The Round Table: Rory suggests a merger is still years away

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.

Following the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship which featured various combinations of Jay Monahan, Yasir Al Rumayyan and Rory McIlroy, Rory offered his thoughts on any merger talks and suggested that things might stay as they are for quite some time. Obviously, it’s just his opinion with perhaps a little inside knowledge, but what’s your take on Rory’s information?

Jim Deeks, Fairways Magazine (@jimdeeks): Frankly, I’d be surprised if there was ANY movement toward merger, appeasement, or cooperation — now or in the future.  My impression is that the PGA Tour has weathered the loss of many of its big stars and is humming along quite nicely; the Tour’s premier players are making more money then ever, and the younger up-and-comers are happy to have more opportunity to score victories and earn big dollars. LIV has never gained any traction, its stars are content to play in shorts and count their dirty money — many of them were starting to fade anyway (DJ, Garcia, Poulter), so grabbed the money while they could.  Soon, they’ll all be forgotten, and a new era of PGA Tour stars will have emerged.  If I was Jay Monahan, I’d just stay the course.

Craig Loughry, Golf Ontario (@craigloughry): Rory should just play golf. Men’s Professional Golf is going to be messy for a while, so be it. There are plenty of alternatives to watching Men’s Pro Golf on TV, or trying to watch overpriced in-person men’s pro golf; actually playing golf, NHL, NFL, MLB, NBA, LPGA, or Tennis.

Michael Schurman, Master Professional / Hall of Fame Member, PGA of Canada: Rory is positioned to have the best opinion whether he does or not remains to be seen. I agree with him. I don’t see a merger any time soon and I don’t see an advantage to one other than a return to a monopoly. The PGA Tour should remain in its current markets. LIV should pursue the rest of the world developing new markets and growing the game in places unknown to golf. In the 20s Walter Hagen, Joe Kirkwood and Gene Sarazen travelled to different corners of the earth promoting golf. LIV should do the same. They should also add a women’s component.

TJ Rule, Golf Away Tours (@GolfAwayTJ): It’s been awfully quiet of late, and it seems like the PGA Tour is content to just let things play out for the time being, with no other big names being rumoured to defect, and LIV not really gaining any traction from fans worldwide.  So, I could see it staying this way for a while.  But what does that mean for an end goal?  Hard to predict right now.

Peter Mumford, Fairways Magazine (@FairwaysMag): Nobody has ever publicly defined what a merged entity would look like or where it would play or who would run it. Jay Monahan would probably be happy if it looked like the PGA Tour before LIV came along, except with more money. In the meantime, he keeps his friends close (Rory) and his enemies closer (Yasir). Last time Rory was a big cheerleader for Jay and the Tour, Jay hung him out to dry with his hypocritical about-face on the Framework Agreement. Rory is a romantic who wants all the best players together. Well intentioned but he should watch his back.

After four men’s majors, five women’s majors, a Solheim Cup, Presidents Cup and the Olympics, plus season long play on various tours, who’s the most exciting young talent to emerge in 2024 and one you think has the potential to be a future superstar?

Deeks: This season all seems a blur to me, but while the PGA Tour season was totally dominated by Scottie Scheffler, I was impressed and delighted by the new names emerging – albeit aided by the defection of big stars to LIV over the last two years.  As I look over the 2024 top 20 on the money list, I see only two names who would’ve been there 10 years ago: McIlroy and (who woulda thought?) Keegan Bradley.  Of the other 18, I think Ludvig Aberg is fun to watch and looks like a future superstar.  On the LPGA, there are so many emerging names (almost all of them Asian) that it’s very difficult to pick one as the next superstar — they all could be!

Loughry: Jake Knapp showed signs early, I think he’ll be great. But Dunlop won multiple times so I’m going with him as the long-term pick as the superstar.

Schurman: Ludvig Aberg is definitely arriving. Sahith Theegala is also on the verge, but Austin Eckroat is a little more of a ‘dark horse’. The Ladies have so many it’s hard to choose, but I’m going with Gabriela Ruffels. She had to live through some self-inflicted learning by failing to enter Tour Qualifying but she is on her way now.

Rule: It’s hard not to pick Nick Dunlap, who won both as an amateur and then again after turning pro, and finished Top 50 in the FedEx standings, all at the tender age of 20.  Given the start to his career, he certainly has the chance to be a superstar in the sport.  But it’s so hard to stay near the top in this day and age, so it will be interesting to see.

Mumford: On the men’s side, Nick Dunlap with two wins at the age of 20, looks very promising, as does Akshay Bhatia. Taylor Pendrith took longer to develop but I think he has superstar potential too. On the women’s side, Esther Henselheit of Germany seemed to come out of nowhere and win a silver medal in the Olympics, then followed that up with a second-place finish in the Women’s Scottish Open and a respectable 1-1-1 record in her first Solheim Cup.

Most of us got started in golf because of a family member but then somewhere long the way we may have looked up to a mentor, coach or PGA / LPGA player as a role model. Which professional golfer today would make an ideal role model for young golfers?

Deeks: There are many good guys, but Rory McIlroy stands out to me.  Outstanding talent, hard working, grace under adversity, good sportsmanship, humility, apparent lack of ego, willingness to speak out, media friendly, great with fans and kids, respected and liked by peers, self-deprecating, and appreciative of what life has given him.  A role model for anyone.  For girls and young women, I think Brooke Henderson has many of those same qualities and provides an excellent example for women of all ages and nationalities.

Loughry: For me at the time, my neighbour across the street (a childhood friend) really got me into the game. He’s currently one of the Professionals at The National Golf Club of Canada (thanks Jamie). But the gents who really made golf fun was at my Junior Club (when they were young pro’s) were Scott Haynes and Kevin Thistle. Scott always made it a point to spend a few minutes with me and all the juniors just to make sure we were having fun (and no doubt that we weren’t up to anything sneaky).  I’ve made it a point to tell each of these guys every so often, what they meant to me and those juniors. Scott is part owner of Markham Green Golf Club, so not too far even today. Certainly, thankful for all three.

Schurman: Tough to beat Scottie Scheffler both as a player and a person. His footwork is a mystery, but nobody hits the ball better. However, there is a group of people who can play and are role model-worthy examples: Corey Conners, Savannah Grewal, Adam Hadwin. Brooke Henderson, Maude-Aimie LeBlanc, Mackenzie Hughes, Taylor Pendrith, Alena Sharpe, Maddie Szeryk, Adam Svenson and Nick Taylor. They constantly represent Canada, the game of golf and themselves brilliantly. BTW, many can attribute some of their success to Henry Brunton who is to be inducted into the PGA of Ontario Hall of Fame this month.

Rule: That’s a tough one to answer as you don’t get to know a lot of the personalities of the players these days. They are so guarded in everything they do, and you don’t see guys let loose like Peter Jacobson or others in the past.  In terms of what we do get to see, Scottie Scheffler (arrest scenario aside) seems like a solid person with a great family, and he seems to be a good role model on the men’s side.  For the women, Brooke Henderson and Lydia Ko come to mind, but there seem to be many that are respectful to the game and others, so there seem to be more role models on the LPGA Tour in general.  Unfortunately, we just don’t see them as much.

Mumford: About ten years ago, I watched a U13 tournament, and half the kids were dressed like Rickie Fowler. He may have been created by the marketing department at Cobra / PUMA, but Rickie embraced it and engaged with his young fans. It was cool to be like Rickie. I don’t see anything similar with the young pros today. Some give autographs and some players have junior golf initiatives, but big money and big business has allowed many of them to forget or neglect that part of their responsibility to the next generation of golfers. There’s an opportunity there for someone to stand out from the crowd if they want to put in the effort.