LIV Golf marked its 100th round Friday since the controversial league stunned the industry 26 months ago.
The idea, hatched by Palm Beach Gardens’ Greg Norman, took off once Saudi Arabia, through its Public Investment Fund, agreed to throw billions of dollars at the project.
LIV touted this venture as one that would grow golf by taking the league’s unique, untraditional format globally. And while that can be questioned, what cannot be disputed is LIV has gotten the attention of the PGA Tour, and directly affected its finances and economics, and the money being directed toward golfers.
“We’ve changed the face of golf,” Bubba Watson said Wednesday, ahead of this weekend’s LIV event at Greenbrier in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia. “So to be on that side of history is pretty special.”
Watson then compared this to when Jack Nicklaus was instrumental in the first big split in professional golf that led to the forming of the PGA Tour in 1968. Nicklaus, though, strongly disagrees that the two are even related.
Scheffler can thank LIV for record earnings
Either way, Watson is spot-on when he says, “Scottie Scheffler has made a lot of money this year because of the changes that we’ve started putting in place.”
LIV’s impact on the PGA Tour has been significant. Every move the tour has made in the past two years to infuse money into the game, including the creation of Signature Events, more events with $20-$25 million purses, and pouring money into the Player Impact Program, has been a reaction to LIV and its endless stream of Saudi money.
One way to reduce the number of players jumping to LIV is to compete financially. The tour did that by pumping millions into its purses and billions into the game with a $3 billion deal with Strategic Sports Group that includes an initial investment of $1.5 billion into the launch of a commercial venture, PGA Tour Enterprises.
Scheffler has made $28.1 million this year in prize money with two $20 million purses, St. Jude and BMW championships, remaining ahead of the Tour Championship that will distribute $100 million, $25 million to the winner.
By the end of the season, Scheffler could make five to seven times what the tour’s top earner made in 2020-21, the year before LIV debuted. That does not include his share of the $50 million that will be distributed through the Player Impact Program, which rewards players for brand exposure.
In 2021, Jon Rahm topped the PGA Tour money list with $7.7…
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