Another golf season is coming to an end, and while the richest pros on the PGA Tour and LIV Golf got considerably richer over the course of the year, we still are without a final agreement officially ending pro golf’s divorce.
As a result, both sides are continuing on their own separate paths. The PGA Tour, for example, is considering a bevy of changes to reduce the field sizes at tournaments to a more manageable size. The changes are currently before the Player Advisory Council, awaiting its decision.
Among the strategies to reach their goal of smaller tournaments is the elimination of Monday Qualifiers at some tournaments, and the reduction of spots available at Monday Qualifiers at other events.
For those not in the know, Monday Qualifiers provide an opportunity for non-Tour players to play their way into that week’s tournament. They’ve been the source of numerous feel-good stories of unknown players earning a spot in PGA Tour events.
But now that could largely be coming to an end. Enter the son of current LIV Golf CEO Greg Norman, Greg Norman Jr.
Upon hearing of the potential changes to PGA Tour Monday Qualifiers, Norman Jr. took to X to share a wild idea for LIV that he has “been preaching for a while.”
The idea? Run weekly qualifiers at LIV events to make up a “People’s Team” that would compete against the pros like Brooks Koepka and Bryson DeChambeau.
“For what it’s worth… I’ve been preaching for awhile that LIV should absolutely open up weekly qualifiers for a People’s Team, a team that anyone can qualify for,” Norman Jr. wrote on X. “If you play well, you stay on the team, and the general public can participate in shared ownership and governance.”
Now, the qualifying events would likely prevent any true Average Joe hackers from teeing it up against the pros, as is the case with Monday Qualifiers on the PGA Tour. But it still would provide a new and entertaining avenue to draw interest from sports fans to the upstart league.
Whether or not it could become a reality is another question. The elder Norman’s contract with LIV expires at the end of the year, and we don’t yet know whether it will be renewed or if someone else will take the helm at LIV Golf.
Whoever is in charge, they’ll have to deal with a lot of headwinds, including the failure to land a network TV contract.
