Days without peace keep piling up
Professional game remains mired in its three-year schism as fans turn away and just play
Handshake agreement between Greg Norman’s LIV and Scottie Scheffler’s PGA Tour remains elusive and continues to fracture the professional game. (Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)
It’s been 938 days since the first shot was hit in the first LIV Golf event outside of London in 2022.
It has been 577 days since the PGA Tour and the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia announced a “framework agreement” that ended legal hostilities and created a foundation on which to build a genuine working relationship between them.
It’s been 593 days since the first LIV Golfer, Brooks Koepka, shocked the world by winning the 2023 PGA Championship and 201 days since the second LIV Golfer, Bryson DeChambeau, outlasted Rory McIlroy and the field at Pinehurst No. 2 to win the 2024 U.S. Open.
Each of these moments mark milestones in a war that is as lethargic as the 1974 conflict between the Greek and Turkish Cypriots on the island of Cyprus. While under ceasefire ever since the Turks took advantage of a coup in Greece and expelled Greek Cypriots from a third of the island, Cyprus is still a divided by a “Green Line,” much like golf.
The ceasefire signed by PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan and PIF governor Yassir Al-Rumayyan in June 2023 is no longer a working document. Still, the two sides continue to talk in hopes of a resolution.
During the 577 days since the framework agreement was stunningly announced, the world has read story after story promising a final agreement that would unite the parties. But those stories do little more than trifle with us as time has shown little to no substance behind them.
What could be taking so long?
Why has converting an agreement outlining a framework to a final version been so difficult?
Is the U.S. Department of Justice a real impediment? If so, will a Trump Justice Department be easier to deal with?
These are just some of the questions professional golf will hopefully address in the coming year.
Oddly, recreational golf is in the best shape it has been in for decades. Many could care less about what is happening in professional golf but are more focused on participating in the game, where golfers have swelled many tee sheets beyond capacity.
Bandon Dunes, for instance, is taking reservations for 2026, and a lottery will determine your tee time.
So, I laugh when I listen to those in professional golf talk about the schism in the game and how the fans are clamoring for the break to be healed.
Golfers in 2025 want to play golf and not watch golf unless it’s one of the four majors or the Ryder Cup. That’s all the professional fix they need or seemingly want. All the other golf tournaments are just background noise.