By. John K. Abendroth, PGA
Change is in the wind for professional golf as the PGA-Tour season tees off for 2025.
The horrible wildfires in Southern California are forcing a move for the Los Angeles Open, possibly to Arizona because of saftey resources needed.
The TGL indoor golf league promoted by part owners Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy started with odd results. The indoor surfaces seemed odd for the players as several errant shots seemed out of place. Tiger had a couple of 10-foot putts that missed wide by about 6-8 inches...that does not happen. Wonder what the ratings will be like in the weeks that Tiger and Rory do not play...Tuesday nights on ESPN.
LIV golf has signed a broadcast deal with Fox Sports, demoted Greg Norman with the hiring of a new CEO. There continues to be growing pains with players leaving, rumors of new players and a couple of players regretting jumping to LIV.
A bright spot seems to be the LPGA-Tour getting new excitement with Nellie Korda having a banner year and do they get a boost from their ratings because of the success the WNBA has seen. Charley Hull had a good year, but her fame was photos of her smoking during a round of golf.
Lydia Ko had a big year with 3-wins and a Gold Medal in the Olympics and became a Dame in her home country of New Zealand. The Gold Medal win qualified her for the World Golf Hall of Fame. She garnered a big payday winning the AIG Women's Open in Wales, all of this at 27 years of age.
Lastly, the PGA-Tour has sponsor issues trying to force higher fees to create the increases in prize money. There have a batch of tope players not playing in big events. Has the big money created apathy or have events like TGL tied up their schedules.
2025 will be a transition year so stay in touch.
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