Why LIV Golf wasn’t all that bad: How the failed league changed pro golf forever

There is no denying LIV was an expensive experiment that ultimately failed to win over the majority of traditional golf fans.

Its Saudi backing, sportswashing accusations, questionable format and attempts to turn golf tournaments into music festivals made it difficult for many to embrace.

But with LIV confirming an orderly winding-down process after five years, it would be wrong to suggest absolutely nothing positive came from the Saudi-backed revolution.

In fact, professional golf might look very different today had LIV never arrived.

One thing is for certain: for good or bad, the sport of golf has arguably never been talked about more widely than it has since the emergence of the circuit in 2022.

Golf was front-page news, not just the back.

Here, GolfMagic lists five reasons why LIV Golf’s legacy isn't entirely negative.

Scroll down to see if you agree. 

Five reasons LIV Golf changed professional golf forever

1. It made professional golfers richer than ever before

Let's start with the obvious one.

LIV completely changed the financial landscape of professional golf, with players suddenly being offered contracts and prize funds that would have seemed unimaginable just a few years earlier.

Jon Rahm, Bryson DeChambeau and Brooks Koepka were among those tempted across, but even players who remained loyal to the PGA Tour benefited from the financial pressure LIV created.

The PGA Tour responded with increased prize purses and limited-field $20m Signature Events, ensuring its biggest names had considerably more opportunities to earn significant sums.

Would Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy be playing for the sort of money they are today without LIV? Perhaps not. It might not have been great news for the sport's finances, but it was certainly good news for the players.

2. It took world-class golf to places that needed it, especially Australia and South Africa 

This was arguably LIV's biggest achievement.

For too long, professional golf has revolved around the United States and a relatively small number of established European destinations.

LIV challenged that approach by taking some of the world's biggest names to countries that rarely received the same level of attention.

Yes, we had the WGC events of years gone by, which took elite golf around the world, but we had seen very little of that kind of global schedule for quite some time.

LIV's Australian and South African tournaments were particularly successful, attracting enormous crowds and demonstrating genuine demand for elite professional golf in markets that had often been overlooked.

Having witnessed a number of LIV events in person here at GolfMagic, we also appreciated the league's attempts to make tournaments more accessible and entertaining.

The practice-range access, food courts, family activities and entertainment created a different experience from the traditional golf tournament.

Not everything worked, of course. The music could become a distraction, and golf purists were never going to be convinced by the party atmosphere.

But LIV proved there is an audience for top-level golf well beyond the traditional American and European circuit.

3. It forced the PGA Tour to wake up

Perhaps the biggest winners from LIV's existence were actually the players who never joined it.

Before 2022, the PGA Tour was comfortably the dominant force in professional golf, with little reason to fundamentally reconsider its business model.

Then LIV arrived with billions of dollars behind it and began taking away some of its biggest stars. Suddenly, the PGA Tour and commissioner Jay Monahan had a genuine competitor to worry about.

Prize funds increased, lucrative Signature Events appeared and the Tour was forced to rethink how it rewarded its leading players.

The planned changes for 2028, including the proposed Championship and Challenger Series, show just how much the landscape has shifted since LIV's arrival, with the Tour keen to retain its biggest names.

There is an argument that professional golf needed a shake-up. LIV provided exactly that.

The PGA Tour is undoubtedly stronger for LIV's emergence, and its influence will continue to shape the circuit for years to come.

4. It gave the DP World Tour a much-needed lifeline

LIV's influence wasn't restricted to America. In fact, its emergence may have inadvertently helped save the DP World Tour.

The European circuit was in a difficult position following the pandemic, with financial uncertainty, disappearing sponsors and several high-profile players heading for LIV.

But the breakaway league's arrival also gave the DP World Tour something it desperately needed: leverage.

With the PGA Tour concerned about the possibility of its European counterpart aligning itself with LIV, then chief executive Keith Pelley was in a stronger position to negotiate. The result was a strategic alliance between the two tours, helping protect the DP World Tour's prize funds and strengthen its relationship with American golf.

And with LIV now winding down, the European circuit could be one of the biggest beneficiaries, even as its existing deal with the PGA Tour approaches its end.

• Bryson DeChambeau offered golden ticket to join DP World Tour

A host of big names are expected to feature on the DP World Tour in 2027, including Sergio Garcia, Jon Rahm and Tyrrell Hatton. 

Bryson DeChambeau, Joaquin Niemann Dustin Johnson and Cameron Smith could also make appearances.

For a tour that has regularly seen its leading players move across to America, that would represent a significant boost.

LIV may not have intended to strengthen its European rival, but its legacy could be a DP World Tour with a brighter future and some seriously impressive fields.

5. It gave fans something genuinely different

LIV tried something different with its presentation, team competitions and spectator experience.

The team element gave players another reason to compete together, while the relaxed atmosphere and entertainment helped attract people who might not otherwise have considered attending a professional golf tournament.

Sergio Garcia, who spoke exclusively to GolfMagic this week, highlighted team golf and international expansion as two of the biggest positives from his time with the league.

"To be able to play as a team, to travel the world, to expand the game of golf and bring so many high quality players and some big names to some parts of the world where they don’t get to see that often, I think that was super exciting," Garcia explained.

The Spaniard was equally honest about LIV's shortcomings.

"There were a few too many things that were not run the right way, and too many uncertainties," he added.

"I think the product of LIV is and was very good. Unfortunately it just wasn't run particularly well."

Perhaps that is the fairest assessment of all.

LIV Golf might be gone, but its influence will remain

Of course, LIV's shortcomings were significant.

Its Saudi funding attracted understandable criticism over human rights and sportswashing, its initial 54-hole format struggled to convince traditionalists and its shotgun starts never quite delivered the competitive drama of a conventional tournament.

Ultimately, throwing billions of dollars at golf wasn't enough to create a sustainable rival to the established tours.

But the sport has changed considerably since LIV arrived in 2022.

Players are earning more, the PGA Tour has been forced to modernise, international markets have received greater attention and the DP World Tour has benefited from a stronger negotiating position.

LIV didn't need to survive to have an impact. It might have lost the battle to establish itself as professional golf's next great powerhouse, but it certainly changed the game in the process.

And for all the things it got wrong, perhaps golf should acknowledge a few of the things it got right.