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The world of golf is looking for a peaceful midpoint between LIV Golf and the PGA Tour, but golfer Padraig Harrington recently came up with a different suggestion. As the merger talks between the two leagues continue, Harrington has advised that they continue to foster their rivalry instead.
Harrington said that the PGA Tour and LIV Golf Series seem to be coming to no exact conclusion about their merger agreement. Instead, he said that the two should form a rivalry like the PGA Tour and European Tour.
Speaking via the Irish Times, Harrington said:
“It’s good for the fans when there’s rivalries. I played the majority of my career when there was two strong tours and there was a bit of rivalry and a bit of competition. So, why not? I wouldn’t be averse to that being in the future where there’s two tours. Who doesn’t love a bit of competition?"
While both golf tours do seem to be at odds with each other, they are looking forward to finding a common solution for the creation of PGA Tour Enterprises. According to reports, the merger agreement between the two could be done before the Masters.
Padraig Harrington suggests capping of number players joining LIV Golf
For the 2024 season, the likes of Jon Rahm, Tyrrell Hatton and Adrian Meronk made the switch from the PGA Tour to the LIV Series, which came as a big blow to the former.
Padraig Harrington said that this cannot go on forever, and a line needs to be drawn. He continued:
“I think the biggest thing going forward for the PGA Tour, there has to be some way of capping, you know, can’t just steal all our players. Players will always make a choice individually what’s right for them, but I think the tour has to [protect itself], there’s very few businesses in this world where there isn’t some sort of a noncompete sort of clause.”
After joining LIV, World No. 3 Jon Rahm created his very own team, Legion XIII, where he was joined by Tyrrell Hatton. However, both golfers are now losing out on OWGR points, which are not granted to LIV.
With more and more golfers slipping down the OWGR rankings, they are losing out on the chance to participate in some of the biggest tournaments in the world like the major championships.
