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Once upon a time, the LIV Golf schedule was the focus of debate in favor of the tour’s existence.
Dustin Johnson said it best in his interview Netflix full swing — a point echoed by more than half of his prominent LIV defector peers.
“for me, [the decision was about] “He plays less, makes more money,” Johnson said. “Somebody offers anyone a job doing the same thing they’re already doing but less time in the office and they’ll pay them more, and you’d definitely take it. And there’s something wrong with you if you don’t.”
Play less, earn more – Sounds like a good party, right? Well, apparently not everyone agrees.
Good Morgan She is one of LIV’s least established talents. A former Australian PGA Championship winner, the 23-year-old has been called up to the new league ahead of his senior season in 2022, joining the all-Australian squad of Cameron Smith, Mark Leishman and Matt Jones in LIV’s ‘Ripper GC’ at the start of ’23.
But it wasn’t a fairy tale start to his LIV Golf career. With 10 starting performances over two years, his best finish was a 13th-place finish at LIV Jeddah last year. Other than that, Morgan has as many recent dead ends (two) as he has in the Top 25.
Ahead of the LIV Australian Senior Championships in Adelaide this weekend, Morgan held his ground News Corp Australia On what he sees as one of the rookie league’s biggest problems: its schedule.
“Obviously there’s a very long vacation with the LIV stuff right now, which is a little frustrating,” Morgan said. “You probably need to play a few more events each year to stay active.”
LIV is currently operating under a schedule model that will see it host 14 events this year, or about one event per month. This comes at a much lighter clip than its PGA Tour counterparts, who will host more than 50 events during the 2023 season. Between dedicated tour events, major championships, and various sponsor waivers, most of the top players on the PGA Tour will be competing in 20-25 events in 2023, Over the maximum LIV number (with majors) of 18.
Of course, Morgan understands the importance of the LIV league schedule structure to top players, but he wonders if it’s possible to create the quality of play he needs to develop the intensity of the current schedule.
“I think a lot of guys would like to see it develop into an 18 event, but this is from a guy talking. Others might like a 14.” “Part of being a good golfer is playing a few tournaments in a row, and getting in shape that way.”
Morgan’s comments come as the LIV schedule is gaining increasing attention both within and outside the league. It seems smart for the LIV to expand beyond its current format — especially as the league tries to improve its profitability on both television and sponsors — but doing so could earn an uprising from the league’s old guard. Any number higher than LIV’s current 14 events—plus the four Grand Slams—will bring the required starts for LIV players closer to 20 in an average year, or close to the same number of starts they get annually on the PGA Tour.
But LIV holds all the cards. With guaranteed appearance agreements written into each player’s contract, the league controls the ability to increase or decrease the number of events, even if doing such a thing would be a very unpopular move among its more prestigious class.
A third option would be to create a separate series of alternate field events, unlike what is currently on the PGA Tour, to allow the youngest LIV players to receive the repeats they need to reach their highest level. However, the problem with this option is that it would classify LIV into tiers – a shift that seems to go against the upstart league’s founding principles. Of course, Morgan could do that himself by competing in LIV’s feeder tour, the Asian Tour, during his off weeks, but it remains to be seen if that’s possible given the diversity of LIV’s schedule.
In short, there is no easy answer for Jed Morgan or LIV Golf to solve the schedule problem. Sometimes, it turns out, less no more.