Hi Ed, I'm not sure if LIV will be the preeminent circuit in any new configuration of men's professional golf. Rory McIlroy's idea of a circuit based on national opens, though with a majority of events still in the US, because that's where the sponsorship money is, seems more plausible to me. If players want team-based golf, they will be free to choose that with LIV. Maybe I'm reading this wrong, but it seems to me that that powers-that-be behind LIV, Greg Norman excepted perhaps, are not all that bothered if it isn't the preeminent circuit, but they do want a say in the future and OWGR points. What's interesting is, despite the money on offer, how long it's taken for LIV to attract players of the calibre of Jon Rahm and Tyrrell Hatton. Sure, in the beginning they nabbed Dustin Johnson and Bryson De Chambeau, and Joaquin Niemann and a few others came along later, but it's been slow. Re the DP World Tour being a feeder tour, yes, that is probably the likeliest outcome, although another interesting thing there is that one of the players, Matthieu Pavon, who qualified for the PGA Tour from the DPWT last season has already won and others have been competitive in the early weeks of the season. You don't find often tennis players moving from the challenger to the main ATP tour being competitive straight away.
Hi Ed, I'm not sure if LIV will be the preeminent circuit in any new configuration of men's professional golf. Rory McIlroy's idea of a circuit based on national opens, though with a majority of events still in the US, because that's where the sponsorship money is, seems more plausible to me. If players want team-based golf, they will be free to choose that with LIV. Maybe I'm reading this wrong, but it seems to me that that powers-that-be behind LIV, Greg Norman excepted perhaps, are not all that bothered if it isn't the preeminent circuit, but they do want a say in the future and OWGR points. What's interesting is, despite the money on offer, how long it's taken for LIV to attract players of the calibre of Jon Rahm and Tyrrell Hatton. Sure, in the beginning they nabbed Dustin Johnson and Bryson De Chambeau, and Joaquin Niemann and a few others came along later, but it's been slow. Re the DP World Tour being a feeder tour, yes, that is probably the likeliest outcome, although another interesting thing there is that one of the players, Matthieu Pavon, who qualified for the PGA Tour from the DPWT last season has already won and others have been competitive in the early weeks of the season. You don't find often tennis players moving from the challenger to the main ATP tour being competitive straight away.