Final thoughts on the Tour Championship; and what does LIV Golf do next?

Each week we ask our panel of writers, PGA members and golf industry experts to weigh in with their views on the hot topics of the day.

The 2024 PGA Tour has concluded with Scottie Scheffler winning the Tour Championship and its bloated $25 million first prize cheque. The final lacked any real drama, but all the players got paid lots of money and the “right” guy won, which is the way the Tour wanted it. What was your biggest takeaway from the tournament?

Jim Deeks, Fairways Magazine (@jimdeeks): The “right” guy did indeed win, but once again, I’ll just say the money is obscene, in the scheme of things. I don’t care if, in the scheme of things, other pro sports pay their top stars close to a hundred million a year (I don’t think they do, yet), but Scottie’s $64million in earnings seems so egregiously wrong. I realize the prize money levels went up because of fear that the LIV Group would steal more players, and it’s worked, but that doesn’t make it morally acceptable.

Craig Loughry, Golf Ontario (@craigloughry): All that was hoped to happen, happened, except there was no drama other than the first hole of the tournament when Scheff bogeyed, and Schauffler birdied to be tied. After that, it was over. I tried to watch the trophy presentation after, but it was difficult, so I tuned out part way through. The takeaway for me was it was just so vanilla, I enjoyed seeing the course on TV the most.

Michael Schurman, Master Professional / Hall of Fame Member, PGA of Canada: Scottie was vocal about not liking the playoffs. Basically, he said, “I won all year, why do I have to win again”? Professional sports either culminate in a playoff or they don’t. The difference is that the PGA TOUR is made up of individual tournaments. Each player can decide to enter or not; meaning the road to qualifying is different for each player. Further, certain events carry varying numbers of ‘points’. My takeaway is that Scottie was determined to win to prove something, and he did. It’s a rare player who can elevate his/her game when they want to.

TJ Rule, Golf Away Tours: That the playoffs don’t really excite me at all.  And I’m not sure what can be done to change that but I just couldn’t get into it.  It’s good that Scottie won, he was so dominant all year, and sure Morikawa took a little shot at the format since he was technically low for the week, but Scottie deserved the biggest prize at the end of the year.  Looking forward to some time off from the Tour until they start again in…(checks calendar)…9 days!

Hal Quinn, Freelance Writer, Vancouver: After fast-forwarding through the last two rounds, one inescapable takeaway was: man, these guys are good. Each round there were so many shots that were amazing, and it wasn’t just that they all hit 9-irons 190 yards. That was this year’s Top 30, and they put on a clinic in every aspect of the game. Sure, the format borders on silly, and has no simple solution, but the redesign and new grasses looked good, and the lads sure figured out the new East Lake.

Peter Mumford, Fairways Magazine (@FairwaysMag): Two things came to mind: the revamped East Lake is pretty easy, and the Tour Championship format is still silly. Morikawa, Theegala and Scheffler were 22, 21 and 20 under respectively on the new, improved East Lake, which is embarrassing for this kind of event. The format is an even greater travesty for competitive golf. Would we watch a race where the favourite had a sizeable head start? I don’t think so.

Scottie Scheffler won seven times this year, which puts him in pretty rarified territory. Only Tiger Woods (four times) and Vijay Singh have won that many events in a season in the last forty years. Scheffler is starting to draw comparisons with Tiger in the way he dominates tournaments and wins in bunches. Is it a fair comparison or too early in Scheffler’s career to hail him as the next generational player?

Deeks: Scottie is certainly the most likely candidate since Rory McIlroy to contend for the “next generational player” crown.  Rory hasn’t quite lived up to the description, unfortunately, although other circumstances have gotten in his way (canceled marriage to Caroline Wozniacki, marital issues with Erica Stoll, unofficial spokesman role for the PGA Tour vs. LIV, public expectations, and heartbreaking losses).  I like Scheffler and his quiet, unflappable demeanour, and if he can keep that focus, he may well compete with Tiger’s career in the long run.

Loughry: Comparing Scheff to Tiger isn’t fair. Scottie is a fine player, but he’s playing against some watered-down fields compared to Tiger’s era (who had to play all the top dogs), and Scheff gets to play in more events with no cuts and smaller fields. It’s certainly hard to win anywhere, but there are a lot of world-class players missing from those the PGA Tour Events (LIV GOLFERS), so I believe it is a little easier to win without those players in the field.  He is a superstar, I think he reminds me most of, and that he’ll go down as a career comparison to VJ Singh.

Schurman: Careers vary in tenure. Some peak to get on the PGA TOUR, some play for a while and then peak to win a few times and others win frequently including majors. Normally, a career at this level doesn’t last more than 10 years with the last period tapering over 3 or 4. Occasionally, a Scheffler comes along who rises early, lasts 7 or 8 years and slowly enjoys success for the next 4 or 5. Our problem is we don’t identify those players early enough and we waste 5 or 6 years wondering. ENJOY it while it’s here.

Rule: He deserves the praise and comparisons to Tiger, although he has a while to go to match El Tigre’s prolonged dominance.  But all signs point to him being able to do so.  He’s in contention every time he tips it up and he’s shown the killer instinct to finish events off.  Family is obviously a bit priority in his life, so we’ll see how that affects his ability to stay head and shoulders above everyone else on Tour.

Quinn: There can be an argument made that Scheffler won seven against stronger fields than Woods or Singh, but it’s way too early to put him next to Woods. Despite incredible wealth having a history of stunting goals and dedication, for now he’s this generation’s player.

Mumford: Probably too early for those kinds of comparisons but Scheffler is on a very nice trajectory and way ahead of whoever else might be considered. It’s hard to admit but McIlroy is past his Best Before Date and too old now to lay claim to being The Man. Ten years without a major is too big a gap in the resume to be considered dominant. The thing about Scheffler is he doesn’t wow you with highlight reel recovery shots – he just doesn’t make mistakes. That’s a pretty good recipe for longevity and recognition as the best of his generation.

When was the last time you heard about Lee Westwood, Ian Poulter or Louis Oosthuizen? Apart from a handful of legitimate all-stars that play in the majors, LIV Golfers are fast becoming forgotten. Even when there’s a LIV Golf event, it doesn’t get much publicity, and the players get even less. The PGA Tour seems to be dragging its feet to make any kind of deal with the Saudi PIF, maybe not even wanting a deal. What should LIV Golf or the PIF do next?  

Deeks: I’m glad I’m not an active PR consultant anymore.  Not that I’d EVER be asked by the LIV Tour to advise them, but I wouldn’t know what to tell them.  In my view, LIV has been a great big bust, as I expected it would be three years ago.  All the money in the world hasn’t really amounted to a hill of beans.  Add to the names you mentioned Brooks Koepka, Bryson DeChambeau, Dustin Johnson, Jon Rahm, and Cam Smith… does anybody care about those guys anymore?   I think the Tour’s strategy of finding bigger dollars (cynical as it’s been), and dragging its heels on LIV negotiations, has been very smart.  I wonder if there’ll be a LIV Tour by 2026.  In the meantime, I think I’d advise the Saudi PIF to use its money to bring about a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.

Loughry: Westwood, Poults and Oozy have dropped off the face of the golfing planet. LIV needs a North American TV deal, and fast, or a digital campaign blitz to target golfers/golf fans with links to their live video event feed and times to watch their events. I have no idea when or where they play their events. I tuned in to a few last year but this year haven’t seen a shot. I’d watch the odd event if it fits into my schedule and I knew about it but right now they aren’t a consideration.

Schurman: Do something or do nothing are the only choices businesses have. For all his bluster Jay Monahan backed into a huge increase in prize money. How sustainable is anyone’s guess. It seems strange the amount of money for golf sponsorship suddenly rained down. Why? Where has it been? Despite his terrible management, maybe JM is the smart one. He has completely botched the situation but earned a huge personal pay cheque. Most of the LIV players were on the downside of their careers with a few exceptions. TV coverage in North America is average at best. The players who joined all did the right thing to earn the most profit they could for their product. Once all their exemptions run out, Monahan will be proven correct when he says, “They will never play the PGA TOUR again” and they also won’t play in Majors except possibly the Masters.

Rule: I’ll be honest, unless I see a highlight on social media, I rarely hear about the results or any stories from LIV events, and rarely know that an event is happening.  I love Valderrama and would have actually liked to have seen them play there but didn’t hear anything about it.  Now, Westwood, Poulter and even Oosthuizen are past their prime and perhaps we wouldn’t hear much about them even if they were sill on the PGA Tour, but it’s a point well taken.  If LIV wants to be top of mind, they need to find a way to make the telecasts more enjoyable, or at the very least, watchable.  The format needs to change in my mind, I can’t get into the team thing.

Quinn: Norman has a lot in common with Trump as both pontificate at length with just a hint of any familiarity with reality or honesty. The next step should be to accept that LIV has not achieved any of its goals, other than dispensing mountains of oil money, and fold the tents.

Mumford: If the PIF has a stomach for continued battle, their best option would be to correct the mistakes they made when they launched. Forget the shotgun starts and 54-hole events; and increase their fields and find a pathway for more players to join. It’s pretty clear to me that the PGA Tour doesn’t want them – they’ve found love and security in the arms of another. The best way forward for LIV is to be recognized as a legitimate professional tour on the same basis as other Tours. Otherwise, they’re like the circus: bright lights and loud noises, gimmicks and tricks and flim-flam men – momentarily exciting when the Big Top comes to town but forgotten as soon as they pack their tents and move on.