December 22, 2025<\/a><\/p>\nThe distinction he and others made is that while suspending PGA Tour members who defect is justified, doing the same for developmental tour players or non-tour members amounts to firing them for taking a job interview. French\u2019s position is that the decision is anti-competitive, possibly illegal, and overall petty and cruel to players who are just trying to make a living.<\/p>\n
He\u2019s obviously arguing in good faith as someone who cares about the plight of the average golfer, and taken narrowly, the sympathy play is seductive. He cites young pros like Callum Terren and Aussie Brett Drewitt, neither of whom are major players on the world golf stage, and who on paper wouldn\u2019t materially hurt the tour if they happened to make LIV Golf. There\u2019s a problem with that argument, in my mind though: the framing is so narrow that it ignores the entire context for why it\u2019s happening, and who\u2019s actually to blame.<\/p>\n
Imagine for a moment that an army invades your country. When you fight back, a cook from the invading army accidentally gets killed. The other side milks that for all it\u2019s worth; \u201che wasn\u2019t even a soldier! He didn\u2019t have a gun!\u201d In a vacuum, the cook\u2019s death would be sad and tragic. Clearly, though, you can\u2019t discuss it, or understand it, without explaining the larger context.<\/p>\n
The PGA Tour has been fending off an invader for a few years now. LIV has attempted a hostile takeover of professional golf, bankrolled by Saudi billions. The PGA Tour has fought back with every weapon at its disposal. A few of those, like player loyalty or pleas to morality, ended up being mostly feeble and occasionally embarrassing (the leaked rah-rah speech written for Tiger Woods, the 9\/11 virtue signalling that blew up in their face at the merger). Others were more effective, in particular its institutional leverage. The tour could wield influence with the OWGR or sponsors and \u2013\u00a0most germane to this topic \u2013\u00a0they could suspend players.<\/p>\n
In all, the PGA Tour had to scramble to provide a serious disincentive for players to go to LIV, because the incentive (namely, making insane amounts of money) was so strong. And though there were plenty of stumbles along the way, tour officials managed to create a hybrid disincentive that was potent enough to hold on to a lot of important players. They lost some big names, but the defections weren\u2019t decisive. Arguably, the most interesting part of the whole story is that, despite starting at an enormous financial disadvantage, the PGA Tour now appears to be winning.<\/p>\n
To get there, the tour had to protect its interests in every arena, and that includes something as apparently minor as LIV Golf Promotions. It\u2019s true that we\u2019re not talking about Bryson DeChambeau or Jon Rahm competing this weekend, but this is still a critical part of the LIV ecosystem. The purse is $US1.5 million, so these players who are allegedly just going for a \u201cjob interview\u201d will be making money from LIV. The fact that it\u2019s a Q School means it\u2019s part of the plan to open up the LIV shop and get more OWGR points, which is bad for the PGA Tour. And it\u2019s being held in America in part to land stronger fields, which is a direct challenge to the tour on its own turf. (Being played in North America is why, in this instance, it is considered an \u201cunauthorised event.\u201d) As minor as the players involved may seem, it is a fundamental part of the ongoing fight. In turn, the tour has to challenge them whenever it can with the understanding that the PIF money isn\u2019t going away. So if you feel bad for poor Callum and Brett, turn your ire to where it belongs, on to the group that started this fight and prompted these kinds of reactions. Hell, if this tournament was back in Abu Dhabi or Riyadh, we wouldn\u2019t even be having the conversation!<\/p>\n
MORE: PGA Tour player suspended for participating in LIV Golf influencer event<\/a><\/p>\nAs far as the possibility that what the PGA Tour is doing is \u201cillegal,\u201d that\u2019s not the argument-ender that LIV proponents think it is. True or not, it has to be proven in court, and arguing semantics about whether it passes legal muster is, once again, missing the bigger picture. This whole fight has always been about money and power, and the legality of any of it has been a footnote precisely because the legal advantage on this (and so many other topics) tends to land on the side with the most money. Is it legal to spend $5 billion on a golf league without much return on investment, with the ultimate goal of dominating professional golf? Probably, but it\u2019s not like any \u201cfree market\u201d most of us have ever known in the sports world, where if you lose a lot of money, you fold. Don\u2019t confuse \u201clegal\u201d with \u201cright.\u201d PGA Tour vs LIV has always been fought in ethical shades of grey, and telling a few journeymen there are consequences for taking a 4 percent chance of making LIV is one of the last things that should inspire outrage. (Incidentally, when it comes to the legal arguments, there\u2019s also a pretty good one that if this fight is ever waged in a courtroom, it will benefit the tour to show that they treat Bryson DeChambeau and Callum Terren exactly the same.)<\/p>\n
As minor as the players involved at LIV Golf Promotions may seem, it is a fundamental part of the ongoing fight. In turn, the PGA Tour has to challenge them whenever it can with the understanding that the PIF money isn\u2019t going away.<\/p>\n
Plus, if we really want to talk about lost playing opportunities for golf\u2019s middle and lower class, a deeper truth has to be acknowledged. What if LIV Golf had succeeded in its original goals, secured the top 50 players in the World Ranking, and become far and away the most prominent tour in the game? The PGA Tour would be floundering at best, along with all its feeders and affiliates. So would the DP World Tour, and the only \u201cminor leagues\u201d in professional golf would be whatever feeder system LIV felt like propping up. It\u2019s all hypothetical, but there\u2019s no reason to imagine the remnants would be anywhere near as expansive as what exists today. When it comes to the journeyman golfer, there is no threat as grave as LIV\u2019s ultimate success.<\/p>\n
Whatever you think of the PGA Tour, the reality is that it has been under intense stress from a powerful enemy now going on a fourth year, and its survival has depended on constantly leveraging every countermeasure at its disposal. You can feel bad for the guys who get banned this week, but from a tactical perspective, the tour is smart to stay consistent \u2013\u00a0its survival depends on never blinking in the face of the PIF onslaught. It\u2019s justified from a business perspective, and as far as the emotional argument goes, there\u2019s an easy response: If you don\u2019t like when playing opportunities are taken away, just wait until you see what happens if the other guys win.<\/p>\n
\u2013 Shane Ryan writes for Golf Digest in America<\/p>\n