Veteran sportscaster credits LIV Golf with shaking up PGA Tour dynamics: "You can't just stay the same"
The PGA Tour and LIV Golf have been in a longstanding rivalry since the Saudi-backed league was established in 2021. When speaking on the media’s relationship with Tour pros, veteran sportscaster Mike Tirico credited LIV Golf for shaking things up in the PGA Tour.
LIV Golf held its inaugural season in 2022 and is backed by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund. As soon as LIV was introduced, the PGA Tour announced that any of its members who participated in the breakaway league’s events would face bans, suspensions, and fines.
During an episode of The Smylie Show, Tirico, who was featured as a guest, acknowledged that, regardless of the rivalries, the game of golf has progressed within a short period. He said via YouTube [25:43]:
“I think golf has come a long way in a short period of time… LIV has opened up this reality that we're now in a competitive space. If you're the PGA Tour you got to get better you can't just stay the same.”
Tirico further pointed out that walk-and-talk interviews were not the norm a couple of years ago. However, he said that LIV came onto the scene and changed the type of relationship golfers have with the press.
Interestingly, there have been talks of reunification between the PGA Tour and LIV Golf. However, the two organizations have yet to reach a substantial agreement.
“We’re starting from two different sides”: Adam Scott speaks on potential PGA Tour-LIV Golf reunification
In February, PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan spoke to the press ahead of the 2025 Genesis Invitational. He revealed that he met with US President Donald Trump, Adam Scott, and Tiger Woods concerning the reunification.
However, later in March, Adam Scott acknowledged that the reunification attempts had hit some speed bumps along the way. He said via Golf.com:
“The product of LIV and the product of the PGA Tour work in very different ways. So I think the challenge is figuring out how that can come together and be really reunification, which is kind of what everyone is shooting for.”
Scott pointed out that fans and players were looking forward to seeing the two organizations work together as soon as possible. He added that no matter what happened at the end of negotiations, the PGA Tour would move forward and not stay in limbo.
Notably, LIV Golf has had three successful seasons since its inception and is now in its fourth. This year, the season opener was held at Riyadh under the stars. After Riyadh, LIV golfers visited several locations to play, including Adelaide, Hong Kong, Singapore, and Miami.
The next LIV event is set to take place at Club De Golf Chapultepec, Mexico. It has a $25 million purse and will be held from April 25-27.