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The hostility between the budding LIV Golf League and the longstanding PGA Tour is no secret. The PGA Tour has been the main golf league for almost a century. Other leagues have come and gone in attempts to exist beside or overthrow the Tour, but none have been as prominent as the latest.
LIV has enticed several top players to their ranks, including Cameron Smith, Bryson DeChambeau, and Phil Mickelson, most notably. They've done as good of a job as anyone has at trying to exist in the professional golf space.
It's clear that most major tournaments are not in favor of LIV. They're trying to disrupt the golf world, and it seems that those governing bodies may not like that.
LIV CEO Greg Norman believes they are conspiring to keep LIV golfers out of the major tournaments. According to National Club Golfer, Golf Saudi CEO Majed Al Sorour took it a step further.
“For now, the majors are siding with the Tour. And I don’t know why. If the majors decide not to have our players play, I will celebrate. I will create my own majors for my players. Honestly, I think all the tours are being run by guys who don’t understand business.”
The hostility does not just come from LIV, though. Augusta Chairman Fred Ridley reportedly asked a number of 2022 Masters competitors not to do anything in LIV tournaments.
It doesn't seem like this budding rivalry is going away any time soon, and the potential ban of LIV players from major tournaments will only serve to strengthen it.
Will LIV Golf be forced to host its own majors?
Despite being able to lure away several of the best golfers, LIV has not managed to shed the reputation that it is a dirty or inferior golf league. They have faced hostility at every turn, especially from the golfers who defected.
There is a growing likelihood that PGA Tour players will be the only ones allowed to compete in majors, which would ultimately force LIV's hand to make their own majors.
That would be as stark a rebuke of the new golf league as there ever has been. Right now, the PGA Tour and all involved with the major tournaments can claim that they have no vitriol towards them.
If they move to ban LIV golfers from events, then that would solidify the rivalry and make it real. Given the relationship between the two leagues, it can be safely expected that the ban will happen at one point or another.
It's unclear how or when or what kind of majors the LIV Golf League would come up with. They certainly wouldn't carry the prestige of the Masters or any other current major.
That's already true of the entire league, though. LIV golfers do not have the same prestige that a PGA Tour member does, for better or worse.
It's also unclear how it would affect stats and records for golfers. This is all a very new issue that the sport of golf is suddenly having to contend with.
