The U.S. Open is history; now we start trying to figure out what golf’s future looks like with PGA Tour, PIF and LIV Golf

LOS ANGELES — What is it about the U.S. Open being a magnet for controversy emerging all around the championship, some on them, most of it out of their control?

Like a year ago, when LIV Golf played its first event prior to the U.S. Open, and all the pre-tournament chatter at the Open was about suspensions and blood money. And this year, the announcement that rocked the golf world came nine days before the first tee shot was launched at the Los Angeles Country Club.

And of course, there was the course itself, drawing criticism from heavy hitters like Brooks Koepka, Victor Hovland and Matthew Fitzpatrick. But then again, the last thing anyone wants to hear is the greatest golfers in the world whining about course conditions.

“There’s just too many holes for me where you’ve got blind tee shots and then you’ve got fairways that don’t hold the ball,” Fitzpatrick, the Jupiter resident, said. “There’s too much slope.”

Fitzpatrick, I’m guessing, is a much bigger fan of The Country Club in Brookline, Massachusetts, where he won last year’s U.S. Open. He was 1 under after three rounds this year, but, apparently, that’s not easy enough.

Complaints about the course are a minor distraction for any tournament. But playing a major championship with uncertainty surrounding the future of golf popping up a week prior takes that distraction to another level.

The main focus at the start of last week was the fallout from the announcement the Tour and Saudi’s Public Investment Fund, which bankrolls LIV Golf, signed an agreement to form a new entity that combines their commercial interests.

At stake now (as the PGA Tour starts to wind down its season and focuses on the final major of the year, the British Open, and playoffs) is how golf will look in 2024 and beyond.

Will some PGA Tour events incorporate LIV’s team concept? Will LIV exist as it has the last year and continue to hold its 54-hole, no-cut events with the blessing of the PGA Tour? Will it be forced to scale back the schedule? What penalties will those golfers who chose the money grab over the PGA Tour suffer as they return to the Tour?

Or will LIV go away completely, the money man behind the league, PIF governor Yasir Al-Rumayyan, content with paying billions just to hold a seat on the PGA Tour board of directors and shape some policy?

And will PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan purchase a one-way ticket back to Australia for his LIV Golf nemesis, Greg Norman?

Norman, for one, was celebrating after the announcement, telling staff they “changed golf” and there will be “no operational changes” through 2025. Keep in mind Norman, the face of LIV Golf, was excluded from the seven weeks of negotiations.

And some of Norman’s highest-paid stars are not giving up hope the checks will keep coming.

“Everything I’ve heard, they’re still working on a full schedule for next year,” Jupiter’s Dustin Johnson told ESPN. “The rest of this year and 2024 is going to be the same as far as I know. After that, you know as much as I do.”

Johnson said Al-Rumayyan told him LIV Golf will exist next year.

Sergio Garcia was asked if he’s proceeded as if it’s business as usual as LIV prepares for its next event starting June 30 at Valderrama in Spain.

“Is there anything else I can do? We don’t know what’s happening,” he said. “As of now we just go ahead the same as we were and whenever this merger and this deal is finalized and all the details are taken care of then we’ll see what happens.”

This second year is crucial to LIV and its captains, who have taken on more responsibility with the Kingdom pulling back when it comes to funding the teams. Each captain has been looking to expand his enterprise this year, finding people to run the business side that includes handling team travel, social media, and apparel, among other things.

Bryson DeChambeau tees off during the first round of the LIV Golf Invitational Tulsa at Cedar Ridge Country Club. Mandatory Credit: Joey Johnson-USA TODAY Sports

Bryson DeChambeau is one of those 12 captains.

“We’re looking to hire someone here shortly for the GM position, and very excited about that,” he said.

That’s the LIV perspective of the agreement. Then there is the PGA Tour side, specifically Jimmy Dunne, the North Palm Beach resident who Monahan credited as the main architect behind the deal.

Dunne, president of Seminole Golf Club in Hobe Sound, told Sports Illustrated Monahan is making all the decisions and could disband LIV, if he prefers.

But the players aren’t so sure. Some, like Jon Rahm, say they felt “betrayed” and have lost faith in management. Others, like Rickie Fowler and Rory McIlroy are giving Monahan some benefit of the doubt with a wait-and-see attitude.

“They’re looking at this as the best long-term option. But we don’t know, yet,” Fowler said. “What’s hard (is) you hear a lot of different things.

“I think we’ll know a lot more definitely in the next six months. And there’s still the talks the deal may not even happen with the DOJ and the government getting involved.”

Another layer that could shape the future of golf. Meanwhile, the 2023 season will go on as scheduled, for the PGA Tour and LIV Golf.

As for 2024? What that will look like is anybody’s guess.