PGA, LIV … a tale of two tours

Differences between the two were on display during weekend events

Last Sunday was a tough one throughout the Redwood Empire. Local courses were blanketed with anywhere from 6-18 inches of snow. Roads were impassable. Electricity was here and then gone multiple times as power lines were knocked over by falling trees and heavy snow. It was an indoor day as long as there was indoor power.

I knew I was stuck inside for the day and yet the afternoon television viewing would turn out to be one of dichotomies. The PGA Tour was in Palm Beach, Florida, for the playing of the Honda Classic. The Honda has been around since 1972 when the late Tom Weiskopf prevailed over Jack Nicklaus by one stroke to take home the $52,000 first-place prize from a purse of $260,000. It was called Jackie Gleason's Inverrary Classic. This year the pros were playing for an $8 million purse with the winner taking home a check worth $1.512 million. It wasn't one of the new $20 million “designated events” but it wasn't exactly chump change.

Meanwhile the Saudi-backed LIV Golf Tour was in Mayakoba, Mexico, a former PGA Tour site from 2007-2022. The winner at Mayakoba would earn $4 million for his efforts. Similar to Formula 1 Racing, there is a team component to LIV Golf although the winning share of $3 million for the fourman squad merely goes to the team equity. In other words, the golfers don't get any money. Of course, it almost seems that merely getting to stick a tee in the ground for 54 holes is well worth the effort, regardless of the talent. Sihwan Kim, a 34-year-old American, finished in 48th place or dead last. Kim shot 82-77-77 to finish 23-overpar. Kim pocketed $120,000 for his many strokes over par. At the same time, seven golfers at the Honda Classic ended up shooting 6-under-par and made $136,500 for their under-par exploits.

The Honda Classic was televised by NBC while LIV broadcast by The CW. While the CW seems to be Channel 44 on the local cable, this time around it was able to be watched on KRON Channel 4. According to the Monday morning figures, LIV had a 018 rating in 26 major markets, which pencils out to 289,000 households. The CW gets to keep the advertising revenue whereas the PGA Tour gets a piece of the action. The viewing figures for the Honda Classic were supposedly 10 times the amount of LIV Golf. Regardless of the name recognition of LIV golfers such as Phil Mickelson, Cam Smith, Louis Oosthuizen, Brooks Koepka, Bryson DeChambeau, Sergio Garcia, Patrick Reed and others, the PGA Tour put forth a decidedly nameless array of professional golfers and was still able to decisively outdraw LIV Golf.

There are many distinct dif

ferences between the broadcasts of the rival tours. You know what you're going to get week in and week out on the PGA Tour. It is a 72-hole tournament with a 36hole cut made on Friday evening. The low 65 golfers and ties out of a field of anywhere from 128-156 golfers (depending upon the amount of daylight) venture into the weekend in an effort to win or cash a big check. The contestants who make the cut usually tee off on the first hole and conclude the tournament on the 18th hole. In the case of the Honda Classic, fans of the game know that the most difficult stretch of the event occurs from the 15th through the 17th holes. Those three holes are precarious because of watery areas and that stretch of golf is known as The Bear Trap, named in honor of designer Jack “The Golden Bear” Nicklaus. Oh, and yes, all of the contestants wear long pants with various sponsor logos.

The LIV tournaments are definitely different. The golfers play just three rounds of golf, they are allowed to wear shorts and music is continuously blasting throughout the event. There is no cut as evidenced by the substandard golf of Mr. Kim. The contestants don't wear sponsor-oriented logos on their hats and shirts. Instead they wear team-oriented uniforms. There are 12 four-man teams with golf-oriented names such as the Four Aces, the Crushers, the Majestics, and my personal favorite, the Range Goats.

Instead of starting on the first hole, the LIV tournament features a shotgun start. The leaders get to go off on number one, but the rest of the field is strewn throughout the course in threesomes. You have to be extremely alert to know that the eventual champion, Charles Howell III, is on the back nine with six holes to go while the faster-playing Cam Smith is on the front nine with just four holes to go.

The announcing team led by Irishman David Feherty, a former European Tour Ryder Cupper, are very much into the concept of promoting LIV Golf. For instance, at one point Feherty contended that it is “Beneficial playing on the LIV Golf Tour. Pat Perez knows that better than most. Money is extremely significant.” It is safe to assume that on today's PGA Tour Perez would play a limited role, ranked well beyond the exempt 125 with the likes of Hunter Mahan and Camilo Villegas. Yes, the money is extremely significant, especially when you factor in signing bonuses and no-cut tournaments.

Of course, even Feherty seemed to sound more ridiculous than usual. At one point in the LIV broadcast, the cameras focused on LIV commissioner Greg Norman. Norman won a pair of British Opens, lost a handful of majors in overtime, and during his heyday was not as successful as fellow linksters Nick Faldo and Seve Ballesteros. Yet Feherty did contend that Norman “was probably the most recognized sports figure of the 1980s and 1990s.” Really? How about Joe Montana, Larry and Magic, the Great Gretzky? Then again, perhaps Norman was the guy who played opposite Bugs Bunny in a movie. After all, everyone wanted to “Be like Greg. Maybe it was Norman who won six NBA titles for the Bulls. Then again maybe it was Michael Jordan.

When all was said and done, Charles Howell III was the LIV Mayakoba champ. He heads to Tucson in mid-March for the next LIV event. Meanwhile Chris Kirk won the Honda in overtime over Eric Cole, a 34-year-old PGA Tour rookie who is the son of Bobby Cole, the 1966 British Amateur champ and the winner of the 1977 Buick Open, and Laura Baugh, the 1971 U.S. Amateur champ and the 1973 LPGA rookie of the year. The winner of 54 mini-tour events, Cole won $915,600 and has secured his tour card for 2024. As for Kirk, it was his first win in eight years. He has successfully fought demon alcohol and now leads a lifestyle of sobriety. While Howell heads to Tucson, Kirk and his overtime win means he's heading to the Masters, is probably in all the majors, and will be in the TOC in January. It was truly a tale of two tours.