For players on the professional golf circuit, the current schedule offers little to no respite. There may be no better example of their endless obligations than this: just one week after the DP World Tour’s 2024 conclusion in Dubai in mid-November, the 2025 season begins in Brisbane with the Australian PGA Championship.
Time waits for no man
For a clearer picture of this unrelenting pace, a glance at the latest sports betting odds is telling—prospective winners are already listed for major events throughout 2025 which underscores how the sport rarely pauses long enough for players or fans to catch their breath.
In fact, by the time the final putt drops in Dubai, fans can already use an acca calculator to calculate potential returns on their picks for the next season’s tournaments.
Whether it’s Scottie Scheffler at 9/2 to win the Masters, Rory McIlroy at 9/1 to win the PGA Championship, or Jon Rahm at 11/1 to win the US Open, the tale of the tape is already set for the new season—even before the sun has fully set on the old one.
McIlroy’s line in the sand
This frantic globe-trotting has become a major point of contention in professional golf with players on both the PGA and DP World Tour increasingly outspoken about the demands placed on them.
Even Rory McIlroy, who was a fierce defender of the structure of the traditional tours during LIV Golf’s inception, has seen his tolerance for nonstop travel wane.
Speaking in Dubai ahead of the season finale, the Northern Irishman said his days of doing the ‘hard slog’ were over, and that he will only play in events where he has performed well historically even if it means being fined for not fulfilling his quota of events.
McIlroy’s typically forthright views often capture the prevailing mood on tour and will undoubtedly raise concerns among the custodians keen to preserve the game’s oldest competitions.
To that end, the fear of another defection grew when Phil Mickelson took to social media shortly after McIlroy’s comments to suggest that a condensed LIV schedule is the ideal preparation for those who want to focus their energy on winning majors.
Of course, it’s unlikely that McIlroy will be drawn to LIV’s financial offers, considering his past criticisms of the tour.
However, with patience now wearing thin among the most committed members of the PGA and European Tours, the need for a merger between LIV and the traditional tours is no longer just overdue—it has become a necessity to prevent the “grass is greener” mentality from taking hold among those feeling short-changed by the current system.
The only constant is change
Movement on this situation is expected with a change in government in the White House in early 2025. Essentially, the new administration may be more receptive to a potential deal with the Saudis.
McIlroy has also expressed interest in having influential Republican backer Elon Musk—whom he refers to as “the smartest man on the planet”— involved in facilitating any potential merger.
Whether Musk does or not remains to be seen, but the reality is this: it’s not rocket science to see that professional golf is in a rut and change is needed for the game to move forward.
