By Alan M. Watson, President, GOLF+ PCB
Recently, Brooks Koepka announced his departure from the LIV Golf Tour and said he will try to find his way back onto the PGA Tour. Stars like Bryson DeChambeau, John Rahm, and Cameron Smith said they are staying put in the Saudi-backed league. Truth is, they are all under contract and as such, they weren’t going anywhere anyway. In fact, in a recent press conference, they very lackadaisically pledged their undying love to the tour they represent (or rather, they just boringly said, “We are staying”). It was uninspiring and almost sad.
A couple of new “stars” have emerged to join LIV as multiple major winner Koepka leaves, but let’s be honest. Not many golf fans care. This league or tour, or whatever you choose to call it, is sinking fast. Fans are not attending in numbers anywhere near the PGA Tour. I’m pretty sure the Savannah Bananas are pulling in more fans per event than LIV. The television ratings are abysmal. Sad. Bad. Ugly. You pick the negative adjective. It will most likely fit.
Don’t get me wrong, the PGA Tour isn’t too much better in comparison. But at least they are afloat. Despite the fact that YouTube golfers like Grant Horvat and Fat Perez would more easily be recognized at a supermarket than PGA Tour stars like Ben Griffin and Jake Knapp, at least the PGA Tour still seems somewhat relevant. But without a superstar like Tiger Woods, it is hard to see a path forward where golf fans wait for tournament coverage when they can just pop on the internet and watch golf anytime they want with the likes of GabbyGolfGirl, Bob Does Sports, Bryson DeChambeau, and GoodGood. I’m not saying one is better than the other, but one has to wonder at what point some of these guys will just leave professional golf altogether to become professional YouTube golfers.
And I haven’t even begun to rip the TGL a new one. Their television ratings are half of last year’s through two events in 2026. Half. 50%. I’m not impressed. Are you?
Team-based golf. Where have we seen this before? Oh yeah. The almost defunct LIV golf league. And while simulator golf is enjoyed by the masses as an after-work activity or weekend quick golf fix, I don’t think that most avid golf fans are lining up to watch these professionals inside SoFi hitting into a giant screen with launch monitors that don’t seem too accurate. Honestly, they probably should have made this indoor league something with celebrities and not actual pro golfers. I think the ratings would be higher if we could see Steph Curry and Bill Murray tee it up! And I’m not even kidding!
Alright. So that’s my hot take so far in 2026, and I may not get invited to the Masters for it. But I’ll stand by it, and I am pretty sure that LIV will be gone in 1-2 more years (and TGL maybe in less than that).
I say we all just go make our own golf content and put it on YouTube and see how many folks want to watch us play golf like normal, average humans. Who knows, we might run into Bryson while we are out there trying to shoot our own course record!
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