The same day that Jon Rahm announced his signing for LIV Golf there was a player who had a smile from ear to ear on his face. It was Mackenzie Hughes, a 33-year-old Canadian golfer with two victories on the PGA Tour. The Spanish player’s decision radically changed his schedule for 2024. Hughes had finished in 51st place in the FedEx Cup, so he was just outside the first designated tournaments of the year. He didn’t get into the Sentry or Pebble Beach. Hurt and angry, he found no better way to get over the bad time than to plan a holiday with his whole family in the Dominican Republic for the first week of the year. But all this was changed by Rahm…
Jon’s departure to LIV Golf led to his immediate suspension from the PGA Tour and, therefore, his disappearance from the FedEx Cup. Suddenly, the 51st player moved up a place. Suddenly, Hughes got into the Sentry, into Pebble Beach and cancelled his trip to the Dominican Republic. “The change of plans has cost a lot, but we have done it with pleasure,” joked the Canadian.
No one had to explain to Mackenzie what could happen if Jon went to LIV. He is a member of the PGA Tour players’ council and was clear about the chain reaction it would cause and from which he would benefit. For this reason, few were more attentive than him to the rumours of the Biscayan. What has been discovered as a result of this situation is that Hughes has very clear ideas about the drift of world golf, he has his own well-formed opinion and does not hesitate to express it. It is worth listening to and reading his reflections:
Golf was better in 2019 than now… “I believe that professional golf in 2019 was at its peak. Our economic model was sustainable. Since then, we had COVID, where I think golf did well, but it was still a pandemic, and later came the threat of LIV. Suddenly, we started doubling the purses and asking sponsors to double their investment. However, we are giving them the same product. Also, fans have started to wonder if golfers still enjoy playing golf or are only concerned about money. Those who go to LIV have made it very clear that everything revolves around money. Yes, growing the game, but also money. For me, this is disappointing. Now that I am qualified for the designated ones, obviously it would be foolish not to play in these events. They are great opportunities. But I don’t think it’s right. The investment increased in a very big way and the product is the same and the fans are scratching their heads thinking: what’s going on?”.
The dispersion of the best players and the damage to the fans… “Fans don’t know where certain players play with these disputes between LIV and PGA TOUR. It’s not unified. There are ongoing negotiations that are not clear and are being prolonged for a long time. The fan just wants to see golf. It was one of the sports that escaped other nonsense, but now we have a lot of nonsense too. You don’t just have golf, you have many other things going on. It’s like a circus. I’m worried that in two years the PGA TOUR won’t have anyone to sponsor a tournament because no one wants to pay these prices. It’s a very fine line”.
The division that has been generated among the players themselves… “There are many players who feel they have the right to demand. You start to see all these large amounts of money flying around, this offer and that offer and people think, ‘Oh, well, I stayed loyal and now where’s my money?’ I see it as, yes, you have the right and the privilege to play here and it’s an opportunity, but nobody owes you anything. Nobody forces you. You don’t have to stay, you can go and play there if you want. So this attitude that the TOUR owes me something, I don’t like it either. I want the more casual golf fans, those who are not so involved, to realise that not everyone thinks the same”.
His ideal solution to the conflict… “I don’t think LIV Golf is going to disappear soon, so I hope there’s a way for the tours to coexist and that there’s some kind of unity, that there’s not a big gap. I’m not saying there’s a two-way street, but at least more flow. And not for everyone. Not everyone in LIV is exempt from playing on the PGA TOUR. So not everyone from LIV should be able to play a TOUR event whenever they want. Obviously, the PGA Tour misses players like Brooks Koepka, Phil, DJ, Cam Smith… There’s no doubt that the TOUR is stronger with those playing. I would love to find a way for those guys to play again, although on the other hand I understand the following: how do you justify to the Spieths, JTs, Rorys, Scotties or Will Zalatorises, who were offered large amounts of money and decided to stay, that there are others who maybe played two years of LIV and then returned to the TOUR as if nothing had happened? These players are the ones you have to worry about more. If Brooks came back tomorrow, I would be fine. Because I wasn’t offered a lot of money to go and play in LIV and I wasn’t interested either. But there were other guys who seriously considered it and were probably told, hey, stay put. This is where you should be. And now they make a deal with the PIF… I don’t know. Deep down they know that the best thing for the game is to come back here, but how do you justify to them that they have won 150 million and now they are going to play on your TOUR as if nothing had happened? Maybe they have to accept it and put up with it. That’s the outcome I hope for, that those guys eventually find their way back here, play consistently here and we find a way to coexist. And by the way, that the bitterness that has been generated, the rivalry and the division in golf goes away. That again this is about who is playing the best golf in the biggest tournaments and not about Fox News announcing that Jon Rahm is going to LIV Golf. I’m tired of talking about those things”.
There is no way to please everyone… “I would like to think that there are players who think like me, but I’m sure there are others who think the opposite, who would say, those have gone, never let them come back. But that doesn’t seem realistic or the best for golf. As much as I like my position on the PGA TOUR, I wouldn’t feel threatened by the return of those players. I would feel that this TOUR would become stronger if we had the best players in the world playing here. But I know there are guys who strongly oppose what I say and maintain: fuck them. How to make everyone happy? You can’t”.
Confidence that the best will be done for the PGA Tour… “Wyndham Clark wins the US Open and that week there was more talk about the break Jay Monahan took and the bunch of rumours about Patrick Cantlay than about the tournament. There was lateral noise. With all this we move away from the purity of competition, from the game and from important moments. I don’t know if all this took some joy away from me, but it definitely took a lot of concentration away from me. In recent months I have focused more on the idea that the board members are going to handle it in the best way they know and I’m going to trust that they do it for the best interest of the circuit. I’m going to play golf where they tell me to play and do it as best I can. If that gets resolved, great. Let’s hope it’s something quick. But worrying about it day by day doesn’t do me any good, because I have nothing to say. I haven’t been asked to go to any meetings yet. I don’t think I’m going to any meetings soon. So talking about it, thinking about it day after day, is not going to help me or get me anywhere”.
The bad taste left by the Delaware meeting in many players… “That made it clear to me which opinions mattered. Were there 70 players from the PGA TOUR there and they thought that 25 or 30 were enough? It was a slap in the face. You have 70 of the best players from the PGA TOUR that season, and you’re going to tell me I can’t sit in that meeting and at least listen? You can put me in the back and tell me: Hey, Mac, don’t talk, but at least listen to what we’re saying. It was a closed-door meeting to find out who’s who on the TOUR. I’m not saying you should make a decision based on what I think, but it would be nice if you at least put in your two cents or felt like you were part of it. I’m not a star on the PGA TOUR, but I’m not a downer either. I understand that you have to listen to your best men in the face of a threat like this, to those who can really leave. I know they don’t care if Mackenzie Hughes plays the PGA Tour or not. I get it, but… I don’t love it”.
About the Tour’s transparency and the logical darkness in negotiations… “I feel they’re trying, but it’s been a very strange year to be on the players’ council. A lot of times we sat in those meetings thinking we were having good and meaningful discussions and then a month later something happened that we hadn’t even decided. For example, cutting the field of the designated ones was a topic of discussion at the Farmers last year. It was talked about and on the council there was a big division between those in favour and against. It was a 50/50. Later we got to Bay Hill and it came out that, oh, we have eight new designated tournaments for 2024 and they’re going to be reduced field and no cut. We were like, wait a minute, we talked about this a month and a half ago and there was no debate or final decision on it. Then, all of a sudden, out of nowhere, we have this final result. I expressed my frustration to the Tour: Why am I on the council if I’m not going to be part of any of these decisions? I’m not going to waste two hours of my time in San Diego for nothing. But this has improved. They’ve told me they can’t tell the negotiation because it would slow it down. I would like to know what the specific details of the final outcome they are pursuing are. I don’t know what they want from the PIF. I don’t know what they want with regard to coexistence with LIV once the deal is closed. What they want LIV to be. I don’t know what Monahan wants for the players. Does Jay want Brooks back or not? The PGA TOUR Enterprises is a for-profit business, so I’ll want the best product, and the best product now includes Brooks, Cam Smith, Bryson… But I don’t know anything and maybe it’s not my job to know”.
