By Ed Travis
“The more things change…the more they stay the same.”
The new year is well underway and reminds one of a poor soap-opera plot. It can be somewhat overwhelming.
Golf fans are being treated to further complications of the LIV saga, now in its fourth year. It is clear that the merger with the PGA Tour is never going to happen. Mega-star Brooks Koepka even walked away from his lucrative LIV contract and returned to the PGA Tour.
The exodus from LIV includes 2018 Masters champion Patrick Reed, who is dominating the DP World Tour, while he waits to rejoin the PGA Tour in August.
If the LIV’s self-serving pronouncements and gnashing of teeth has turned you off a few wannabe stars are also forsaking the multimillions of the Saudi PIF for the respectable but fewer millions of the DP World Tour and the PGA Tour. The DP World Tour has welcomed former members back with open arms and as Reed is demonstrating, it is a viable option for LIV members to earn more Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR) points to move back into the Top 50 on the world rankings. With the OWGR board approving issuance of world ranking points for LIV events, the future remains as clear as the mud at the bottom of the pond, on the third hole of my local course.
LIV events have been expanded from 54 to 72 holes, just like the big boys. What hasn’t changed is that they are still meaningless exhibitions with limited fields of what can only be described as average talent, plus everyone gets a check no matter how poorly they play. The fact that the top ten finishers are now awarded OWGR points changes nothing in terms of generating fan interest. Television ratings continue to be low compared to PGA Tour events.
An interesting sidebar is the PGA Tour seems to be preparing to name The Players Championship as the fifth major joining the Masters, PGA Championship, U.S. Open and British Open. Fans should be enthusiastic for a fifth major since it may help get rid of the Tour’s eight “Signature Events” which have limited 72-player fields and usually no-cut. If you think this sounds a lot like LIV you’re right.
Moving on to another soap opera, the USGA’s rollback of golf ball performance for elite players that was due to take effect at the beginning of 2028, has been pushed back to 2030, coinciding with the rest of the world. In 2030, us non-elites will be forced to play the shorter distance ball.
What seems to have been overlooked by those who make these rules is, What criteria should be used to define “elite” versus “non-elite.”
The argument for those who qualify to use the shorter ball rages. Should it be determined by handicap, the length a player hits his driver, or some other undefined criteria?
Does the Pro Shop Clerk, Head Pro, or first tee starter make that determination?
The USGA proved that they didn’t apply real world thinking when considering the implications of setting two rollback dates.
Lost in the mist and not being talked about is that the PGA of America and PGA Tour have not changed their opinion a reduced distance ball is unnecessary and in fact bad for the game.
We haven’t heard the last of this.
Thankfully that’s not the case on the PGA Tour where Scottie Scheffler is more than proving the superstar appellation. In his first three 2026 events, he has one win and three top 10’s to make it 17 consecutive top 10 finishes, the longest since Billy Casper in 1965.
If you are wondering how hard this is to do, the PGA Tour record of 65 top 10’s in a row was set by Byron Nelson in 1942-46. Tiger Woods’ longest top ten streak was eight.
Scheffler is well established in the rarified atmosphere of media speculation. Golf journalists babble weekly predicting how many majors and how many wins the Dallas resident will pile up reminiscent of Woods 25 years ago and Jordan Spieth in 2015.
This journalistic exercise certainly isn’t anything new and I’ll repeat, the ‘more things change the more they stay the same.’
