I just read your article on reunification of golf (“Stalemate important to mull in PGA Tour-PIF talks,” March 3, GGP). As a longtime fan and also a person who spent the last 34 years working in the private club industry, I have followed the development of LIV and remained a true PGA Tour fan. The basic premise of PGA Tour golf has always been that players earn huge benefits, and now huge money, by playing their way into that circle.
I thoroughly enjoy watching a player’s life change with a win or even getting a tour card as Luke Clanton did most recently. That still gives me a thrill to see their hard work pay off. That is what has always been missing from LIV Golf and why it doesn’t draw me as a fan. They’ve already been paid and there really isn’t anything that winning is going to do to change their lives. I think this has a lot to do with the disinterest in LIV and why they have not garnered a large audience. The integrity that has always been in golf is just not there.
I suspect that if the two sides come together, some resentment, subtle or otherwise, will remain between the tour players and the LIV players.
Jason Macaulay
Highlands, North Carolina
Thank you for a good read on the subject of the PGA Tour and LIV (“Stalemate important to mull in PGA Tour-PIF talks,” March 3, GGP).
I’m an 80-year-old golf fan who plays three or four times a week. If golf is on TV, my wife and I are watching it. Even over football, baseball or college basketball.
We have not watched one second of LIV Golf. There’s nothing about it that appeals to us. Golf is an individual sport and I wish the media would stop trying to compare it to the NFL, MLB or the NBA.
Competitions like the Zurich Classic, the Ryder Cup and Presidents Cup are great for golf because we don’t see them every week. And when we see them we see the team members playing together except for the singles matches.
With the exception of three or four players, LIV has a bunch of nobodies who are at the end of their careers or never started a career on the tour.
Our hope is that the two groups do not merge and golf as we know it doesn’t change. Every player, when interviewed, says it is about winning not the money.
We don’t need LIV Golf … period!
John Hochmuth
Raleigh, North Carolina
I hope there is no agreement (“Stalemate important to mull in PGA Tour-PIF talks,” March 3, GGP). LIV is suffering, why throw it a lifeline for the sake of a few players whose greed outweighed their good sense? Sorry to say, those players strike me as selfish and completely unaware or completely lacking of any moral ground on which to stand (I’m referencing the Saudi regime’s inhumanity). I vote no on a merger!
Cynthia Randall-Rosa
Reunion, Florida
Nice commentary (“Stalemate important to mull in PGA Tour-PIF talks,” March 3, GGP). There are so many wonderful young players coming up on the PGA Tour that I don’t see the need for guys like Rahm, DJ and Koepka any longer. All of a sudden they are looking a little long in the tooth. Bryson is fun to watch and still really good. If we have a need to watch him though, we can go to YouTube. More team golf is of no interest to me. Let the LIV boys keep their millions and their shotgun starts. The PGA Tour can easily move on without them.
Jim Teuscher
Eatonton, Georgia
I enjoyed your article (“Stalemate important to mull in PGA Tour-PIF talks,” March 3, GGP) and it certainly represents not only my thoughts but the vast majority of my golfing friends. I literally only know about six people from my golf club that even watch LIV. Nobody cares about LIV or if any of the players actually return to the PGA Tour. There are only four LIV players that I would like to see back on the PGA Tour: [Bryson] DeChambeau, [Jon] Rahm, [Brooks] Koepka and [Tyrrell] Hatton. I have always enjoyed watching Hatton as he shows his emotions and is an excellent player.
I enjoy seeing the best players in the world play against each other, but outside the four majors another four or five times a year is plenty. However, these extra four or five times should be tournaments with at least 80 players, maybe 100, and there should be a cut. You can’t just shut out lower-ranked players from being able to get better and have a decent chance of making a good living playing golf.
Jim Mason
Freeport, Florida
Excellent column (“Stalemate important to mull in PGA Tour-PIF talks,” March 3, GGP). I am happily optimistic that there will never be a merger between these two entities. LIV’s business plan is unrealistic and will never generate an ROI for the Saudis. The reason that they don’t want to give up on team golf, in my opinion, is that team golf is their only hope for success, dependent entirely on wealthy individuals investing in their teams, as is the case in English football or F1 racing. I don’t believe that will ever happen, and short of that accomplishment, LIV will continue to hemorrhage money.
Arnold Merriam
Jupiter, Florida
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