What if PGA Tour, LIV Golf by no means come to an settlement?

The PGA Tour’s purses are growing, however its rankings aren’t. It’s a troublesome conundrum for the Tour and commissioner Jay Monahan, who spoke (vaguely) about this difficulty throughout his end-of-the-year press convention on the Tour Championship final month.

“I feel whenever you take a look at 2024, it’s necessary to notice, and I’m going to notice it, that total consumption throughout our platforms in mixture is up,” Monahan stated. “That’s a very good signal for the PGA Tour and the engagement that we’ve with our followers.” (As our James Colgan notes, although, there are layers to that reply.)

The game’s inflated purses and lackluster TV rankings have been a serious subject on the most recent episode of “Kostis & McCord: Off Their Rockers,” a GOLF manufacturing — and professional golf’s present divide is correlated to each.

Peter Kostis introduced up the truth that World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler earned greater than $62 million in 2024, which (adjusted for inflation) was about double Jack Nicklaus’ profession earnings. And right now’s rising purses largely are because of the Tour needing to compete with LIV Golf’s mega cash. Kostis questioned if it was all sustainable.

“The whole lot’s been thrown out of whack and I feel partly that’s one of many issues that brought about folks to lose curiosity in watching the sport,” Kostis stated. “It’s misplaced slightly little bit of its speciality.”

Kostis added that the completely different tiers of the game are also a problem.

“Now we have a Tour with the ‘A’ league and the ‘B’ league,” he stated. “Now we have the highest 50 enjoying of their Signature Occasions after which the B league scrambling round to do no matter. It’s utter chaos proper now; we’ve to determine our method out of this and we bought to do it quickly. I feel Rory was spot on when he stated we’d like a decision to this sooner relatively than later as a result of I don’t suppose the general public goes to place up with it very for much longer. In my view, underneath the consider it or not class, will it occur or received’t it occur, I feel [a merger with LIV] won’t ever occur proper now. I feel we’re headed towards two leagues. I feel we’re headed towards a league that’s primarily internationally targeted after which we’ve clearly the PGA Tour, which is domestically targeted. Perhaps they’ll determine a method for them to play the majors and a pair different occasions. I don’t see this coming to a decision anytime quickly.”

Added McCord: “I want somebody would come and ring and bell and say, ‘OK, right here’s what we’re going to do. In six months we’re going to merge, we’re going to do that, or we’re not going to merge,’ no matter. However this vagueness that’s occurring now on this sport utterly overshadowed Scottie Scheffler’s yr; he had one of many nice years within the historical past of golf.”

For extra on the subject, or to observe the complete episode, click on on the video under.

Josh Berhow

Golf.com Editor

As GOLF.com’s managing editor, Berhow handles the day-to-day and long-term planning of one of many sport’s most-read information and repair web sites. He spends most of his days writing, modifying, planning and questioning if he’ll ever break 80. Earlier than becoming a member of GOLF.com in 2015, he labored at newspapers in Minnesota and Iowa. A graduate of Minnesota State College in Mankato, Minn., he resides within the Twin Cities together with his spouse and two youngsters. You’ll be able to attain him at joshua_berhow@golf.com.