LIV Golf has always been under the radar of talks about sustainability. The Saudi-backed league since inception has struggled to generate revenue compared to the prize offering. But, until now, the PGA Tour has never entered that sustainability radar. However, according to a veteran analyst, the tour might get into trouble with the current situation.

Gary William, journalist and anchor of the 5 Clubs show, has brought a harsh reality to the tour and compared the top golf names with the NFL. During the video, he started to talk about the highest-rated golf tournament, which is the Masters. In continuation, he pointed out, “5 Masters would not match a conference championship game in the NFL.” With the harsh comparison between the two sports, he wanted to portray his opinion. For which he said, “I think that professional golf and the best players in the world should go away for a while.”

After the condemnation, William backed by pointing out how the workforce of the PGA Tour i.e., the viewers is shrinking even with having the best players. And with the events featuring only limited players is offering less opportunity to players. Now, with the subset events, he expressed the worry about golf. “This is not a secret society and it shouldn’t be. The best players will always drive this product but we can’t lessen the opportunity for players at a time where the workforce itself is getting smaller,” William said.

Further, he brought out the calculation for last year’s top player. He voiced out saying, “Last year Scottie Scheffler in total with his earnings on the golf course and then you add the FedExCup playoff bonus pool and then you add the Comcast business pool that was part of the regular season incentive based on your overall performance over the course of the year. He made $62 million.”

Continuing on the figure, he shared his worry about sustainability for the league, as it seemed unrealistic to him. To even justify his point, he compared golf with the NFL. As it is the most successful league in the U.S. He compared Patrick Mahomes to Scottie Scheffler. Mahomes signed a 10-year deal few years back for $500 million, which comes down to $50 million per year. The figure is still $12 million less than what Scheffler has made in 2024. According to him, it doesn’t seem realistic.

While it might become worrisome if the 2025 schedule is continued on the downside.

How has the start of the 2025 PGA Tour been?

Earlier for the LPGA Tour, as the support system, the PGA Tour has worked to get the league broadcasting right. But now, with the support system fumbling as per the experts, it is a sign to worry. Since the start of the 2025 season, the league has struggled with bad encounters, be it players withdrawing or the viewership decline.

However, this seemed to be a temporary issue for the league, but even after four events, there is still no positive sign to address. Even though the players are making their way back to the course, but the viewers aren’t. The dropping viewership amid the pace of play issue has become a major concern. Despite the record-setting performance at the event, the viewership saw the downside.

Take the example of The Sentry and the American Express, both events crossed the 5-hour mark in the final round and saw a drop of 34 and 56% respectively. The Sentry 2025 had 461,000 viewers this year, compared to 707,000 in 2024. Similarly, 534,000 viewers in 2024 for American Express saw a drop to just 232,000.

Looking at the downside, the year isn’t the ideal one for the PGA Tour, but will it observe an upside after top players start off at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am will be answered after the event? But the prediction from the veteran analyst sparks a cause for worry. What do you think about the future of golf? Share your thoughts with us.