• Thu. Feb 13th, 2025

Rory McIlroy demands PGA Tour schedule overhaul to combat LIV Golf

Byadmin

Jan 29, 2025



Rory McIlroy has expressed his belief that the world of golf is becoming oversaturated, advocating for a reduction in the PGA Tour’s schedule . The golfer is due to make his first PGA Tour appearance of the season at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am this week. During his pre-tournament press conference, he voiced concerns about potential viewer fatigue due to the abundance of golf content available. The 35-year-old was referring not only to the division between the PGA Tour and LIV Golf , which has resulted in top players rarely playing simultaneously, but also to the surge in YouTube golf content. Content creators such as Good Good, Rick Shiels, Grant Horvat, and Bob Does Sports have found significant success with their golf-related content, particularly among younger audiences. READ MORE: Rory McIlroy lifts lid on Masters preparations in desperate attempt to end major drought READ MORE: Tiger Woods makes his feelings on Tom Kim perfectly clear after TGL debut In contrast, the PGA Tour has seen a drop in TV viewership over the past year, while LIV Golf has struggled to convert its substantial investment in a star-studded roster into consistently high viewing figures. From the PGA Tour’s standpoint, McIlroy suggests adopting a less is more approach by reducing the tournament schedule. With nearly 50 PGA Tour-sanctioned events slated for 2025, the world’s third-ranked golfer feels it’s too much to maintain viewer interest. However, he clarified that TGL, the tech-driven golf league he launched with Tiger Woods earlier this month, isn’t contributing to the issue due to its brief two-month schedule. “I think it already has been diminished,” McIlroy said of the PGA Tour’s struggles. “I would say the one thing about TGL is only going to last two months. You get this sort of big burst of it in January, February and a little bit of March, then it’s done. It’s gone for 10 months basically. I would say that is hopefully somewhat additive to the ecosystem. “YouTube is like golf entertainment adjacent, whatever. Those guys are killing it. They found a niche and it’s really cool and it serves a purpose for a lot of people. “But look, I would much rather sit down and watch real golfers play real tournaments and that’s just my opinion. That to me is more entertaining. “But I understand that other people want something different and that’s totally fine as well. I think there’s space for all of this. Yeah, I can see when the golf consumer might get a little fatigued of everything that’s sort of available to them. “So to scale it back a little bit and maybe have a little more scarcity in some of the stuff that we do, like the NFL, I think mightn’t be a bad thing. I think 47 or 50 tournaments a year is definitely too many.” McIlroy believes that a lighter schedule could be beneficial, hinting that the PGA Tour might take a leaf out of LIV Golf’s book. The rival league plans to host just 14 events in 2025, and while the PGA Tour is unlikely to cut back so drastically, McIlroy is convinced that fewer events are the way forward.



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