The story of a potential breakthrough in merger talks took a turn in February when Jay Monahan and Yasir Al-Rumayyan met at the White House. The meeting didn’t yield any concrete results, however, and there have been no further developments since then… until recently. Ahead of the 2025 Wyndham Championship, PGA Tour pro Adam Scott revealed that “I haven’t; those conversations haven’t advanced far from there.” This news is disappointing, but another PGA Tour pro suggests that the lack of progress in these talks might not be a bad thing for the Tour.

Ahead of the 2025 Travelers Championship, the 72 competing players gathered for a mandatory meeting with the PGA Tour’s new CEO, Brian Rolapp. Max Greyserman, one of the players, had previously kept quiet about the discussions but recently opened up in an interview with Fried Egg Golf about what transpired during the meeting. “I got the sense that the PGA Tour feels like they’re in a very strong position now – you have to bring LIV into this equation as well,” Greyserman said. “(The Tour) feels like they’re in a very strong position, essentially a position of offense.”

But part of that confidence stems from the Tour pros’ major success, particularly their ability to draw high viewership numbers. And Greyserman points it out now, saying, “They – and when I say ‘they,’ I’m talking about the Board and most of the players – feel like they weathered the storm. And they believe that the PGA Tour product and the viewership through different sources is strong, and people are watching golf, people are paying attention, and people like the current product of the PGA Tour. And LIV, on the other hand, not many people are watching it.” 

The numbers back up Greyserman’s point, showing a big difference in viewership between the PGA Tour and LIV Golf. For example, Joaquin Niemann’s LIV Golf win in Singapore drew 34,000 viewers, while Rory McIlroy‘s win at the PLAYERS Championship, held the same week, got 3.6 million fans. This trend continues to this day, with even lesser-known Tour pros attracting more viewers than well-established LIV Golf pros.

Recent wins like Aldrich Potgieter’s at the Rocket Classic, drawing 2.797 million viewers, compared to Patrick Reed‘s LIV Golf win in Dallas, held around the same time, which drew 75,000. There are many such comparisons to back up Max Greyserman’s claims. So, does that mean the PGA Tour can do without LIV Golf? Well, that remains to be seen.

Yet, Greyserman confesses, “So the PGA Tour feels like whether LIV goes on forever or dies tomorrow, they’re not worrying about what’s going on with LIV because they’re just focusing on making the PGA Tour a better product.” That’s indeed a pretty bold statement. However, as interesting as these points, confidence, and numbers are, the Saudi-backed league is also trying to make its product strong, even if it passes under the radar of pros like Greyserman.

LIV Golf is upping its game against the golf giant PGA Tour by bringing more money

LIV Golf is gearing up for a major overhaul in 2026, with plans to inject more capital into its team operations and increase its weekly purse from $25 million to $30 million. This $5 million boost will be distributed among all 13 teams based on their finishing position, a significant shift from the current structure, where only the top three teams share a $5 million pool. This change aims to make the team competition more appealing and provide a more equitable distribution of payouts.

Under the current format, $5 million of the weekly purse is allocated to teams, with $3 million going to the winner, $1.5 million to the runner-up, and $500,000 to third place. The remaining $20 million is for individual stroke play. With the new structure, all teams will spread the extra $5 million across themselves, potentially benefiting teams like the Cleeks, Iron Heads, HyFlyers, and Majesticks, which often miss out on payouts despite their strong performances.

This expansion also signals a broader shift in LIV Golf’s funding model. Gone are the days of lavish sign-on bonuses; instead, team captains will take on more responsibility for recruiting players and securing commercial deals. The increased team purse will serve as a resource to support these efforts. In conclusion, while it is true that LIV Golf will need to do a lot more to outpace the PGA Tour when it comes to viewership, it certainly knows how to reward its players.