LIV Golf opts for policy of quiet confidence that its team format is here to stay, despite assumptions after PGA deal
- Refusal to become embroiled in a public ‘he said, she said’ exchange with those on the PGA Tour’s side highlights belief in their process, they say
- As the circuit nears the end of its second season, plans for growth remain in full swing
Confidence has never been an issue for those responsible for LIV Golf; certainly the belief needed to take on the world’s established tours required it 13 months ago, and on the evidence of last week’s event in London it has only increased since then.
Roaring successes in Adelaide and Valderrama this season, and the crowds who watched Cameron Smith win at Centurion Club in Hemel Hempstead, have given the league a very public boost, while the impending partnership between Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund and the PGA Tour merely underlined its influence in the game.
Not that you would necessarily know it. While the framework agreement has been trumpeted as a victory for the establishment, and in some cases used as evidence of the impending demise of the new circuit, those controlling the purse strings have stayed silent.
That choice not to get into a “he said, she said” back-and-forth was a deliberate decision, according to a LIV executive who discussed the matter during the tournament at Centurion Club over the weekend.
“We didn’t say anything because we didn’t feel the need to say anything,” said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity. “We run golf events, we think they’re pretty good and we’ve got great players and we want to keep the focus on that.”
The naming of PGA Tour boss Jay Monahan as the CEO of the new organisation and PIF boss Yasir Al-Rumayyan as chairman of a board dominated by PGA voices has previously been leapt on as evidence that LIV’s days were numbered.
The devil though is in the detail, much of which “still needs to be worked out”, and the executive said while people were free to read the agreement and make up their own minds, they should know there were “customary veto rights within the contract”.
“When you look at that, it’s pretty clear that the same people who ultimately have the decision over LIV [Al-Rumayyan] now, will continue to hold that decision over LIV, and we’re very comfortable with that,” the executive said.
And an organisation that feared for its future would hardly roll out a series of long-term initiatives or partnerships, not least among them a sustainability strategy through to 2030.
There have also been reassurances at the highest levels that LIV is here to stay, Al-Rumayyan has reportedly said as much in private, while officials have pointed to the contracts some of the game’s biggest stars have with the league until 2026.
It is not just those within LIV who expect the organisation to survive and thrive. The potential for an agreement has removed the shackles from sponsors who before went out of their way not to be associated with the Saudi-backed league.
After joining the circuit, India’s Anirban Lahiri was dropped by sponsor Hero Motor Corp, which has invested heavily in the PGA and DP World Tour. Last week, the company’s CEO, Pawan Munjal, not only played in the pro-am with Phil Mickelson but stayed for the weekend and is said to have raised the possibility of hosting a LIV event in 2025.
“For Mr Munjal to come here less than a year after a feeling like he couldn’t be associated with a player on LIV, attending the event and playing the pro-am is a big turnaround,” the LIV executive said. “And there are a lot of others. We’re no longer on the outside. The PGA Tour sat next to the same company that invests in LIV.”
Despite the optimism, there are no plans to expand beyond a 14 tournament season, although there is room for a couple of teams to join the 12 that presently play.
The LIV executive said the league was “not the finished product” and they were “already looking at tweaks to schedule next year, around where we’re going”.
The removal of those commercial headwinds hasn’t just helped LIV, which can now think about title sponsors and better television exposure, it has filtered down to the Asian Tour as well.
Cho Minn Thant, the Tour’s CEO and commissioner, has previously said the thawing in golf’s civil war was having an affect commercially, and last week in London, officials held meetings with the likes of Mastercard, ISPS Handa and Turkish Airlines.
A link with the airline could pay almost immediate dividends, with sources close to the Tour suggesting the planned 10th International Series event of this season could take place in Turkey to coincide with the republic’s 100th anniversary on October 23.
Planning is well under way for 2024 as well, when Macau will join the series for a tournament being financially backed by the luxury hotel and casino resort Wynn Macau.
The Tour’s growth, powered by the US$300 million LIV invested in it last year, has led to the likes of Mickleson, Brooks Koepka and Sergio Garcia playing in the series.
Its next two stops, in England and Scotland, have fields that would not look out of place on the other main tours, and the partnership with LIV provides a competitive pathway from the Asian Development Tour to Q-school and all the way to the elite team league.
As many as three members of the Asian Tour could work their way into LIV next year through the promotion event planned for the first week in December, joining the winner of the International Series order of merit and following in the footsteps of Scott Vincent.
This year’s schedule allows for 10 International Series stops, but officials believe the increased commercial interest could see that rise to 14, with the possibility of India coming on board too.
The message then from LIV, albeit one communicated more subtly than by others, is that not only is it business as normal, but that business is thriving and will be around for the foreseeable future.
“I know the summary is a little bit boring, but it genuinely is business as usual,” the executive said. “You come back to not saying anything, but we’re doing us, we’re pretty comfortable in our own skin.”
