For over two years, the fractures at the top of the men’s game have dominated the headlines almost as much as events on the course.
While negotiations are ongoing between the PGA Tour and Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF) behind LIV Golf to plot a route for a harmonious future between the two circuits, there is still no word on when - or even if - it will happen, almost a year after they came to the table.
In recent months, players including Rory McIlroy and Bryson DeChambeau have expressed concerns that the impasse is beginning to turn fans away, while it's never far from the conversation on social media.
Max Homa is one of 156 players in the field for this week’s second Major of the year, the PGA Championship - one of the few events where PGA Tour players and LIV golfers come together. However, he’s not convinced the game is suffering as much as others claim.
Ahead of the Valhalla tournament, he said: “I do feel like the internet probably makes it seem worse than it really is. It's a very small community, and they're incredibly loud. So I think if you spend a lot of time on the internet, it does feel like professional golf is crumbling.”
Homa then cited recent tournaments that indicate the men’s elite game is thriving. “It's tough to decipher, because when we're on the grounds of events, it's amazing,” he said. “Last week at Quail Hollow was awesome. Felt no different at Bay Hill. Felt no different... The Players. Felt no different."
Still, he was reluctant to dismiss the concerns of those with another opinion. He continued: “It's odd. It doesn't feel like it's dying, yet you hear a lot of very valid complaints on the internet. So I think it's been, it's very troubling.”
He also acknowledged that the continuing emphasis on the business side of the game is unhealthy for fans. “I don't like where it's going, he said. “It's got to be exhausting to be a casual golf fan at this point in time. I don't know why you would want to hear about the business side of this game. As a fan of other sports, I do not care about the business side of what the Lakers and Dodgers are doing.”
The divide has been back in the news in recent days, with McIlroy last week ruling out a return to the PGA Tour board. That was followed by the news that one of the senior figures involved in bringing the PGA Tour and PIF to the table, Jimmy Dunne, has resigned from the PGA Tour board, describing his role as “utterly superfluous.”
Homa admitted that, for the good of the game, stories of that nature need to become background issues sooner rather than later. He added: “I hope at some point soon we can just get back to entertaining people and playing golf and seeing who shoots the lowest score and not talking about what our Player Advisory Council is going to do and who - the fans of golf should not know who is on the board.
“Men's professional golf might be in a weird spot, so hopefully we can continue to get more people to play golf and then once everybody can get this thing figured out hopefully we get those people playing golf to also enjoy watching a little bit of golf. We have a lot going on here, but hopefully at some point everybody can find the plot again.”
