Duel Between Tours Would Smash Viewership Records
The thought of a battle between the PGA and LIV Tour makes us froth at the mouth.
A Ryder Cup-style tournament would break all sorts of golf viewership records and it would not only create drama, but the quality of golf would be unprecedented.
We predict golf odds favoring the PGA Tour, but LIV would give them a run for their money.
Let’s check the latest Golf news, stats, injury reports, and Golf lines for PGA Tour vs LIV. We’ve got plenty of Golf picks for you to consider.
LIV Star Power
Say what you want about the LIV Tour, but it has some excellent players who are more than accustomed to playing team golf.
The star power comes from the likes of Cameron Smith, Dustin Johnson, Brooks Koepka, Bryson DeChambeau, and Patrick Reed.
Don’t get it twisted – just because critics say many of those players are over the hill or battling injuries, it was only a couple of years ago when they were dominating the PGA Tour.
Having two of the best players in the world in Smith and Johnson would take the LIV close to beating the PGA. They are top-class players and Smith won The Players and the Open Championship in 2022.
It was disappointing to see him chase the money at LIV, but it’s the decision he made. It hasn’t affected his golf and we would back him to beat the likes of Justin Thomas, Jordan Spieth, and the likes.
We would even fancy the likes of Joaquin Niemann and Louis Oosthuizen. The latter has proven himself on the big stage on numerous occasions and he’s a huge loss from the PGA Tour, but he goes under the radar.
The South African won the 2010 Open Championship and lost the 2012 Masters and 2015 Open Championship in playoffs to Bubba Watson and Zach Johnson, respectively.
The sportsbook would be foolish to overlook LIV if they ever play a team event against the PGA.
PGA: Likely Favorites
The PGA would be odds-on to win the team event with golf betting markets. They have the more relevant players and they’re in the public eye much more than what’s shown on the CW Network.
A team packed with the likes of Jon Rahn, Thomas, Spieth, Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy would be awfully tough to beat. That’s not to mention the likes of Xander Schauffele and Patrick Cantlay, so the team is stacked.
However, there could be more camaraderie with LIV, so that’s what the PGA Tour would have to overcome.
There is nothing for the PGA Tour to prove in a head-to-head matchup. They have history and prestige on their side, but LIV could want to prove themselves more against the PGA.
Increased prize money and future team competitions have made the PGA more like LIV in recent months. They have Phil Mickelson to thank for that, but something tells me the star golfers on the PGA Tour won’t be thanking the Hall of Famer anytime soon for their bigger paychecks.
Potential PGA vs LIV Matchups
Here are the matchups we would love to see if PGA vs LIV was to ever take place:
- Jon Rahm vs Cameron Smith
- Rory McIlroy vs Dustin Johnson
- Scottie Scheffler vs Brooks Koepka
- Justin Thomas vs Bryson DeChambeau
- Collin Morikawa vs Louis Oosthuizen
- Jordan Spieth vs Patrick Reed
- Tiger Woods vs Phil Mickelson
- Patrick Cantlay vs Joaquin Niemann
- Max Homa vs Sergio Garcia
And for a bit of fun:
- Jay Monahan vs Greg Norman
Who Wins?
As much as we want LIV to win, the PGA Tour has the deeper roster and should prevail.
It would be a closer contest than most Ryder Cups, and certainly tighter than the President’s Cup, so it should be an exciting contest.
We would love to see it, and we know LIV wants it to happen, but the PGA powers-that-be won’t allow it to happen. They can’t risk being shown up by a rival tour, but everyone wants it to happen and public pressure is a wonderful thing.
