The reunification of golf is long pending. At least, that is what it seems, all thanks to the $3B merger getting delayed. There have been several rounds of discussions involving Jay Monahan, Adam Scott, Tiger Woods, and even the President of the United States, Donald Trump. Still no conclusion. Who’s to blame? The common consensus seems to be LIV Golf.

A few days ago, at the pre-Master press conference, Scottie Scheffler blamed LIV for the delay, saying, “I’m not going to sit here and say they should have done something differently. They made their choice. If we want to figure out why the game of golf is not back together, go ask those guys. Go to wherever they are playing this week and figure out when the game is going to come back together.” Rory McIlroy also thinks it’s LIV who is now causing the delay.

“Look, I think it takes two to tango,” McIlroy said at the Arnold Palmer Invitational. “So if one party is willing and ready and the other isn’t, it sort of makes it tough.” The Northern Irishman doesn’t even think the PGA Tour needs a deal anymore because the Tour’s “momentum is pretty strong.” All because as per him, “TV’s been good, TGL’s been hopefully pretty additive to the overall situation.” McIlroy and Scheffler aren’t the only ones to blame the Saudi-funded league for the delay. Most recently, Webb Simpson, the 2012 U.S. Open and the 2018 Players Championship among his seven PGA Tour victories has been a member of the Policy Board for over two years also chimed in.

“To me, it’s hard to get your mind around the team concept. I’ve gotten that feedback from golf fans. You can get your mind around the Ryder Cup or Presidents Cup once a year. But the franchise model or Formula 1 model on the PGA Tour … it’s hard to see a future in that,”  Simpson explained the predicament that the deal is currently going through while talking to Sports Illustrated. He then added, “I’m not on the transaction committee (which deals directly with the PIF), so I don’t know how Yasir is with other forms of TV golf, where we incorporate PGA Tour, DP World Tour and the LIV tour. It’s complicated.”

It is complicated all right. The team concept, after all, is one of those concepts that make LIV Golf unique and allow it to offer a different kind of experience for the fans. LIV Golf takes pride in its format. It’s new, it hasn’t been seen before in golf, but time and again, LIV has been called out for it by fans and the pros. Jon Rahm wanting an F1-like team model seems to be a far-fetched dream.

“We’ve presented at least at the board level other team options that aren’t just franchises like they have for the whole year. More like different points on the calendar where there is an appetite for fans to see some type of team stuff. Then it goes back to the idea that the beauty of a team sport is you get behind that team for the season. You ride their highs and lows. Is four times a year really going to work? Will that satisfy what Yasir wants?” Simpson added.

YouTuber Rick Shiels who had recently signed with LIV Golf to be their ambassador, had his thoughts about the team format, quite opposite from Simpson’s. The teams are curated in such a way that you can find a squad that fits your support system easily. South African golf fans will likely support Stinger GC as it contains Louis Oosthuizen and other golfers from the country in their lineup. Spaniards could likely line up with Fireballs GC.

The team concept drives a certain loyalty in the minds of fans. You can ask soccer fans on that front. The reason, soccer is the most popular sport in the world is because of the intense passion and support, fans have for their respective badge, more so than the individual players. So it could appeal much better to the global audience than the United States, where soccer is not a huge deal. And this is what LIV Golf wants its brand to be – Global Golf. Just ask LIV CEO, Scott O’Neil.

LIV Golf wants to be global golf according to Scott O’Neil

“We are different though. We’re a global sports league,” said the new LIV CEO Scott O’Neil in Singapore. Mostly they are staying true to the concept, and motto. Wanting to take the game to global heights. Take LIV Golf Adelaide for example.

According to Golf Digest, more than two million people in Australia tuned into Seven Sport to catch the LIV Adelaide event across the three days. The final round alone drew in over one million people, with an average viewership of 220,000. Global golf it is.

“Over time, this notion of being the F1 of golf is one I like a lot. Other than LIV, F1 is the only truly global sports league. They have teams and we have teams and it’s very different for golf to have a team sport. You’re definitely playing in a premium market like F1 has,” O’Neil added, expressing the clear idea behind LIV and the importance it gives to the team concept.

Do you think if and when the deal is finalized the team concept should stay? Or do you think that such a concept is a bit too far away from a true individual sport like golf?