Simply James

I’m sure Jay Monaghan (Commissioner of the PGA Tour) had high hopes for this year. Their rival tour LIV Golf’s opening season in 2022 didn’t draw as many spectators as expected, a strategic alliance was formed with the DP World Tour to strengthen their position, and also the release of ‘the Full Swing’ on Netflix. Things were looking up for the PGA Tour at the start of the year. Yet, with new formats being introduced and their in-your-face competitors (LIV) seemingly here to stay, there is a cloud of uncertainty lingering over the PGA Tour.

When ‘The Full Swing’ was released on February 15th of this year, Monaghan envisioned the series having the same impact as ‘Drive to Survive’ did for the sport of Formula 1. It’s basically the same product, an eight-part series offering behind-the-scenes coverage of tour professionals, but just a different sport. After Netflix released the race car series in 2019, viewership of Formula 1 jumped 18% the following year, and a staggering 54% by 2021. Of course, fast cars and irritable drivers makes for slightly more exhilarating television than the life of a successful golfer, but it seems the show is having its desired impact in terms of viewing figures.

In the Players Championship, the Tour’s first marquee event of the year and what professionals refer to as the season’s fifth major, the opening round drew an average of 764,000 viewers on the Golf Channel (only broadcasted in the US). That is a 53% increase over 2022’s figures. Friday’s coverage averaged at 860,000 viewers, which completely outweighs 2022’s second round average of 302,000, albeit 2022’s weather plagued opening two rounds certainly skewed these figures. For context, 2021’s Friday round had an average 951,000. In the week previous, the Arnold Palmer Invitational, a tournament with an elite field and previous winners list, attracted 483,000 viewers for its opening round. Up 47% from last year. So, at face value, it seems that the docuseries is having a positive effect on the Tour, and with The Masters commencing in less than a month on April 6th, there should be a feeling of optimism around the Tour. Unfortunately, that isn’t the case.

Firstly, four of the golfers that took part in the docuseries, allowing cameras and fans to get inside access to their lives, have left the PGA Tour to join the Saudi-backed LIV Tour. Dustin Johnson, Brooks Koepks, Ian Poulter and Bryson Dechambeau all played major roles in the series. Imagine if during the ‘Drive to Survive’ series, Max Verstappen and Charles LeClerc decided to leave Formula 1 for another Grands Prix. While it makes it entertaining, it doesn’t necessarily shine a good light on the PGA Tour. Now, any new fans that may have begun to support these golfers during the series will more than likely follow them to the LIV Golf.

Also, with LIV Golf agreeing a multi-year deal with CW Network, a broadcast television network in the United States, they have access to more viewers for their sophomore season. LIV’s inaugural event of the circuit’s second season garnered 3.2 million viewers in total across all platforms, with an average of 537,000.  While these figures can’t compare to the figures higher in the article regarding the Players Championship as LIV numbers are worldwide and PGA Tour numbers are solely United States, they are still an increase from last season. The highest average viewership for LIV in 2022 was in Boston, at 117,000. While the PGA Tour maintain that viewership doesn’t bother them, with Monaghan stating, “just straight-up TV ratings isn’t the way the world works anymore”, what will worry him is the way the leaderboards have stacked up so far this season.

Week in, week out, the PGA Tour must be praying that the likes of Rory McIlroy, Jon Rahm, Justin Thomas and Jordan Spieth play well. Otherwise, you have leaderboards looking like they did at last weeks Player’s Championship. In the absence of the LIV joiners I mentioned above, and even defending champion Cameron Smith, there are simply less superstars in the field.

Of course, a runaway winner never helps a golf tournament, and every player on tour is capable of a good week, so unknown names prowling around the top of the leaderboard is inevitable. For me, it doesn’t matter, as I enjoy watching good golf, regardless of who’s playing it. Yet, for casual fans, they click onto the Golf Channel and take one look at that leaderboard, they will keep flicking through the channels. This is how the leaderboard looked for LIV’s season opener. P.S. I have no idea why their website interface is black. 

While the business end of the leaderboard for both events was missing the big guns, the Players Championship has a lot more to offer in terms of which tournament I would like to watch. Yet, it’s hard to choose which leaderboard is more recognisable. The PGA know it’s a problem, and already they are showing signs of adhering to LIV Golf’s interpretation of the future of golf.

Starting in 2024, Monaghan announced that the PGA Tour will have designated events that will host a smaller field and not have a cutline. In another drastic change in an attempt to fight off their noisy competitors in LIV, it was announced that, “over the last year, we have spent a massive amount of time exploring how to better position the PGA Tour for continued growth.”

“How to innovate and deliver a better product. How to further showcase our top performers, while staying true to the meritocracy and legacy that define the Tour. How to create a season of consequence that deepens and expands fan interest. How to make every tournament better and deliver more value to sponsors, media partners and host organizations — to the benefit of the entire membership.”

Ironically, PGA Tour players have been ripping the ‘no-cut’ system utilised by LIV Golf. Here was Tiger Woods’ thoughts last July: 

This is how it compares to McIlroy’s opinion as the news broke of the PGA Tours new format: 

“We’ve always had no-cut events on this tour. If you think of like the four WGC’s, you’ve got the three playoffs events, you’ve got the CJ Cup, the Zozo. So there’s precedent there for no-cut events,” he said. “The only reason no-cut events are a big deal is because LIV has come along.”

“Is there maybe going to be a few more of them? Maybe. That’s still TBD by the way. That’s not been decided yet. But if we do go down that path, there’s precedent there to argue for no-cut events. It keeps the stars there for four days. You ask Mastercard or whoever it is to pay $20 million for a golf event, they want to see the stars at the weekend. They want a guarantee that the stars are there. So if that’s what needs to happen, then that’s what happens.”

Interesting. It’s the first time we’ve seen McIlroy and Woods disagree on anything surrounding the new tours and formats, albeit the quotes are eight months apart. I’m sure the two superstars are in constant communication. Again, it’s early in the season, so let’s see how it all develops. With Netflix camera’s now following the PGA Tour players for season 2 of ‘The Full Swing’, we’re going to see it all unfold yet again. But with the eyes of the world on them, uncertainty is still clouding the PGA Tour and its players.