For those who don’t know, LIV golf is a professional golf tour that’s in direct competition with the PGA which is another professional golf tour. LIV golf has been a favorable contender since 2022 when its popularity surged. LIV is known for its new “hip” golf format, and its high payout to players like John Rahm, Bryson DeChambeau and Phil Mickelson. 

Recently LIV golf has been under the spotlight of the golf community. Because LIV isn’t able to pay its players as much as their original contracts, players are starting to question staying on the tour. It all started when former number one player in the world Brooks Koepka publicly announced that he would be leaving the LIV tour and rejoining the PGA tour. This is prompting other LIV golf players to question staying on the LIV tour. 

While Koepka and many other LIV golfers are leaving the tour it comes at a cost. Players who previously played on the PGA tour and left to go play at LIV must accept the “Returning Member Program”. This program states that players must donate 5 million dollars to a charity as well as forfeit PGA tour equity for 5 years, and no FedEx bonus for 2026. This agreement is costing Brooks Koepka 50-80 million dollars in earnings. Many people believe that the “Returning Member Program” is too harsh on returning players considering the cost to play the sport that they love

In recent years, golf has seen record highs in game play and viewership. Many people think that LIV is the main cause of this, but in reality, it isn’t the only reason. The resurgence of golf and the popularity of the sport is also due to the professional tours being more dominated by the youth instead of an older demographic. In addition to this, golf content creators have been switching from traditional golf content to new golf challenges that grab the younger generations attention. 

Now more than ever, LIV has been in decline losing most of their popular players. Many golfers are not interested in the signature PGA tournament format, and with many viewers abandoning LIV, some have chosen to leave golf as a whole. The future of the PGA is on the rise, while the LIV is struggling to maintain viewers, and an interesting battle for popular golfers is set to ensure for years to come.