Question of the week [Oct. 12-18]: When the dust settles on LIV Golf, what impact will the upstart tour have had on professional golf?
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Ralph Powers | Bradenton, FL
The question has two distinct answers. For the professional players themselves, the impact is positive: purses are higher, team golf is beginning to appear, and match play will surface from time to time. Additionally, the competitive fields will improve as marquee players return to the fold.
As for the broader golf industry, the impact is likely more negative. The rhetoric about the "good of the game" never materialized, creating a drag on sponsors and television ratings. Major equipment suppliers like TaylorMade and Titleist gained little from two years of division.
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Edwin J. Kozlowski | Raleigh, NC
LIV was never a true competitor; it was a predator. Money always wins, and initial capital gave LIV a footing that forced other tours to respond financially or risk irrelevance. None of that was good for professional golf as a whole, though it was great for individual players. While the PGA Tour was a solid success, viewership had stagnated, and LIV forced leadership to rethink its strategy. If successful, those changes will ultimately make the Tour stronger.
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Robert Celli | Longwood, FL
It damaged golf as we know it by removing top players and creating unnecessary friction. It is a shame, as the entire movement was built on greed, which is never a good foundation.
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Michael Walsh | Ventnor City, NJ
It proved that a system built on meritocracy is ultimately more valuable than one based solely on money.
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Richard P. Genett | Flossmoor, IL
It raised purses across the PGA Tour and proved that greed remains a common human trait.
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Reid Farrill | Toronto, Ontario, Canada
There are three lasting legacies of LIV Golf:
- Player compensation and tournament purses dramatically increased.
- The PGA Tour was forced to transition toward a star-driven system focused on elite players rather than an all-exempt group of 125.
- The dilution of field depth inadvertently made the four major championships even more significant, as those became the only events where all the world's best players competed together.
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Dennis Lofe | Camden, SC
LIV accomplished three main things: it enhanced tournament purses on the PGA Tour, opened additional playing opportunities on Tour following player departures, and exposed a broader international audience to professional golf events.
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Art Williams | Luzerne, PA
At this point, it appears to have cost the commissioner his job. It turned the PGA Tour's status quo upside down, and the circuit will never be the same. It ushered in massive increases in the cost of sponsoring tournaments, which in turn provided larger purses for players who stayed the course.
This story is far from over and will continue through the Tour's 2028 schedule changes. With the DP World Tour stiffening its membership rules, time will tell who remains part of LIV. There are still many moving parts.
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Brent Myers | Kidron, OH
The rich will get richer, and the small-town, charity-driven tournament model will be dead.
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Andy Phelps | Summerville, SC
It proved that greed means more to some PGA Tour professionals than long-term legacy. I never bought into claims that it was about growing the game. Perhaps it made the PGA Tour aware of its shortcomings, but in the long run, it hurt professional golf.
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Chris Ferrara | Delmont, PA
It opened professional golf to neglected international markets. Television distribution issues hurt LIV, but it remains interesting that the PGA Tour suddenly wants to host an event in Australia. Furthermore, golfers should be allowed to wear shorts, and team golf is a welcome format—with the exception of simulator golf.
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Duane Zuercher | Albuquerque, NM
It helped add an annual Australian event to the PGA Tour calendar, creating a fantastic fan experience that surpasses island tournaments. Late-night television golf during football season is a great addition.
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Ralph M. Bush | South Trenton, NY
Virtually no lasting impact unless it becomes a minor-league feeder system similar to the Korn Ferry Tour for the DP World or Asian Tours. It was never a compelling format and mostly promoted chaos. May LIV rest in peace.
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Stephen Pratt | Ardmore, PA
It will remain a permanent stain on the sport, the PGA Tour, and the players who made the move.
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Vinny Mooney | Poughkeepsie, NY
One major impact is the surge in PGA Tour purses—partly a response to LIV and partly the result of Phil Mickelson exposing reserve funds. Another is how it revealed pettiness, with players turning on Ryder Cup teammates and college friends; how those relationships recover remains to be seen, with Rory McIlroy serving as a chief example.
Finally, Scottie Scheffler’s incredible accomplishments will carry an asterisk in some eyes because many of his wins came against fields missing top LIV talent like Jon Rahm and Bryson DeChambeau.
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Peter J. Scileppi | Kingston, NY
LIV forced the Tour to recognize that the players themselves are the core product, which is why those initial departures were such a shock to the system.
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David Finnegan | Turlock, CA
The dust settles on wasted capital that could have been used for the betterment of the game — specifically for youth programs, public facilities, and making golf accessible to those priced out by outrageous fees.
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Wayne Abbott | Castle Pines, CO
In a few years, it will be a distant memory. However, its primary legacy will be the permanent increase in PGA Tour purses.
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Richard Whitaker | Anthem, AZ
It stands as a glaring example of what not to do. Without continued funding, LIV seems poised to fade, especially with rumors of key departures. Perhaps its worst effect was obscuring fan-favorite players from regular television broadcasts.
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Rick Beau | Myrtle Beach, SC
It revealed that the PGA Tour was not being entirely transparent with its members regarding available capital, given how quickly purses were raised once competition appeared. It also exposed hypocrisy among players who criticized those who left while comfortably accepting higher purses, guaranteed money, and no-cut events.
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Chuck Dunlap | Lexington, SC
It highlighted the greed of certain premier players above all else.
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Andy Krakauer | West Linn, OR
It increased financial payouts for elite PGA Tour players, but ultimately divided and weakened the broader golf fanbase.
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George Schubert | Murrells Inlet, SC
LIV will serve as an incentive for golfers to qualify and remain on the PGA Tour, regardless of the deals offered. It ultimately derailed the momentum of several talented players' careers.
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Thomas Klabunde | Tempe, AZ
It served as a proof of concept for what fails in golf. The format was unwatchable, with shotgun starts and confusing team scoring turning events into exhibitions. But at least they got to wear shorts.
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William A. Galinas | Broomall, PA
LIV forced the Tour to bring in outside investors and transition toward a for-profit structure. Major sponsors are straining under the higher cost of events, and guaranteed money in no-cut Signature Events primarily enriches top stars. Overall, forcing more money into the ecosystem will be a net negative for the Tour's traditional structure.
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Robert Celli | Longwood, FL
Division and less interesting golf.
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Glen Helin | Denver, CO
No long-term impact. It will be remembered like the short-lived rival football leagues of the 1980s—a footnote that only diehard sports fans recall.
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George Schubert | Murrells Inlet, SC
No impact. It was a bad idea, and the funding source led me to avoid watching LIV events entirely.
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Bill Marshall | Lakeland, FL
LIV disrupted competitive golf with gimmicks and inflated promises. Now the established tours need to focus on restoring true competitive balance and setting the next generation of golfers on the right path.
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Jim Fuquay | Indianapolis, IN
It had both negative and positive impacts. Negatively, it demonstrated a rush toward easy money over tour tradition and ethical considerations, diminishing professional golf in the eyes of long-time fans. Positively, it forced the PGA Tour to re-examine its organizational structure and reward its loyal players.
As a long-time golfer, the overall situation has diminished my enjoyment of professional golf — I would rather play than watch.
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Sheri Molyneaux | Salem, OR
We lost visibility of some great players who occasionally made broadcasts more exciting. However, the disruption eventually wore thin, and most fans simply moved on.
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Will Curry | Cape Town, South Africa
It had a significant impact on driving higher payouts for players.
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John A. Gildow | Camano Island, WA
It permanently damaged fan respect for the players who jumped. They left for the money — and only the money — regardless of how they tried to frame it.
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John Mann | York, PA
The biggest shift was forcing the PGA Tour to transform into a for-profit entity backed by private investment. In any competitive economic environment, investors and top talent chase revenue—and LIV proved that in modern professional sports, it is always about the money.
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Front: A LIV Golf branded golf cart.
Photo: Charles Laberge / LIV Golf