The birth of LIV Golf is fraught with controversy because it does not follow the established model at all.
Normally, a tour will start from its place of origin, reach a certain size, and then slowly expand externally, such as the PGA Tour originated in the United States, the European Tour originated in Europe, and the China Tour originated in China......
The origins of LIV Golf, you could say the Middle East, because the backers behind it are Saudi Arabian Public Investment**.
But after the birth of Liv Golf, the main venues were the United States and Europe, directly playing with the PGA Tour and the European Tour, and not only that, but also through a huge signing fee, poaching players from two tours, the most recent of which was Jon Ram, for a signing fee of $500 million.
Before the birth of LIV Golf, the territory of world golf had already been divided, and the world's major tours had formed an organization, the International Federation of PGA Tours, to coordinate issues encountered by the tours.
According to the rules set by the tour, if the major tours want to hold a match on someone else's territory, they must be jointly certified by the major tours, such as the international tournaments previously held in China, which were jointly certified by the European Tour and the Asian Tour with the approval of the China Golf Association.
However, LIV Golf did not do this, and its $25 million prize money per stop, which is much higher than that of the PGA Tour and the European Tour, naturally aroused the vigilance of the two tours, and exchanges of fire were inevitable.
The liv in liv golf is actually a Roman numeral: "54", which symbolizes a perfect round of golf, which is 18 holes, and you will hand in a 54. At the same time, it also represents that LIV Golf is only held for three rounds of 54 holes.
This brings us to some of the other off-the-beaten-path aspects of LIV Golf. LIV Golf is not only 54 holes, but also 18 holes tee off at the same time, and focuses on the concept of team play. The 48 contestants are divided into 12 teams, and the players compete not only for the individual championship, but also for the team championship. And throughout the year, these 48 players have remained largely unchanged, especially the 12 captains, who will be exempt from relegation.
It should be said that these innovations attracted a lot of attention at first, but later became shackles that constrained its development. The World Points Organization has so far not awarded LIV golf points, which has led to a continuous decline in the world rankings of LIV golfers, which has affected their participation in the four Grand Slams and the Olympic Games.
The PGA Tour, the European Tour and LIV Golf eventually went to court, and both sides spent a lot of money on litigation. And at a time when the two sides seemed to be at loggerheads, the public investment**, the backing pale tour and LIV Golf, suddenly announced a merger on June 6 last year, creating a new profitable company that LIV Golf would be part of in the future.
However, the negotiations between the two sides have not been smooth, and the deadline for negotiations has been postponed from December 31, 2023 to this year.
For now, the merger of the two companies will certainly solve the problem of LIV Golf, so it is unclear whether this will become a historical concept or whether it will carry forward in the future. Perhaps at that moment, what is the purpose of the Saudis in setting up such a league, and it will also be the end **.