Former Ryder Cup captain warns PGA Tour about increased prize payouts

LIV Golf has poached many top players from the PGA Tour over recent years, and it's forced the PGA Tour to make some unsustainable decisions, according to former European Ryder Cup captain Paul McGinley. Increased prize money has become the norm across golf, but as the sport's viewership continues to tumble players like McGinley are worried about high winnings forcing it into "bankruptcy."

Although the PGA Tour continues to show they're the better product with viewership and general following, LIV Golf has shown its ability to create buzz with high-profile players coming over like John Rahm, Brooks Koepka, Dustin Johnson and Phil Mickelson coming over.

“As diluted products, many informed people think both the PGA Tour and European Tour are unsustainable where they are at the moment, and I’m inclined to agree with them."https://t.co/qfvyUGDuvK
— Irish Golfer (@IrishGolferMag) December 29, 2024

McGinley says the PGA Tour cannot continue down this path, especially considering LIV's ability to disperse money and resources to grow their tour.

"That has worked well for over 50 years, but in this modern world of top-level sport, that dynamic is turning into a double edged sword, as there seems to be too much focus on the present and not enough on the future of the Tours and their financial sustainability," McGinley said.

"Granted, they have had to react to the emergence of a serious rival, but if things continue as they currently are, then the established Tours are on the road to being unsustainable and maybe even bankruptcy."

To this point, the PGA Tour and LIV Golf remain separate entities despite various talks of merging over recent months. With top players from LIV only being able to compete in a few major PGA events each year it's hard to see a path for both tours to be successful in the future.

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