DawgTalkers.net Forums DawgTalk Tailgate Forum So Golfers, What Do You Think About The LIV?

I golfed a little as a teenager but never really any after that so I'm not connected to the sport nor do I really follow it. All I see are the headlines in the news and who won tournaments. But there is a lot of buzz about the new LIV golfing league and how it's the Saudi's basically trying to buy the game of golf. I have no idea how accurate that is or what the average golfer thinks about the situation. And quite frankly I'm rather surprised that with as many golfers as there are on this board there hasn't been a thread regarding the situation before now.

It seems as though it has created a lot of chaos and even that the PGA has been suspending golfers for playing in the LIV. So I was curious about the opinions and thoughts from golfers who post on the board.

I think any professional golfer should be able to play ANYWHERE they want. Best player- that week wins. The PURISTS, who want everything to stay the same are out of touch. JMHO.

I think they should be able to play wherever they want.

I would never do business with Saudi Arabia, though, let alone visit that stone-age hellhole.

The PGA Tour is tradition, but if others play the new tour that’s their prerogative, but I don’t blame the PGA Tour for banning them, either.


I was very disappointed in Dustin Johnson, his defection bothers me the most. I’ve always thought Mickelson was phoney and certainly greedy (whining about how much state tax he has to pay in California), so good riddance to Tiger’s punching bag. I also won’t miss Bryson.

It doesn't bother me, but I understand the PGA's position.

They line up a tour and line up sponsors who pay a lot of money for the exposure the week they host a tournament. The players who hold a PGA card should be held to some responsibility to pay the tour events.

Players already have a minimum number of events they have to play unless some injury prevents them from playing. They have to play 15. I don't know how many tournaments are on the schedule. Maybe 35? I also think players have to play every tournament at least once every 5 years.

How all of this ends up is anybodys guess.

It's a good example of the whole game vs business debate.

JMHO, he talks about tradition and legacy. Bottomline is MONEY also. He's a "traditionalist" yet has three logos seen easily.....MONEY....I wonder how many others are on his total outfit. Golf is competition AND I don't care what organization you're part of....I hope the best compete at the big four MASTERS, US OPEN, BRITISH OPEN, and PGA....maybe in future the SAUDI OPEN takes the place of PGA....who knows in a hundred years.

When you just outright buy something it doesn't take 100 years.

I think the winner of the LIV tourney this past weekend said he made more money this past weekend than he did his entire PGA tour career by playing less days...

I'm not a huge golf fan... my dad is... but I watch sparingly... my thoughts are that the golfers should earn all they can... if the PGA is pissed then pay your players better...

I heard that too. Look... for me, it should be easy enough to demonize a person/group that's throwing money and elbows at a historic setup like the PGA... but when the money (and we are talking about pro's here looking to pull in paychecks) is such a huge difference then it becomes a REALLY bad look for the PGA.

j/c

I appreciate the feedback from everyone. I'm just curious if the fact that the Saudi government itself is funding this money through what is called the Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund has any impact on your views or if you knew about that? I mean what it appears to be is that we have a foreign government using an unfair advantage by funding a league with so much money nobody can compete with it. When one looks at it this seems to be what many Americans are against. In this case we have a foreign government using its wealth and power to undermine the free market system.

Does any of that impact your views?

I'm not sure I follow how it's undermining the free market system? They are enticing golfers to move over to their tournaments by compensating them at a much higher rate. If anything, I think it exposes the compensation practices of the PGA.

I say that because it's a foreign government, not business that's funding the LIV. A very rich government that seems more intent on buying a sport than competing. I mean there's no possible way that I can see where they would turn any profit by selling commercial time and endorsements compared to what they're paying out. Since they are seemingly accomplishing their goal what other sports will foreign governments buy out? Should a foreign government start a pro football league that pays players three times what the NFL pays and people would be fine with that just because that nation could afford to do so?

I do believe that when governments fund sports that governments do not fall under the description of the free market system. I know when our own government gets involved in almost anything that's what a lot of people claim as well. I'm simply wondering if people had considered that part of the equation in forming their opinions and if that has any impact on their opinion.

I tend to agree. Anytime a governments funds things it undermine free market. Sometimes that is good, others not.

I may be mistaken, but my understanding is that it's not that it's A government funding the LIV... it's because it's THAT govt. The money they're shelling out is tainted by corruption and other abuses.

I don't really have any skin in the game. I never watched golf and barely play. I have literally no connection to any of these players, so I think it's going to be fascinating watching how the PGA fares with direct, unabashed competition.

I don't consider buying a sport and conducting business at a loss as "competition". More of a leveraged buy out. I simply used an example of how a wealthy government could buy a sport rather than actually competing for it. You are right that I've seen it pointed out that it's the Saudi government and their money. I just didn't wish to pigeonhole the conversation to the Saudi's and was trying to look at the situation and where this may all lead in making the general point of nations buying out sports.

I am much like yourself. I only played in high school and it didn't really interest me so I stopped. I just found this to be a very interesting story the likes of no other I can think of or compare it to in sports.

I was actually about to write exactly this in my last response. I can't recall another situation where an upstart came after the established pro league like this and try to steal their lunch-money.


Are they actually operating at a loss? Honest question because I have no idea.... and even if they are I imagine that's only expected to be short-term. I think you're narrowing your definition of competition too much. PGA was pretty much the only game in town until LIV came around... and LIV wasn't going to grow their roster organically because they would've died on the vine (we'd probably never even hear about it).

JMHO, do most Americans not buy Chinese stuff because their government is subbing steel, solar panels, etc.....most folks follow the money- getting or keeping as much of their own as they can. Is paying farmer for not growing stuff on their land part of FREE ENTERPRISE. What about ethanol, propping up corn growers at the expensive of us all.....JMHO- that ain't free enterprise- its politicians making deals that hose most of us---benefit the few against the majority. The world ain't fair.

So you promote those things? There's a huge difference in buying products from a foreign business and dealing directly with a foreign government. At least for most people one would think.

D Johnson, world class golfer who left PGA, playing in LIV- he played in British Open with no problems. Don't like PGAs stance.