The new changes to the PGA Tour has been classed as "imitation" by LIV Golf chiefs while rebel players Lee Westwood and Ian Poulter have also fired digs.
This week, tour commissioner Jay Monahan confirmed the board had approved major alterations to tournaments for 2024, amid fears that more players will defect to the Saudi-backed venture for increased sums of money. In 'elevated' events, the field sizes will decrease and the midway cut will also be scrapped - although the changes won't apply to major championships, the Players Championship or the FedEx Cup playoffs.
A similar format is already utilised by LIV, who run 54-hole events with 48 players each time. With big sums available even for those finishing near the bottom of the leaderboard, players also competed in four man teams without the fear of being cut.
And sure enough, the response to the PGA Tour changes from LIV Golf's official Twitter account was swift, posting: "Imitation is the greatest form of flattery. Congratulations PGA Tour. Welcome to the future."
Westwood and Poulter, who were among the first players to defect and played in LIV's inaugural event at The Centurion Club last June, also didn't miss the chance to weigh in. Westwood wrote: "I’ve spent the last year reading how good full fields and cuts are!" before taking aim again with: "I hear they’re bringing in teams in 2025!"
Not done there, he rubbished the PGA Tour's previous claims that they had a strategic alliance with the DP World Tour : "So.. Do away with the WGC's," he said. "Load the OWGR in your favour. Create 10 limited field events for just PGA Tour members (like WGC's). Add to that 4 majors, Players, FedEx cup. That's a full schedule for a top player. That's growing the game. What Strategic Alliance?"
Like his fellow Ryder Cup icon, Poulter has been a vociferous defender of the LIV concept, and he to went all in, quote tweeting his post and adding: "Oh my my my…. When will the penny drop with so many of what's actually happened here. It really doesn't take a [rocket scientist] to work out. And sounds very similar to another product that's been spoken so badly about by media and commentators. I'm all ears now. I'm waiting."
Despite the mocking, it wasn't a great weekend for LIV in the sport's escalating civil war. Their opening 2023 event in Mayakoba, Mexico, was televised by the CW Network and drew in a paltry average of 286,000 and 291,000 viewers on the Saturday and Sunday as Charles Howell III claimed victory.
At the same time, the PGA Tour held the Honda Classic and racked up 1.61 million viewers on Saturday and 2.38 million on Sunday on channel NBC. Christopher Kirk took the win in a playoff over American compatriot Eric Cole.
