Bubba Watson has credited LIV Golf with helping PGA Tour star Scottie Scheffler earn the huge sums of money he has so far this year.
This week, the big-money circuit celebrates a big milestone at LIV Golf Greenbrier - its 100th round having begun in June 2022 with its inaugural event at London Centurion Club. Before the event, Watson reflected on the impact it has made during that time.
He said: "Yeah, this is exciting times. When I think about going through the motions of deciding I wanted to come to LIV, I thought about the 10-year plan, on paper, what the goals were, and it's met my expectations. It's been better than that. We've changed the face of golf. So to be on that side of history is pretty special."
He then claimed its emergence set in motion a potentially seismic shift at the top of the men’s game, comparing it to the 1968 breakaway of the PGA Tour from the PGA of America.
He explained: “I know years ago when the PGA Tour made that same decision, and when I'm saying years ago, we're talking '50s, '40s, whatever year Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus and them made the other tour, so we're a part of that. It's an honor and a privilege to say I'm a part of that.”
Since its inception, LIV Golf has been known for the incredible prize money it offers at each of its tournaments, with players competing for $25m in each of the regular events and $50m in the season-closing Team Championship.
That financial clout has meant it has been able to take some of the biggest names from the PGA Tour, and the more established organization has responded with lucrative tournaments of its own, signature events, to try and stem the flow.
Because of the PGA Tour's response, Watson said Scheffler's massive earnings on it so far this year, which currently stand at over $28m, have been helped by LIV Golf.
He added: “Scottie Scheffler has made a lot of money this year because of the changes that we've started putting in place. I believe that golf is actually growing in the right spot, and I think team golf is here to stay. So I'm excited for the next few events, the next few years, and hopefully the Range Goats can beat the Crushers..”
Scheffler has won seven times in 2024, most recently with a gold medal at the Olympics. However, in all of the remaining six, prize money was at stake, and four of his victories came in signature events - the RBC Heritage and the Travelers Championship, where he earned $3.6m for each victory and the Arnold Palmer Invitational and the Memorial Tournament, where he banked $4m in each.
In addition to those, Scheffler also won another $3.6m from a record $20m purse at The Masters, while his win at The Players Championship handed him $4.5m thanks to a $25m purse - a figure $5m higher than the edition immediately before LIV Golf began.
Watson doesn’t think it’s just the money flowing into the game that makes LIV Golf so disruptive. He also thinks its unique team aspect, which sees the field play as 13 teams of four, has added a new dimension.
“On Sunday, you can't hide,” the Range Goats GC captain said. “On the first day you can struggle and the other three can take over, but then on Sunday, all four balls count so you're fighting for your team.
"You make a bad swing, you're disappointed, not because of you, but you're disappointed because you let the other guys down. So you're going to try to give it your all and hang in there on a Sunday because all balls count. You can't hide from it.”
