As LIV Golf makes an attempt to salvage its golf league for 2027 and beyond, one notable line of rhetoric retains coming up: that they’re just here to play good.
“It’s complete, not compete,” LIV CEO Scott O’Neil said back in August. He used the phrase again in a SBJ op-ed, and then in a letter to followers.
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Bryson DeChambeau — who, if he indicators on, would be the face of LIV 2.0 — echoed that sentiment in a podcast look last week.
“It’s not combative. We’re not trying to compete against the Tour. We want to be accretive,” DeChambeau instructed Raj Shamani.
But Guy Kinnings is having none of it.
The DP World Tour’s CEO has led his own league through a tense coexistence with the breakaway Saudi-funded league these last 4 years. But now, with LIV on the ropes, Kinnings has made it clear that he has no curiosity in further cooperation with a league he believes sought DPWT sabotage from the starting.
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Kinnings first made his emotions recognized in an interview some weeks in the past, where he outlined the methods in which LIV tried to steal sponsors, programs and even tournaments away from the old-world circuit. The DPWT also made it clear that gamers have a selection to make; if they signal up for LIV 2.0, they won’t be welcome to choose and select DPWT occasions to play in between. And this week, in an interview with the Scotsman, he reiterated that LIV is and has always been a competitor.
“…we also have to protect the tour against an entity who spent, so we are told, over $7 billion, with one of their aims being to ‘destroy the DP World Tour’,” Kinnings instructed Martin Dempster. “I have heard that from so many different people they talked to, who I have known for over 30 years within the game and who I trust implicitly.
“Clearly when you are confronted with statements like that, and then people ask why we are doing what we are doing with our membership and invite coverage for 2027, then I think the reply becomes fairly apparent.”
Kinnings continued with what seemed like a shot at LIV, whose bankruptcy filings revealed millions in payouts to lawyers and executives even as vendors and contractors remain unpaid.
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“Myself and everyone at the DP World Tour have a responsibility to our members to shield our Tour. We are proud of that and are proud that we deal with everyone who works for the Tour, whether that be workers, suppliers, contractors, everyone, with respect and dignity. We pay them and pay them on time. We look out for everyone,” Kinnings said.
“Our Tour that has been in existence for over 50 years and it stands for everything that is good, proper and correct in the recreation is value preventing for and that is exactly what we have completed and what we will proceed to do.”
“Ruffled some feathers”
The tours each stand at respective inflection points.
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Kinnings didn’t shy away from the headwinds facing the DPWT — which he said exists “against the backdrop of a crippling world pandemic, two world conflicts which stay ongoing (in territories – Europe and the Middle East – which host the majority of our tournaments), and a media rights collapse” — but also cited sturdy sponsorship dollars, which add up to more than $1 billion in contracted dollars, all told. And 2027 seems likely to bring an influx of talent and star power back from LIV, from top pros like Jon Rahm and Tyrrell Hatton to Ryder Cup stars like Sergio Garcia and Ian Poulter to young talents like David Puig and Tom McKibbin and more. Other ex-LIV pros will be eligible for sponsor invites, Kinnings added, with many of those concentrated in some of the tour’s less competitive events during the heart of the PGA Tour season.
Kinnings cited the PGA Tour’s shift in schedule as an opportunity; with the U.S.-based circuit dodging football season and focusing on February through August, the DPWT has several months in which it can take center stage.
LIV’s future is uncertain at best. An optimistic view of its future would cite DeChambeau’s podcast appearance; he’s among golf’s biggest stars and said the league is “going to be completed proper” and that it’s “going to be a league hopefully that exists ceaselessly.” The league has also said it won’t reveal player commitments one by one; perhaps it has a few cards up its sleeve to be announced later this week. We still don’t have confirmed plans from Cameron Smith, Dustin Johnson or Joaquin Niemann.
But most of what we’ve seen and heard points to a bleak future. Some of LIV’s most vocal supporters have preemptively bowed out, and on Tuesday in Abu Dhabi, Rahm was notably dismissive of its plans for 2027 and beyond.
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“Too many unknowns at the time and there are still fairly a few,” he said. “But appeared like it was going away from crew golf and some of the issues that made LIV, LIV. It just turned more of a common tour. So yeah, it wasn’t actually ever much of a consideration, to be sincere.”
It’s clear that Kinnings’ move caused a stir, too: Victor Perez told Today’s Golfer that LIV players recognize their window of welcome on other tours may not last forever.
“So clearly the potential ban for the LIV gamers in 2027, I think has undoubtedly ruffled some feathers and made a lot of the guys make early selections,” he said.
Lee Westwood, who faces a suspension should he return to the DP World Tour, described his own limbo on the Chipping Forecast.
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“Deadlines have come and gone, and I’ve heard nothing, whether I have to signal or I do not have to signal. I have not signed 2.0. I have not signed anything. This [Restructuring Support Agreement between LIV Golf and BC Partners] everybody talks about, I have not signed that. So actually, I’m unemployed.”
Kinnings has made one factor clear: gamers can select employment under LIV, or they can search a path back to the DP World Tour. But they can’t do both.
You can learn his complete Scotsman interview here.
The post LIV says it’s taking part in good. DP World Tour’s CEO believes otherwise appeared first on Golf.
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