Question of the week [Jan. 23-29]: How, if at all, will LIV Golf's recent announcement of a television deal with The CW Network change public opinion of the second-year league?
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First off, I think that 48% of your respondents are absolute idiots to not want to watch many of the very best golfers in the world based on a political or socio-economic basis or they missed what I see as really addressing your central question in the first place.
Regardless, the time will come when the golf gods (PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan and LIV Golf CEO Greg Norman — or perhaps their replacements sure to come) will wake up and address the reality that the game / competitions / regular guys and gals playing on weekends are global, and will become more global as each year passes. Look at the continued growth of multi-national professional golfers on the PGA, LPGA, Korn Ferry and other tours around the world. Heck, I can sit in my home and watch certain tournaments on the PGA Tour Latinoamerica, European Tour and Asian Tour. Wake up, America.
Tom Powers
Bradenton, Florida
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This, in itself, won't change anything too much, but it is one more step along the way toward LIV Golf becoming a viable business. You can be sure the major networks are watching the number of viewers to see if there is a large enough market. Certainly, they will be studying the USA market, but more importantly to the growth of golf. They will be watching the effect in other countries as well.
Michael Schurman
Durham, Ontario
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I'll watch it ... especially when it's a weekend where the PGA Tour event is sandwiched between two big dollar tournaments and the Tour stars will take the week off. This year, the Tour put Colonial between the PGA Championship and the Memorial. I want to see the stars of the game, and if that means watching an LIV event, I'll do it.
But if the PGA Tour event has another riveting Sony Open in Hawaii finish that includes Si Woo Kim, David Lipsky, Taylor Montgomery and Hayden Buckley, I can record it and watch both.
Charlie Jurgonis
Waterbury, Connecticut
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I watched LIV Golf last year on my laptop. It was great! A TV contract will only help with viewership. It is quite easy to tune in to a wide variety of channels these days. Ever since LIV began, the press has been totally negative. The talk is all about how it is funded instead of how it is performing. The players are exciting, the new format is intriguing, and there is extra money for winning, which is making it competitive. This has not been talked about at all.
I no longer watch the PGA Tour as [Phil] Mickelson was right and exposed the greedy bully. It is an elitist group that has a product that has become stale. On another note, I thought the Ryder Cup consisted of a competition between players from the USA against players from Europe and not PGA Tour players against European Tour players. Without Patrick Reed and Ian Poulter, I have lost interest in that event.
We all know PGA Tour sponsors do business in Arab countries, but, even worse, they do significant amount of business with China. Leave LIV alone with respect to funding and cover the tour as a professional sport. Let it compete.
Matthew Fenn
Hoffman Estates, Illinois
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I’m afraid my opinion hasn’t changed and, no, I can’t see myself tuning in. There is enough great golf televised and enough articles published that I don’t need to see guys making zillions of dollars shooting 74, 74, 76 and then jumping on private jets back home. Ask the guys on the Korn Ferry Tour, jumping into their 5-year-old Hondas with 180,000 miles on the odometer driving to their next event across country and they will probably tell you the same thing.
Paul Vicary
The Villages, Florida
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First and foremost is the completely corrupt foundation of LIV Golf, both ethically and morally. So it really does not matter what kind of deal LIV works out with a broadcasting company. I am sure that the insane amount of money waved in front of the players has created a total denial of reality for those who failed the character test.
The majors should completely ban all players associated with LIV and any attempt for these renegades to try to regain some respectability by being associated with the world rankings should be abolished.
Ray Edger
Surrey, British Columbia
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After watching on the sidelines to see how the first LIV Golf season would unfold, it is not surprising to see a network step-up to try and make ad revenue. I know it takes a lot of money to produce and publish sports events — logistics, equipment, etc. Once LIV golf polishes a few corners and gets better national coverage, more networks will jump in.
It would not be surprising to see a Sirius / XM station and other media outlets get a piece of the action. The woke commentaries about "What? Doing business with those murdering Saudis?" has been drowned out by reality. Saudi Arabia is a giant purchaser of our military equipment, and we have had trade contracts with them for decades. The same is true with China and elsewhere.
Ralph Brown
Vacaville, California
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I will watch it the same amount I watch other golf exhibition matches — not at all. Frankly, everything about LIV Golf has made me even less interested in watching men's professional golf in general.
Terry Fraser
Huntsville, Alabama
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I am not interested in watching. It reminds me of the new attitude toward children’s sports, where participating automatically gives the participants a trophy.
Paul Joelson
Naples, Florida
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