MCDOWELL REGRETS ‘GROWING THE GAME’ LINE BUT HOPES LIV MOVES ON
Northern Ireland’s Graeme McDowell said he regrets using the ‘growing the game’ line and hopes LIV Golf can move on from a ‘nasty’ period. (Photo: LIV Golf/Getty Images)
ORDINARY THOUGHTS: BY PAUL GALLAGHER
In the same week Jon Rahm agreed to settle his fines with the DP World Tour, Northern Ireland’s Greame McDowell spoke of his hope that the “nasty” narrative around LIV Golf can change and how he regrets some of the things he said about “growing the game”.
It all feels like the top LIV Golf players are jockeying for position or moving for the off ramp in a week when the Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF) announced they will no longer be funding LIV Golf beyond the 2026 season. Who knows what LIV Golf will look like in 12 months, will it even be a thing? Will the most hyped golfing circus finally come down after attempting to disrupt the traditional professional order since its inception in 2022?
Speaking to Sports Illustrated ahead of this week’s LIV Golf Virginia event, McDowell was candid about his thoughts and where he might have played things differently when trotted out as one of the early LIV recruits.
“I regret a few things I said in the beginning, stuff like growing the game. I should have just said it for what it was; this is good for my bank account, and I’m getting a runway to play the game of golf for as long as I possibly can,” said McDowell who has earned $16 million on LIV Golf since 2022, not including his signing on fee.
The 46-year-old was part of a very staged press conference back in the day alongside players like Ian Poulter and Lee Westwood when he came out with the “growing the game” line. It didn’t go down well anywhere, even here in his native Northern Ireland.
Every man and his dog knew that anyone who moved to LIV Golf was lining up their own chunky signing-on fees and growing the game was a PR line that was always going to be hard to swallow and never going to stick. For the likes of McDowell it could be argued, why not take the money and take your chances on the new venture. Was the 2010 US Open winner in the autumn of his career and past his best? Possibly.
At one point he was ready to look at other options, like TV commentary, to “jump ship and get a real job” then the opportunity of LIV Golf came up.
McDowell has a sharp mind and will have calculated the risks of moving to LIV Golf, not least the chance to become a Ryder Cup captain and cement his place as one of Europe’s true legends. Or the simple fact of being able to tee it up in his own national championship, the Irish Open became complicated overnight.
McDowell said things with LIV Golf became nasty but even now with PIF funding about to disappear, the Portrush man remains hopeful that LIV Golf has a future.
“I don’t think we could have ever imagined how deep this would go. The hatred. It’s funny, but if we can shift the narrative away from Saudi Arabia and bring some US money and get rid of that narrative ... because that narrative is just nasty,” added McDowell, who also said he received death threats and his family were subjected to abuse over growing the game comments.
“Maybe we can get rid of that and focus on LIV Golf as a viable golfing product.”
McDowell said downsizing the LIV Golf schedule and prize money could be an option. It now has 14 events with $30 million prize pots, which will be unsustainable going forward.
“At the beginning, no doubt, there was a lot of excess,” said McDowell. “It was maybe a little too flashy on some levels. The purse prizes are incredible. I could never imagine. I remember going to WGCs [World Golf Championship events] when I was in my late 20s, early 30s, thinking these are the most unbelievable things I’ve ever heard of, playing for $7 million. It’s insane. And then we’re playing for $20 million out here. The complacency that can come with that is just embarrassing. You obviously adjust to your surroundings and get on with it.”
Whatever shakes out, there will undoubtedly be players engineering their exit plans and the problem is many of the lesser lights have no obvious place to go if the LIV ship eventually sets sail.
Rahm for one has opted to pay his fines and end his beef with the powers that be at Wentworth in Virginia Water. It also means he will be eligible for the 2027 Ryder Cup at Adare Manor.
The Spaniard refused to pay fines when eight of his fellow LIV players, including Northern Ireland’s Tom McKibbin, agreed to pay them earlier this year. He was also unhappy at being told to play at least six DP World Tour events.
“There’s no longer a standoff,” said Rahm this week ahead of the LIV Golf Virginia. “We were able to reach an agreement. There were some concessions on both sides. I offered some; they extended an olive branch. Obviously, we’ve reached an agreement. That will not be a stress anymore.”
DP World Tour later confirmed the news that Rahm’s fines ($3 million approximately) had been paid and he was eligible to play on the tour for the remainder of the 2026 season.
“The DP World Tour and Jon Rahm have come to an agreement on conditional releases to play in conflicting tournaments on LIV Golf during the remainder of its 2026 season,” read the DP World Tour statement.
“This involves payment of all outstanding fines accrued from 2024 to date, along with participation in agreed DP World Tour tournaments (outside the Majors) in the remainder of the 2026 season.”
There is no doubt a European Ryder Cup team without Rahm would be a strange thing, given his contribution in recent years.
“The Ryder Cup is still really, really far away, but I’m happy that hopefully I won’t have to think about any worries or any predicaments come to Adare Manor then or hopefully ever. I want to support the DP World Tour. There’s a lot of events I want to play,” added Rahm.
And who knows what direction other leading lights with take in the coming months. Will Bryson DeChambeau figure out a way back to the PGA Tour or will the lure of growing his significant YouTube following become the main focus?
The professional landscape is changing once more and nowhere in this latest chapter does it feel like anyone was growing the game.