Pressure Mounts on PGA Tour as Phil Mickelson Confirms Jay Monahan & Co’s Attempts to Sabotage LIV Golf Tournament

The PGA Tour was already prepared to strike. As LIV Golf’s latest thriller, The Duels- Miami, garnered much attention after being touted as a creators-designed and fan-oriented format one of the pairs turned the spotlight a little sour. You see, being a LIV Golf competition, you’d expect only LIV Golf players pairing up with the top golf content creators. But now, all the PGA Tour-LIV Golf power play drama is back.

Wesley Bryan, an active PGA Tour golfer, was listed for the event in a creator capacity for his Bryan Bros Golf YouTube channel. Of course, the tour reacted. The PGA Tour rule released for the 2022/2023 season stated: “Any player who has participated in an unauthorized tournament is ineligible to compete in any event sanctioned by the PGA Tour for a period of one year.” But according to Golf Channel’s Rex Hoggard, this new rule could also, “Ban non-members for a year if they play ‘unauthorized’ events.” And that’s what happened.

Last week, Flushing It reported “The PGA Tour reached out to creators involved with LIV Golf’s “The Duels” and threatened them with potential future suspensions if they participated in the unsanctioned event, in line with the rules for non-members who play full LIV Golf League tournaments.” While these have been dropped for other participating creators, one fish is still stuck in the net. And now, Phil Mickelson has confirmed the news.

When Pro Golf Critic wrote on X, “Deleted my tweet about the YT creators at the request of ppl material to the events. Let’s hope sufficient pressure is applied so that these creators can enjoy the FREEDOM to create great content on ALL Tours so that we can enjoy their great content without fear of retribution!” To this post, one person replied that the tweet was deleted because it was “Proven wrong,” but then Lefty chimed in.

“You were absolutely correct. An email was sent threatening to ban all creators if they participated. They rescinded that threat to all creators EXCEPT Wes Bryan. They still banned him for a year,” he wrote. Many expected the reason behind this move was to take control of the golfing community.

Bryan, as a creator, decided to take part in the event, but it was against the rules of being a PGA Tour pro and hence came the ban. But in a world where these creators are breathing a new life to the sport with fresh and closer perspectives, shouldn’t they be allowed to participate in either one or both the tours?

In fact, previously, the PGA Tour also banned the famous jeweler Ben Baller from playing in PGA Tour affiliated Pro-Ams. The reason? He designs and makes LIV Golf League Championship rings. There’s only event he can play, according to him, “Famers because I won it.”

Some reports also revealed that the PGA Tour is partnering with independent media and influencer outlets behind the scenes. The reason for doing so is not yet confirmed, but it certainly raises questions about the integrity of golf journalism. The media outlets are usually committed to the organizations they are working for. If there is any type of partnership, the narrative will be built in a way that the PGA Tour wants, and not what fans want.

Top Comment by Panama

Did the players of the PGA sing a contract saying they wouldn’t or couldn’t? That’s the only question I ask....more

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The rivalry between the two has been ongoing since 2022. While some are waiting for the PGA Tour-PIF merger to happen, moves like these raise the question of whether it will actually happen. Speaking of the merger, LIV Golf’s CEO also recently confirmed that he is OK without the $3 billion deal, but Donald Trump in Miami said otherwise.

While the drama continues, the shocking reaction wasn’t limited to pros like Mickelson, but fans also expressed their frustration.

Fans do not like the PGA Tour’s recent move

Back in 2022, Jay Monahan suspended 17 golfers from PGA Tour events for joining LIV and banned them from competing in the events. Later, the Tour was under scrutiny from Department of Justice investigators who were looking into whether pros had violated competition laws by penalizing golfers for joining a rival league. And with history repeating itself, the golfing world is not thrilled.

“Absolutely awful. How can anyone be ok with this? Really terrible, and I hope this gets a lot more attention,” commented one fan. Alluding to the same, another frustrated fan wrote, “What a d**k move from PGA.” Highlighting that reputed orgs like the PGA Tour are resorting to tactics like these, and there is nobody to take action on this right now.

“The creators should email back and threaten to ban the PGA and all PGA players from their socials,” wrote one person. However, it’s tough for the likes of George and Wesley Bryan. The Bryan Brothers are part of the PGA Tour’s Creator Council, and they are also planning to participate in “The Duels.”

This is an awkward situation for them. Even the Golf Podcast hosts raised the question and asked, “Are they going to be the only two individuals on Earth who get to walk that line between the two tours and have no consequence to it?” The situation is indeed sticky because whether the ban comes or not, the PGA Tour is stuck.

“PGA Tour loves to meddle in someone else’s business with the excuse that they are protecting theirs. But the reality is that they are breaking all sorts of antitrust and tort laws. Going after YouTubers’ businesses is definitely a new low for the PGA Tour,” wrote another. In 2022, Greg Norman also talked about the same.

He wrote a letter to Jay Monahan saying, “When you try to bluff and intimidate players by bullying and threatening them, you are guilty of going too far, being unfair, and you likely are in violation of federal law,” as revealed in the New York magazine. As per Norman, golfers are free to go wherever they want.

This time, the fan is talking about the same for YouTubers and content creators. Expressing similar emotions, another netizen added, “This would be absurd, honestly.”  Controlling what goes out to the world is actually nothing new for the PGA Tour. Some reports mention that the Tour filters what can be shared on independent channels.

Golficity even mentioned, “DMCA strikes are consistently applied to everyone, even players, if they share PGA Tour footage on personal social channels. This makes things less than desirable for those creators who make their living off of publicity.”

How do you think the move by the PGA Tour will affect professional golf? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments below!