the Policy Board, touching a variety of subjects including outside Public Equity Investment in the PGA Tour, the Public Investment Fund and LIV Golf. He calls the ongoing negotiations "murky" and says "I would have to say there's a lot of moving parts on how we're going to play. Whether it's here on the PGA Tour or it's merging, or team golf. There's a lot of different aspects that are being thrown out there all at once and we are trying to figure all that out and what is the best solution for all parties and best solution for all the players that are involved.’’
He says during the week and again two weeks later at the PNC Championship that he is focused on a deal getting done or some resolution by the Dec. 31 deadline.
Dec. 7: After weeks of speculation, Jon Rahm is announced as the newest member of LIV Golf. The two-time major champion, who on numerous occasions had expressed his disinterest in LIV due to the format, among other things, makes it official in New York where he said the lucrative offer was difficult to ignore and he had come to terms with the format. He also said his decision had nothing to do with any animosity or issues wit the PGA Tour.
I am proud to join @livgolf_league and be part of something new that is bringing growth to the sport. I have no doubt that this is a great opportunity for me and my family and am very excited for the future. pic.twitter.com/myf4isJgJ3
“I’m forever grateful to the PGA Tour and the platform they allowed me to be on. I have nothing bad to say about them. They allowed me the opportunity to play in some great events and allowed me to make a mark."
Jan. 31: The PGA Tour announces the formation of PGA Tour Enterprises in a partnership with Strategic Sports Group, a group of investors from a number of professional sports. The deal, worth $3 billion, is said to allow nearly 200 PGA Tour players access to $1.5 billion in equity over time. The deal states that it allows for co-investment from the PIF in the future.
March 12: Speaking with reporters for the first time since August, PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan said negotiations with the PIF are “accelerating” and that he and PGA Tour Policy Board members met with Yasir Al-Rumayyan in January, but did not offer specifics.
May 9:Rory McIlroy reveals that he is part of a subcommittee including Tiger Woods and commissioner Jay Monahan that is tasked with working directly on a deal with the PIF. The seven-man committee also includes Adam Scott, player liaison Joe Ogilvie, Joe Gorder, a board member from Valero Energy, and John Henry from Strategic Sports Group.
May 13: Jimmy Dunne, one of the architects of the June 6, 2023, agreement, resigns from the PGA Tour Policy Board. In a letter to the board, he wrote that “no meaningful progress has been made towards a transaction with PIF,” and that ever since players seized control of the board and cut him out of negotiations, “my vote and my role is utterly superfluous.”
In 2001, a 21-year-old Adam Scott played in the British Open. He hasn’t missed a major championship since—a run of 91 consecutive—but will now need a little luck to extend his impressive streak.
Scott made a par to fellow Australian Cam Davis’s birdie on the third playoff hole Monday at Springfield Country Club in Springfield, Ohio, losing in a playoff for a qualifying spot at next week’s U.S. Open at Pinehurst No. 2. A total of 44 spots were up for grabs at 10 courses across the U.S. and Canada after marathon 36-hole qualifiers.
PGA Tour members Zac Blair and Beau Hossler took two of the top four spots in Springfield, shooting 9 under and 8 under. Carson Schaake also shot 8 under, while Scott and Davis shot 7 under and went to the playoff.
Scott will be an alternate (the USGA uses an undisclosed system for allocating alternates across all sites), but chances are that won’t get him into the U.S. Open. He can still get in if he’s in the top 60 of the World Golf Ranking on June 10, the Monday of the tournament. He sits at No. 60 in the world but is not playing in this week’s Memorial Tournament on the PGA Tour, whose results could shuffle that top 60 cutoff.
Another notable player not advancing is LIV Golf’s Joaquin Niemann, who along with fellow LIV player Anirban Lahiri finished one shot out of a playoff in Jupiter, Fla. The Chilean had earned special invitations to the Masters and PGA Championship and has a spot in the British Open but will not play in the U.S. Open. Fellow LIV golfer Dean Burmester will be at Pinehurst after claiming one of the five available spots in Jupiter, as will Matt Kuchar and Daniel Berger.
Berger missed the cut at the 2022 U.S. Open and did not play again on the PGA Tour until last January due to persistent back pain.
“This is the first time I’ve walked 36 holes in like three years,” Berger said after advancing at the Bear’s Club, his home course.
Seven LIV golfers in all failed to advance from the Jupiter qualifier, including 2010 U.S. Open champion Graeme McDowell.
LIV’s David Puig advanced from a qualifier in Daly City, Calif.
Webb Simpson, the 2012 U.S. Open champion, will play in his home state next week after advancing from a qualifier at the Duke University Golf Club in Durham, N.C. Also qualifying was Harry Higgs, who won back-to-back events recently on the Korn Ferry Tour, PGA Tour pro Chesson Hadley and Sam Bennett, who won the 2022 U.S. Amateur and was in the hunt as an amateur at the 2023 Masters.
Full U.S. Open final qualifying results can be found here.
Welcome back to SI Golf’s Fact or Fiction, where we hope the finish of next week's PGA Championship in Kentucky is as great as the Kentucky Derby.
Once again, we’re here to debate a series of statements for writers and editors to declare as “Fact” or “Fiction” along with a brief explanation. Responses may also (occasionally) be “Neutral” since there's a lot of gray area in golf.
Do you agree or disagree? Let us know on the SI Golf X account.
Brooks Koepka won the LIV Golf Singapore event, turning around a slow season just in time for his PGA Championship defense. He is LIV’s best candidate to win a major this year.
Bob Harig: FACT. Based on his major promise and a confidence-boosting performance, Koepka will head to Louisville as LIV’s best hope. But don’t count out Cam Smith, who seems to have his game coming around as well.
John Pluym: FACT. Koepka’s at his best in the majors despite his recent Masters performance. Whether that’s enough to overtake Scottie Scheffler (Yes, I think he wins the PGA), we’ll see. But he’s definitely LIV’s best hope in Louisville.
A week in Singapore appears to have turned around Brooks Koepka's outlook for his PGA Championship defense.
Aaron Doster-USA TODAY Sports
Jeff Ritter: FACT. He’s the most proven major champion on the LIV circuit aside from Mickelson’s six titles, and Koepka may be putting it together just in time to pick off one more this summer and match Mickelson.
John Schwarb: FACT. This is a nod to Koepka but also acknowledgment that Jon Rahm still hasn’t rediscovered the top gear he had before going to LIV. He’s actually second in season points (well behind Joaquin Niemann) but his best finishes are a pair of thirds; wasn’t he supposed to dominate and be at the top of any major discussions?
Koepka became the first to win four times in LIV Golf. He also has four titles on the PGA Tour (not counting majors). Koepka’s career will ultimately have more LIV wins than Tour wins.
Bob Harig: FACT. This is likely inevitable. Koepka seems certain to win more times on LIV Golf and his future with the PGA Tour seems murky at best.
John Pluym: FACT. I don’t think there’s any doubt that he wins more tournaments on LIV Golf than the PGA Tour.
Jeff Ritter: FACT. Perhaps someday there will be a path back to the PGA Tour for Koepka and his fellow LIV’ers, but at the moment it looks like he’ll lift more LIV trophies from here on out.
John Schwarb: NEUTRAL. Two possible paths for Koepka to go back to the PGA Tour: some kind of reunification or he returns after not signing a second LIV contract (he’s believed to be signed through next year). I wouldn’t put money on either but somehow I don’t think he’s done winning regular Tour events.
Tiger Woods accepted a special exemption into next month’s U.S. Open at Pinehurst. The 15-time major winner is entitled to an unlimited number of special exemptions.
Bob Harig: FACT. Have been saying this and writing this for years. There was going to come a time where Tiger would need an exemption and—if he’s willing and able—he will get as many as he wants. It’s unlikely Woods would attempt to play if he felt he was was unworthy. He deserves to make that call. And if Jack got eight exemptions and Arnie got five, there’s no reason why a nine-time USGA champion—including three U.S. Opens—wouldn’t get an abundance of special invites.
John Pluym: FACT. Jack Nicklaus won 18 professional majors in his career, including four U.S. Open titles. He received a record eight special exemptions, including five in a row until he stopped playing the U.S. Open after 2000 at Pebble Beach. So as long as Tiger wants to play in the U.S. Open, he should get as many as he wants. He’s the only golfer in recent history to be on the same level as Nicklaus. As such, the USGA should keep giving him special exemptions.
Tiger Woods's last U.S. Open appearance was in 2020 at Winged Foot.
Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports
Jeff Ritter: FACT. This shouldn’t even be controversial. (Is it controversial?) Woods made the tour what it is today, and although he’s diminished he can still play, as evidenced by that recent made-cut at Augusta. Is there any special exemption that will do more to boost fan interest and overall buzz than Tiger Woods?
John Schwarb: FACT. What Woods has done to earn multiple exemptions isn’t up for debate, and the truth is he is highly unlikely to take as many as Nicklaus and play U.S. Opens into his late 50s. Not sure he’ll even match Arnie’s five. Golf fans need to just enjoy these moments.
Bob Harig: NEUTRAL. This all depends on where you sit on this issue. Certainly, not even trying to qualify doesn’t help Gooch’s cause. He could use it as motivation. He’s only hurting himself here. If he believes himself to be a major player—why wouldn’t he?—he should do everything he can to get in the majors, even if he disagrees with the process.
John Pluym: FACT. His Official World Golf Ranking is No. 644, and he had only one PGA Tour victory before joining LIV. So based on the facts, he is only hurting himself by not going through qualifying. And, honestly, he hasn’t proved to be good enough to be deserving of a special exemption.
Jeff Ritter: FICTION. Skipping major qualifying is good headline fodder but it doesn’t change how I perceive Gooch at all—he has shown all of us that when it comes to career decisions, his top priority is cash. Since he didn’t give a reason, I assume he is skipping the lower-paying USO to stay fresh for the $4 million top prize at LIV Golf Nashville the following week.
John Schwarb: FACT. I don’t think many fans begrudge pro golfers getting their bags of cash like other athletes but a lack of effort or caring is where they draw the line. Not attempting to qualify for our national championship is a betrayal of one's talent.
Last week Talor Gooch said he would not attempt to qualify for either the U.S. Open or British Open. But Monday Gooch learned he'll play at least one major this year: the PGA Championship, thanks to a special exemption.
The PGA had yet to confirm the news to SI but Gooch shared it via his social media account.
The year’s second major championship typically has numerous exemptions to give and often fills out its field by inviting those who are among the top 100 in the Official World Golf Ranking and not otherwise exempt.
But it has discretion to give spots to anyone it deems deserving, and Gooch—who was the No .1 player in the LIV Golf League standings in 2023—was given a spot in the tournament where he missed the cut a year ago. He is 644th in the OWGR.
Also given an exemption was LIV’s David Puig, a Spaniard who has played on LIV for a majority of the past two years. He has also won twice in the past year on the Asian Tour.
In his last 10 worldwide events outside of LIV Golf, Puig has nothing worse than a 15th-place finish, with six top-5s and two victories. He is 106th in the OWGR.
Gooch has become somewhat of a controversial figure in the game because last year the USGA changed its exemption criteria for the 2023 U.S. Open by tweaking wording that would have otherwise seen him exempt for the tournament at Los Angeles Country Club. He elected not to attempt to qualify, then missed the cut at the British Open.
None of the major championships give direct spots to the LIV Golf League, something the circuit has been seeking but which major-championship officials have pushed back against due to LIV Golf’s closed structure.
The PGA is expected to announce all of its exemptions and its full field soon.
Before even hitting a shot last week, Talor Gooch again set the golf world ablaze. An abrupt “I’m not,” answer to whether or not he would attempt to qualify for the U.S. Open in a few weeks both agitated and amused those who follow this ongoing saga that is part of the current golf wars.
Gooch, 32, is LIV Golf’s reigning player of the year. He led the league’s points list in 2023, capturing three tournaments, finishing second in another and banking more than $34 million in prize money and bonuses.
But to those who run the major championships, it means absolutely nothing.
That is not an opinion or hot take.
It was made clear by two credible officials in this drama: Peter Dawson, the former CEO of the R&A and now the chairman of the Official World Golf Ranking board of directors; and Fred Ridley, the chairman of Augusta National and the Masters, whose organization has one of seven OWGR board seats.
To paraphrase, both have made clear that LIV’s 54-player “closed” tour does not fit their criteria. Dawson said it when LIV’s bid for OWGR accreditation was denied last October. Ridley said when asked last month at the Masters if he could envision the Masters or any major giving direct spots to LIV golfers based on their season-ending Order of Merit or any kind of in-season points list.
“I think it will be difficult to establish any type of point system that has any connection to the rest of the world of golf because they're basically, not totally, but for the most part, a closed shop,” Ridley said of the LIV Golf League structure. “There is some relegation, but not very much. It all really depends on what new players they sign.
“Those concerns were expressed by the OWGR, but I don't think that that prevents us from giving subjective consideration based on talent, based on performance to those players.”
Ridley praised LIV golfer Joaquin Niemann, who won the Australian Open and played in events for which he was eligible around the world in an effort to earn world ranking points. He was granted a special exemption by the Masters soon after winning LIV’s season-opening event in Mexico—with no mention of that victory by Ridley.
Niemann has also received an invite to the PGA Championship next week and it’s possible that David Puig, a young LIV player who has won twice on the Asian Tour and sits just outside the top 100 in the OWGR, could also get a spot. But it’s all due to their chasing points around the world with no credence giving to LIV.
Which leaves Gooch not eligible for a single major championship this year and apparently unwilling to try and qualify for the two where—given his ability—he’d have an excellent chance of making the field.
Gooch, who finished fourth Sunday in LIV Golf’s Singapore event—three shots behind winner Brooks Koepka—is getting roasted for not trying, and he does himself no favors here. As much as he feels maligned, he and his peers on LIV could not miss the signs that this was how it was going to go play out. The OWGR announcement last fall was the first clue. Ridley’s confirmation at the Masters about LIV’s format was a strong second.
What rankles Gooch and those who support LIV Golf is the fact that he was eligible for three of the major championships last year—the Masters, U.S. Open and British Open—based on having finished among the top 30 in the final FedEx Cup standings in 2022.
Gooch did this despite leaving for LIV Golf and not playing another regular PGA Tour event the rest of the year. He was ineligible for the Tour Championship, but both the Masters and the Open stayed with the original language in their qualifications. The U.S. Open did not. Last February, the USGA tweaked its wording to require a player to have been “eligible” for the season-ending Tour Championship. The Masters and Open didn’t change their wording to take place until this year.
It was an unfortunate move by the USGA and came across as petty. Gooch was the only player impacted. As long as the current rules are in place, no LIV golfer was going to be able to qualify for the majors via the FedEx Cup/Tour Championship loophole. It smacked of going out of the way to keep Gooch out, even if that was not the intent.
Gooch, of course, could have attempted to qualify for last year’s U.S. Open. He tied for 34th at the Masters but his OWGR standing was slipping to where he needed a good week at the PGA—which gave him an exemption because he was top 100 in the OWGR—to stay within the top 60 and earn a U.S. Open spot. He missed the cut, didn’t go to qualifying, missed the cut at the Open and now is looking at having no way into the majors.
Meanwhile, 35 of LIV’s 46 non-exempt players for the U.S. Open are scheduled to compete in final qualifying. That is up from the 16 (out of 38) who tried to qualify last year. Clearly, players got the message or LIV is encouraging them to try to get in.
One of those players scheduled for a final qualifier is Andy Ogletree, the 2019 U.S. Amateur champion who last year won the Asian Tour’s and International Series Order of Merit. That distinction will get him in the PGA next week as well as the Open in July. He’s not officially in yet, but in a few weeks, the U.S. Open will also put him in the field via that category (top 2 not otherwise exempt; if Ogletree were to win the PGA, for example, that USGA would give the Asian Tour another spot).
But here’s where it gets uneasy for the majors: is Ogletree a better player than Gooch? Is Puig? Is Niemann?
Gooch’s season on LIV last year might mean nothing to the majors and the OWGR but what he accomplished last year has to mean something. In nine tournaments as part of LIV Golf, Ogletree has finished ahead of Gooch just one time. Puig, who is being hailed for playing an abundance of Asian Tour events to try and boost his OWGR ranking, has never contended in a LIV event, never once finished ahead of Gooch and has just a single top-10 finish. Puig tied for 27th in Singapore and Ogletree tied for 45th.
Even Niemann, who has won twice on LIV Golf this year, only finished ahead of Gooch three times in 13 LIV events in 2023. He tied for seventh in Singapore.
What does this suggest? For a few players who have made their way into majors, they haven’t exactly burned it up on LIV Golf, which might not be deep, but still has a healthy number of players at the top of its roster. Nobody would dispute that Jon Rahm, Koepka, Cam Smith, Bryson DeChambeau, Tyrrell Hatton and Dustin Johnson are world-class players and there are several more such as Louis Oosthuizen, Dean Burmester, Sergio Garcia and others who are highly capable.
It can also mean that the Asian Tour is not particularly strong when guys who are dominating its money list and winning events are struggling to move into the upper echelon at LIV Golf.
Does that mean that Gooch should be in the U.S. Open?
That is clearly the subject of this debate. But again, beating all those guys, even in a format deemed unappealing by the major powers that be, means more than zero. Gooch, who was 624th in the OWGR, is ranked 41st in the Data Golf Rankings and 17th by TUGR.
Those systems include LIV events, so by their metrics, Gooch would be exempt. (It is important to note that Data Golf has said that its scoring-based system has too many downsides to be used as an official ranking tool. Data Golf offered an explanation here.)
And so here we are.
The OWGR and the majors believe the LIV format is not worthy of their consideration.
The LIV leaders decided not to purse OWGR accreditation by making changes that could lead to the league getting accredited. (Both sides are to blame for that mess. i.e., sit down and figure it out.)
And things are only bound to get worse when a few more LIV players see their major exemptions expire.
Bottom line: without some kind of deal that sees a change to the system, LIV golfers who want to compete in the majors better get used to playing even more around the world. Or heading to qualifying.
Jordan Spieth’s rocky road
He is not making excuses, even though Jordan Spieth admitted that the only thing that will ultimately help his wrist is rest. He says he can’t do further damage and knows how to play through the issues it is causing him. But you have to wonder how much it is impacting his play.
Spieth talked last week about having paused for a reset prior to the CJ Cup Byron Nelson, then proceeded to miss his fourth cut in his last six tournaments. Included in that stretch was the Players Championship and the Masters.
Jordan Spieth has missed four cuts in six events, including last week at his hometown CJ Cup Byron Nelson.
Raymond Carlin III-USA TODAY Sports
Still just 30, Spieth is ranked 20th in the Official World Golf Ranking and is seemingly always lurking. He’s had three top 10s this year, including a tie for 10th at the Valero Texas Open, but hasn’t really contended in months. And he admitted that three top 10s to this point is not exactly what he had in mind.
His 13 PGA Tour victories is an impressive haul, but he’s coming up on seven years since winning the third of his three majors at the 2017 British Open and since that time he’s won just twice on the PGA Tour.
It is that kind of discussion that doesn’t make the current situation any easier on Spieth.
Asked a question in his pre-tournament news conference last week about May being mental health month, Spieth responded in this way:
“I think a lot of things I struggled with that have certainly affected me mentally are a lot of comparisons,” he said, acknowledging that he, too, can’t help but compare himself to the past.
“It’s hard not to, especially when you have so much success early in your career. Not only are you compared to the outside world to that person, but I have a hard time wondering why I can’t do that every week, too.”
Spieth was asked what it’s like to see Scottie Scheffler get on the kind of roll he’s been on of late. Scheffler, 27, lives in Dallas like Spieth, and the two play a good amount of golf together. The Masters champion has won four of his last five starts and will be a big favorite to win a third major championship next week at the PGA Championship.
“I have known Scottie since he was really, really young. Not that I wasn't, but he was really, really young,” Spieth said. “I think he's a better person than he is a player, and having known somebody and seen them come up and obviously went to University of Texas, I'm nothing but extremely excited and happy for him. It's well deserved and all that.
“And then on the flip side, like it's kind of the first time I've ever looked at somebody younger than me and I've driven inspiration. Like I am inspired by what he is doing. It makes me want to go out and get better, and that's always been someone that's older than me. Kind of the first time I felt that way about somebody that's younger.
“Because I play a decent amount of rounds with him here in town. I'm constantly seeing it and trying to beat him at home, and when he's playing better than I am, it sucks. I don't enjoy it when I'm side by side because there were however many years of our life it wasn't that way.
“It's flipped and I feel like I've got plenty of runway to be able to get it back. It's inspiring at the same time to try make that happen. I have nothing in my way of being able to make that happen but my own self. I've got enough. I believe in my ceiling, and I believe my ceiling is as high as anybody's. I have to get each part of my game up towards its ceiling.”
The wrist issue first became a problem last year. It actually kept him from playing his hometown event the week after the Wells Fargo Championship. Those tournaments have switched dates this year and Spieth is set for a good bit of golf ahead with the PGA following the Wells Fargo and then the possibility that he plays Colonial. After a week off, Spieth would then likely play the Memorial, U.S. Open and Travelers Championship in consecutive weeks.
“It’s a lot of managing it,” he said. “I'm kind of doing a couple different things to help treat the symptoms that I experience and to not have some recurring problems that have happened. And so I'm doing a lot of stuff off the course, therapy side, whether it's treating tendon to treating the nerve in general. I think that that's helping.
“I kind of maybe got a little bit away from it as I got into a heavier stretch of golf the last eight weeks so I had a couple instances that weren't good. I don't plan on that happening going forward with what I'm doing off the course even though I will be playing a lot of golf.”
Signature event No. 6 ... and other notes
Everyone who is eligible for this week’s Wells Fargo Championship is competing—except for one big one. Reigning No. 1 and Masters champion Scottie Scheffler is a no-show. He’s got good reason. His wife, Meredith, is expecting the couple’s first child.
It should be noted that had there been no baby watch, there’s a good chance Scheffler would have skipped Quail Hollow anyway. He didn’t play the tournament last year. And he almost assuredly would have played his hometown Byron Nelson tournament.
In any case, the sixth of eight Signature Events it follows The Sentry, AT&T Pebble Beach, Genesis Invitational, Arnold Palmer Invitational and RBC Heritage. After the Wells Fargo is next week’s PGA Championship. Following Colonial and the RBC Canadian Open is the seventh Signature Event, the Memorial, the U.S. Open and then the final Signature Event, the Travelers Championship.
And a few more things
The field of the Wells Fargo is 70 players, comprising 48 who are locked via the FedEx Cup from 2023, 10 from the FedEx Cup category, five from the swing category (Zurich Classic and Byron Nelson), four sponsor exemptions, and three players who won PGA Tour events this year not otherwise including Taylor Pendrith, who got his first victory Sunday at the CJ Cup Byron Nelson and will get his first signature event start. ... He will also get a spot in next week’s PGA Championship as well as next year’s Players and the Masters. ... The field size again suggests the Tour should look at this at the end of the year and consider expanding with reserves or broadening categories to get to 78 players ... Ben Kohles, who bogeyed the 18th hole to lose by a shot to Pendrith, also gets into the Wells Fargo via the Swing Five category.
Webb Simpson got one of the sponsor exemptions, and since he lives at Quail Hollow, that makes sense. But it is his fourth such free pass into a signature event and it’s just his eighth start of the year. As a member of the PGA Tour Policy Board, that is causing some concern. Adam Scott, also on the board, is getting his third sponsor invite to a signature event. The others went to Gary Woodland and Matt Kuchar.
The PGA Championship is expected to finalize its field this week by inviting players otherwise not exempt who are among the top 100 in the OWGR. It can go beyond 100 and also invite those from the PGA points list, which assures spots to the top 70 via PGA Tour performance from last year’s Byron Nelson through this year’s. ... The PGA Championship begins in 10 days.
Brooks Koepka became the first player to win four times as part of the LIV Golf League, shooting a final-round 68 at Sentosa Golf Club in Singapore on Sunday to beat Cam Smith and Marc Leishman by two strokes.
His timing wasn’t bad, either.
A few days after offering concern about his game in light of a poor Masters performance, Koepka stepped up and won the LIV Golf Singapore even to give himself a boost heading into the defense of his PGA Championship title in two weeks.
The year’s second major begins on May 16.
“It’s all starting to come around,” said Koepka, who last year won his fifth major title when he captured the PGA at Oak Hill, becoming the first active LIV golfer to win a major. “I like the way things are trending.’’
They didn’t seem to be trending well just a few days ago when Koepka made clear he was not happy with his tie for 45th at the Masters. “I felt like I wasted all that time from January up until then,’’ he said.
He tied for 10th at the LIV Golf event in Adelaide the week prior and heading into the Singapore tournament that he simply needed to get putts to drop.
“I’ve put in a lot of work,’’ he said. “I feel like on the golf course, off the golf course, it’s been a good two weeks, to say the least. Take a week off and then grinding pretty hard with (instructor) Claude (Harmon) over the last few days, I thought that was very important. Kind of started to see it turn maybe Wednesday, Thursday of Adelaide, so to see it pay off here is huge.”
Koepka won his third PGA Championship Wanamaker Trophy last year. In each of his first four major victories, he won back-to-back at the 2017 and ’18 U.S. Opens and the 2018 and ’19 PGAs.
After a second-round 64, Koepka started the final round with a three-shot lead over Abraham Ancer, Adrian Meronk, Thomas Pieters and Mathew Wolff. He never relinquished his lead, although several challengers closed the gap at times.
“I felt the heat, but it was mainly because of how hot it was,” Koepka said. “Just played very consistent, missed it in the right spots. When you're playing with a lead, you do that. You don't have to force anything.”
Smith and Leishman were part of the winning Ripper GC team, capturing the team title for the second straight week.
Several LIV Golf League players will attempt to make the U.S. Open field via final qualifying next month.
Talor Gooch won’t be one of them.
The top player on LIV Golf in 2023 who won three times and captured the season-long points race said during a news conference in Singapore on Thursday that he would not be taking part.
He did not give a reason.
Gooch appeared alongside Smash GC teammates Brooks Koepka, Graeme McDowell and Jason Kokrak, and they were all asked if they would attempt to qualify for the U.S. Open, which will conduct 36-hole qualifiers around the country on May 3.
Both McDowell and Kokrak said they would not only attempt to qualify for the U.S. Open, but for the British Open as well—which will have final qualifying two weeks prior to the championship.
🏆🇺🇸 World #624 Talor Gooch on if he plans to play in a U.S. Open qualifying event: “I’m not.”
A total of 35 players from LIV are scheduled to play in final qualifying. Koepka, a two-time major winner and the reigning PGA champion, is exempt.
Gooch simply said: “I’m not.” And offered no explanation.
The one-time PGA Tour winner has been outspoken about not being included in the major championships.
Last year, he earned his way into the Masters and the British Open having finished in the top 30 in the 2022 PGA Tour FedEx Cup standings. But Gooch was miffed that the U.S. Open changed its rules to state that the same exemption would only go to a player “eligible” for the season-ending Tour Championship. Having gone to LIV Golf, Gooch was not eligible.
Earlier this year, Gooch made headlines when he said: “If Rory McIlroy goes and completes his (career) Grand Slam without some of the best players in the world, there is just going to be an asterisk. It’s just the reality.”
LIV Golf does not receive Official World Golf Ranking points for its events and many of its players have plummeted in the rankings while not earning points. Gooch, who was top 50 in the world around this time last year, has sunk to 624th in the OWGR. He is ranked 41st by Data Golf, which includes LIV tournaments.
He tied for 34th at the Masters last year and then missed the cut at the PGA Championship. He did not attempt to qualify for the U.S. Open and then missed the cut at The Open.
Gooch has no victories so far this year with LIV Golf but does have three top 10s. He is the defending champion of this week’s event in Singapore.
Among the LIV golfers scheduled to compete in final qualifying for the U.S. Open are Sergio Garcia, Patrick Reed and Henrik Stenson.
