The unrelenting rise of LIV Golf – The Oxford Student

Since the shock truce between the PGA Tour and LIV Golf was announced in June 2023, it had been all quiet on the front lines of golf’s civil war. That agreement, which ended the lawsuits and agreed to merge some golf competitions, was thought to be the final word. However, LIV Golf shot back into the headlines recently with their signing of world number 3 and Masters champion Jon Rahm. The eye-watering $450 million deal between Rahm and LIV was a shock, but what does this mean for the future of golf?

As a golfer I have been tracking every announcement of this controversy, but it would be useful to begin with some background to the dispute. The PGA Tour has for 50 years been the only place to play professional golf. Ironically, the PGA Tour itself emerged out of a split in 1968, but nonetheless the tour has taken for granted its place at the peak of the game. The European Tour (now…