In the golden era of professional golf — the Tiger Woods-inspired generation, from 2015 to 2022, the PGA Tour was a coliseum of titans. Week after week, future Hall of Famers like Dustin Johnson, Jordan Spieth, Brooks Koepka, Justin Thomas, Rory McIlroy, Bryson DeChambeau, Jon Rahm, and Xander Schauffele, among others, battled it out under the spotlight, drawing millions of viewers and filling iconic courses with roaring crowds.
The Tour was synonymous with star power—legends forging legacies, dramatic finishes that captivated the world, and a sense of inevitability that the best would rise to the top. But that was before the storm hit, before the Saudi-backed LIV Golf league shattered the landscape like a wayward drive into the rough.
It started in 2022, when LIV Golf burst onto the scene with its promise of astronomical paydays, shorter formats, and team-based play. Backed by the Public Investment Fund (PIF) of Saudi Arabia, LIV poached some of the game’s biggest and brightest stars: Phil Mickelson, DJ, Koepka, Rahm, and DeChambeau, to name a few. These defections split the sport in two.
The PGA Tour responded with bans, lawsuits, and a fierce defense of its territory, but the damage was done. The world’s top talent was splintered, and the Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR) system, which doesn’t award points for LIV events, began to reflect a distorted reality. LIV players, despite their skill, saw their rankings plummet due to limited opportunities in ranked tournaments, while the PGA Tour’s fields grew thinner, allowing lesser-known players to climb higher than their talent might otherwise warrant. As the LIV Golf rosters — filled with players who would easily slot into the OWGR top 50 if competing regularly on the Tour — were effectively sidelined, diluting the overall star power and leaving the PGA Tour’s leaderboard looking like a shadow of its former self.
Fast-forward to July 2025, and the cracks have turned into craters. TV ratings have been in freefall, with reports of declining viewership attributed to the absence of marquee matchups and the endless drama of the Tour-LIV divide. Fans who once tuned in for the thrill of seeing Koepka’s power or Rahm’s precision now flip channels, lamenting a sport that feels fragmented and less compelling.
The PGA Tour’s attempt to counter LIV with Signature events and bigger purses has only highlighted the void, resulting in regular Tour events where the winners are often journeymen rather than juggernauts.
Take the last four Tour events as a stark illustration of this downfall. Rewind to June 29 at the Rocket Classic in Detroit, where World No. 123 Aldrich Potgieter, a 20-year-old South African rookie known for his prodigious length off the tee, outlasted Max Greyserman in a grueling five-hole playoff to claim his maiden PGA Tour victory.
Potgieter, who had missed seven of nine cuts before his Detroit win, battled inconsistencies and putting woes for most of the season, represented another underdog story in a year full of them — charming perhaps, but symptomatic of the Tour’s weakened fields.
Then, on July 6, at the John Deere Classic, a staple event known for its birdie barrages and occasional upsets, world No. 115 Brian Campbell emerged victorious in a playoff over Emiliano Grillo, marking his second win of the year but underscoring the Tour’s unpredictability in the worst way.
Campbell, a solid but unspectacular short-hitting pro from the University of Illinois, who had clawed his way back from injuries and minor-tour struggles, had just one top-10 finish in 2025 prior to this triumph, a stat that speaks volumes about the softened competition.
Finally came July 13, a Sunday that should have been a showcase ahead of The Open Championship but instead felt like a footnote. At the prestigious Genesis Scottish Open, world No. 158 Chris Gotterup tapped in for par to claim his second career PGA Tour title, edging out even Rory McIlroy in a field starved for drama.
Across the pond, in the opposite-field ISCO Championship — a lower-tier event meant to give fringe players a shot — the narrative hit rock bottom. World No. 217 William Mouw, a 24-year-old rookie from Pepperdine, stormed back with a blistering 9-under 61 to secure his maiden victory, overcoming a seven-shot deficit in a field that screamed “Korn Ferry Tour vibes.”
The two winners on Sunday are literal no names, who — before their respective wins — had a single top-10 finish COMBINED in 2025.
Like Potgieter and Campbell before them, Gotterup and Mouw are beneficiaries of a diluted talent pool where the absence of LIV’s heavy hitters has flattened the hierarchy.
The irony is palpable. LIV, often criticized for its “exhibition” style and lack of cut-throat competition, has ironically exposed the PGA Tour’s vulnerabilities. While LIV boasts events with real money on the line and personalities that draw crowds (even if their audiences still trail the PGA’s), the Tour clings to tradition amid whispers of irrelevance.
Social media buzzes with frustration: fans decry the split as poison, arguing that banning LIV players has devalued wins and robbed events of must-watch matchups.
As the dust settles on this quartet of unlikely champions, the PGA Tour finds itself at a crossroads. Negotiations with the PIF have stalled, leaving golf in limbo — a sport rich in history but poor in cohesion. Will the Tour reclaim its star power by finding a path to reconciliation, perhaps granting more exemptions for LIV standouts in majors? Or will it continue down this path of diluted dominance, where victories by the Potgieters, Campbells, Gotterups, and Mouws are the norm rather than the exception?
One thing’s clear: the fairways are fading, and without a bold swing, the PGA Tour’s hard times may just be beginning.
