USGA CEO compares golf’s current state to the NFL as PGA Tour-LIV saga continues - "I don't think the NFL is reeling from its strike decades ago"
The PGA Tour-LIV Golf divide has had an impact on golf. The sport has been changed and it likely won't ever be the same regardless of how the merger turns out, should the two sides ever come to an official agreement. USGA CEO Mike Whan has had a pretty close view of the entire thing, and he compared it to the NFL's strike from several years ago.
Whan isn't sure that football is still struggling from that, and he's not sure golf will suffer that fate, either. He said (via Golf Digest):
"I'm a kid who grew up watching all sports, so I've seen my share of strikes and things that made fans say, 'I’m never coming back.' But I don't think the NFL is reeling from its strike decades ago."
Whan added that he isn't sure he understands anything "more than anybody else," but the two sides of the sport are actually talking. The CEO continued:
"The game's big enough to host all kinds of tours and all kinds of formats, and we're proving that on the amateur side. Whenever I walk into a room these days, the first three or four questions I get are always about [professional infighting], and that’s OK. But if we weren't talking about this, we’d have to be talking about the greatest swing in golf in history."
When LIV Golf first formed, a deep chasm in the sport opened up. A line was drawn, and golfers stood firmly on either side of it. The gap between the two sides was large. It has since shrunk, but there's still a distance between them. Fans have been hit by this the hardest.
Whan was initially asked about the outsized importance of Majors now that it's virtually the only time top LIV and PGA players can compete against each other. It's unclear how long that will remain so.
USGA CEO predicts DOJ ruling on LIV-PGA Tour merger
The Department of Justice's investigation into the merger between the PIF, the funding arm of LIV Golf, and the PGA Tour has been part of the hold-up. The merger was announced over a year ago but the investigation paused everything.
As for how the DOJ will rule, USGA CEO Mike Whan could only speculate as he said (via Golf Digest):
"This is conjecture, as my guess wouldn’t be any better than yours or anyone who has kept up with their reading. But I do think it’s different today. With the SSG (Strategic Sports Group), you have a significant body of U.S.-led organizations. The DOJ worries about who is going to be the decision-maker."
Whan said that as long as the PGA Tour, and the players involved, remain the primary decision-maker for golf in America, it won't matter as much where some of the money comes from. He also said that this may seem new and unique, but it's something that has been happening in global sports for a very long time.