The LIV Golf League continues to make headlines with recent roster changes and strategic moves that could reshape the competitive landscape. In the latest episode of The League Itself Podcast, key developments include Brooks Koepka’s departure, Gooch taking over Smash GC, and Mito’s retirement, signaling a period of transition within the league.
Reports suggest Si Woo Kim is close to joining LIV Golf, potentially as part of Iron Heads GC under captain Kevin Na.
The year in golf was filled with emotional turning points, personal stories and powerful scenes on and off the course.
Laurie Canter will tee it up for Majesticks GC in the 2026 LIV Golf League season, despite earning a PGA Tour card.
PGA Tour’s future, Scheffler’s stats, Nelly Korda’s fiancé, and a hole-in-one car dilemma. The Back Nine.
Despite ongoing discussions between the PGA Tour and LIV Golf, a full reunification of professional golf seems far off, according to prominent players from both sides.
Speaking at the CNBC CEO Council Forum, Rory McIlroy, a long-time advocate for reunifying professional golf, expressed doubt about a resolution anytime soon. “I think unification would be better for the game overall,” McIlroy said. “But given everything that has happened over the past few years, I think it’s going to be very difficult to achieve.”
LIV Golf star Bryson DeChambeau echoed the sentiment in a recent FOX News interview. The two-time U.S. Open champion believes both sides are entrenched in their positions. “There are too many demands and not enough concessions on both sides,” he said, adding that it will take time for real progress to be made.
While the split in professional golf has caused controversy, one undeniable benefit has been financial. McIlroy noted back in February that both sides have profited and should now focus on reuniting the sport. “Whether you stayed on the PGA Tour or left, we’ve all benefited,” he said at the Genesis Invitational. “We’re playing for $20 million this week—that wouldn’t have happened without LIV. We need to move on, stop looking back, and do what’s best for the game moving forward.”
Although February showed signs of progress, talks stalled again in March. Since then, little has changed. LIV Golf continues to push for legitimacy, aiming to award Official World Golf Ranking points and transitioning to a 72-hole format.
Despite the current stalemate, DeChambeau remains hopeful. “I don’t want to speak for others, but I believe the game will improve over time,” he told FOX News. “This is a positive disruption, and it will take time for things to settle. Ultimately, I think it will be good for the game.”
As the 2025 season wraps up, we look back at the most pivotal decisions and moments that shaped professional golf this year.
Last week, PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan and Player Director Adam Scott were in Washington to talk to US President Donald Trump about the planned involvement of the Saudi Arabian sovereign wealth fund PIF as a minority investor in the new PGA Tour Enterprises venture. Since the announcement of the framework agreement by Monahan and PIF boss Yasir Al-Rumayyan in June 2023, negotiations have been very slow and complicated, not least due to the expected objections from the previously Democrat-dominated US Department of Justice and the antitrust authority based there. The Donald, on the other hand (“The best players in the world should also play on a joint tour”), had already been touting in his full-bodied manner before his re-election that he would wrap up the deal within 15 minutes.
“When the leader of the free world spends his time playing golf, I am very happy. This game is important. It conveys values that this world needs more of at the moment. It brings us together and connects us with each other.”
Scott O’Neil, new CEO of LIV Golf, in an interview with Al Arabiya News
The Gulf Post has already pointed out several times that Trump’s relations with the Saudis and with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman personally, as well as the Republican dictate in the US government bodies, should be very conducive to an agreement. This is exactly what will happen. “We have asked the President to commit himself for the good of the sport, the country and all countries involved,” reads a statement issued by Monahan, Scott and Tiger Woods – also a player director. “We are grateful that his leadership has brought us closer to a final agreement and paved the way for the reunification of men’s professional golf.” That sounds like a very deep kowtow to the White House. And Scott O’Neil’s statement is better left uncommented …
There’s no getting around the news, even if it comes from a tabloid: According to a report in the British tabloid ‘The Sun’, the PGA Tour and the Saudi Arabian investment fund PIF have reached an agreement in their negotiations. Under the headline ‘Golf’s Civil War OVER’, David Facey writes that the Saudis have allegedly bought a one billion dollar stake in the Tour in return for an eleven per cent share and two board seats, including that of the chairman. The LIV Golf League events would continue to be organised by the PGA Tour. It is also said that Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy played a decisive role in the agreement as members of the special negotiating committee. The deal still has to be approved by the Tour members, i.e. the players, but the DP World Tour will also benefit in a special way thanks to the strategic alliance, for example through financial injections for prize money.
Facey does not name any sources, of course. And there are also several other indications that the news is more fake than fact. For example, there is never any mention of PGA Tour Enterprises, but that is exactly what the slow-moving negotiations are all about: The PIF wants to become a minority investor in the new commercial venture, in which the Tour is offloading its silverware (tournament, licence and TV rights etc.) and which is already lavishly funded thanks to the Strategic Sports Group’s total of three billion. The naming of McIlroy and even more so LIV and PIF opponent Woods also seems more like name-dropping to generate clicks. Moreover, there is no mention of PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan and PIF boss Yasir Al-Rumayyan, who played the Aramco Team Series Pro-Am together at the LET in Riyadh last week. Last but not least, a question underlines the suspicion of a rather simplistic tabloid piece: where did the Sun, of all publications, get such information? The usual suspects, including the reputable US golf media, have not made a single sound in this regard so far.
(Written by Michael Basche)
After Jon Rahm was crowned ‘Individual Champion’ last week, the LIV Golf Tour in Dallas decided the Team Championship this week. Without the participation of the defending champions Crushers GC around captain Bryson DeChambeau and Jon Rahm, who was ill, the Australian team Ripper GC prevailed against the competition on the final day.
On the final day of the LIV Golf Team Championship in Dallas, team captain Cameron Smith and Ripper GC lived up to their role as favorites. In addition to the two surprise teams 4Aces GC and Iron Heads GC, who only finished 10th in the season rankings and, in the case of Iron Heads, a distant 13th, Ripper GC also had to deal with second-placed Legion XIII in the final. However, without Jon Rahm, who was ill, the newly formed team was clearly weakened. While Tyrrell Hatton did everything in his power with a round of 68 to make up for the Spaniard’s absence, it was Kieran Vincent’s weak round of 73 that ultimately made the difference. The one stroke over par was the weakest score among the four final teams. At Ripper GC, captain Cameron Smith was able to rely on the performance of his teammates (Herbert 69, Jones 70, Leishman 70) and successfully led the team to the Team Championship (-11) with a joint best score of the day of 68 strokes. Second place was shared by 4Aces GC and Iron Heads GC with the two captains Dustin Johnson and Kevin Na (-8).
POV: Last celebration of the season 🔥 #LIVGolf @rippergc_ pic.twitter.com/K89m2x3Z38
— LIV Golf (@livgolf_league) September 22, 2024
After the final round, team captain Cameron Smith was visibly relieved: “Yeah, it was pretty unreal. Yeah, so proud. There was something in me that was going to tell me that the boys were going to come through. The Gladiator, the last four of the five holes, pretty unbelievable. Really cool stuff. I mean, to be a part of this is unreal, especially with these guys.”