The PGA Tour is crushing LIV Golf when it comes to viewership, and players on the rival tour also face losing an $800,000 incentive each tournament if the league goes under
LIV Golf stars could be set to miss out on $800,000 per event if the organization goes under, with PGA Tour stars earning considerably less on average.
The golf scene could yet witness another groundbreaking change after the Saudi Arabian PIF announced it would stop funding LIV Golf after the 2026 season. Although the organization plans to continue operating as normal, concerns have arisen over whether it has the legs to do so.
Brooks Koepka recently left LIV Golf and returned to the PGA Tour, and was joined by Patrick Reed. Those who have remained are now at risk, and LIV Golfers risk missing out on considerable wealth, including Jon Rahm, the fifth-highest-paid athlete globally.
The top LIV Golf players have financially benefited since leaving organizations such as the PGA Tour and the DP World Tour. The top 20 players on the circuit have earned an average of $922,508.41 per competition since LIV Golf was founded, according to Action Network.
That’s significantly more than they did before switching, as the previous average was $126,060.22. Therefore, should LIV Golf go under, those players face a considerable drop in expected earnings, and an awkward situation should they try to return to previous organizations.
Rahm earns more than any other golfer, and his earnings exceed those of most athletes. Rahm ranked fifth on the list of the highest-paid athletes globally, behind soccer stars Karim Benzema and Cristiano Ronaldo, MLB player Juan Soto, and boxer Canelo Alvarez.
The Spanish golfer has earned approximately earned $84,700,000 since joining LIV Golf, excluding any endorsements. While LIV Golf has offered much more prize money than the PGA Tour, that’s not indicative of success.
While LIV Golf threatened to change the sport forever in 2022, the average viewing figures for the final rounds of PGA Tour events in 2026 are 796 percent higher than those of the rival circuit. The 396,000 average viewership is also extremely low compared to the PGA Tour.
The PGA Tour’s lowest average since LIV Golf was founded was in 2022. The tour averaged 2.5 million viewers in the year LIV Golf was founded, but the hype around the rival tour has since dwindled.
Brooks Koepka appears to have left LIV Golf at the perfect time(Image: Getty Images)
Still, the top 20 LIV Golf stars have earned an average of $440,066 more than their PGA Tour rivals this year. However, the tour’s long-term stability remains under threat.
If reports that LIV Golf could cease to exist are true, then Koepka appears to have left at the perfect time. Now a PGA Tour member, Koepka admitted he no longer pays attention to his former employers and declined to comment in detail on the speculation.
“I don’t have any involvement with it anymore, so I don’t pay any attention to it. I’m kind of in my own little world, and I’d like to stay there,” he said at the PGA Championship.
“It’s in the past, and I’m on the PGA Tour now, and I’m just focused on how I can figure out how to make this putter work.”
