“In the end it’s about money. And keep in mind LIV was on a path to supplant the PGA unless the PGA really changed.”
Wrong. LIV was on a path to failure. They were not and could not get the audiences, the TV viewers and with that the revenue stream that comes with selling the TV rights and getting a share of their ad revenue. Monahan, the PGA commission admitted as much in his first public conversation about the merger, saying that the PGA was not only not facing financial failure but had no signs LIV would damage its success, even down the road. THAT only angers the players more, to hear that admission from Monahan and then try to understand the reasons he claims are the reasons he went ahead with it. Mertely to avoid the lawsuits was NOT a reason, as the logic of the lawsuits is totally undermined by the deal. Many of the lawsuits try to claim the PGA is a monopoly, which is not, and then the “deal” is to create a global golf monopoly. That hypocrisy is not most on a lot of the PGA players.
As for the players that went to LIV it was NOT “most of the top players” and many of the LIV players had been struggling to win (and didn’t) in recent years before joining LIV. Koepka has been the one exception lately. Michelson joined 100% for the money, to pay of his huge gambling debts. Yes for the LIV players it was 100% about the money. Clearly that was NOT the case with MOST PGA golfers, not even MOST of the TOP PGA golfers.
No they weren’t. Sure their rating IN AMERICA were low. But getting better. And of course being a global league they aren’t reliant on the American numbers. They’ve got TV contracts all over the world.
Monahan might not have been willing to admit the problems. But anybody who knows the sports world has seen these upstart leagues happen. And the ones that don’t crash and burn quickly (which LIV had way too much money backing them to do) eventually either win or merge. Most of the upstart leagues, especially the ones that have independent contracts with players, drive right through the same gap LIV did: pay the players more to play less and not grind themselves into dust. And that’s how they win. Look at British darts in the 90s. The upstart league there is the one that matters now.
The 2 majors that have happened the LIV players were about 1/4 of the field, but half the top 5 finishes. Really Rory was the biggest dog left in the PGA, and he’s been playing for crap since he started spending a lot of time complaining about LIV.
Everybody joined for the money. They’re professionals, the goal is to make money. And Koepka is a shining example of the problem the PGA had. He was coming back from injury, but how the PGA works he’d have had to risk aggravating his injury to get on the PGA grind. On LIV, fewer tournaments, fewer holes per tournament, and more money per tournament, he could greatly lower his risk. The PGA was in trouble. Not right away, but soon. And then the LIV said “or we can write you the biggest damn check you’ve ever seen.”