Justin Rose admits he is currently trying to find a situation that would be beneficial for everyone involved in uniting the three major tours in men's professional golf.
Officials from the PGA Tour, DP World Tour and LIV Golf are still in discussions about potentially joining forces to address the situation on the men’s side, but the latest reports indicate that progress, if any, is slow.
While Rose was unaware of the specifics of the negotiations, the English player said that due to the extremely tight schedule, it would be almost impossible to create a schedule that the world's best players could agree to.
The 11-time PGA Tour champion also said he wasn’t surprised by the invention of LIV, considering the growing number of tournaments that have been introduced over time.
The 44-year-old said golf's main problem right now from an elite player's perspective is that many players only want to play a maximum of 22 tournaments per season, which limits the amount of time fans can spend engaging with the sport and, in turn, reduces the number of sponsors that work with major tournaments.
(Image source: Getty Images)
With the sport being pulled in different directions by its key stakeholders, Ross admitted he had no idea what a win-win solution would look like.
Speaking ahead of this week’s BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth, the DP World Tour’s signature event, Rose said: “I think that’s why we’re in a bind because historically, or even if you look back at the previous PGA Tour, there were, I don’t know how many tournaments, I’d guess 45, but there were a lot of tournaments, and obviously the top guys seemed to play 20 or 25 tournaments a year at best, 22 might seem like a magic number. The majors plus 18.
“I think that’s why there are people, there are tours, there are leagues that have the opportunity to develop the concept, at least in theory, of how many times the top players want to play together, and that’s why we’re in the position we are in now.”
Including majors and the FedEx Cup playoffs, the PGA Tour offers its members the opportunity to play up to 34 tournaments in 2024. Including the Paris Olympics, Scottie Scheffler played only 20 tournaments because his schedule revolved around the biggest championships.
Meanwhile, LIV 2024 individual champion Jon Rahm has played just 16 tournaments (including the Olympics) and is unlikely to play more than 20 before the end of the year. Rory McIlroy also recently said he would cut back on his schedule again.
Rory McIlroy plans to reduce schedule in 2025
(Image source: Getty Images)
Rose continued: “It's obviously a difficult problem to solve because we're from different countries, we're on different tours, how do you fit in that? That's why I can't imagine what the future will be like when we get back together, because I think we're still limited by the fact that the top guys only want to play a certain number of tournaments.”
“So you can create this league, that league, this tour, and supplement it with that, but if you add up to 30 tournaments, no matter how much money you put into it, there will still be players who choose not to play.”
Scheffler has previously mentioned that he would be willing to play in the majors for “significantly less” — a sentiment Rose said he and 96 percent of people agree with.
Scottie Scheffler has made 20 appearances this season
(Image source: Getty Images)
Scheffler's Ryder Cup opponents pointed out that nearly every top player structures his season around being in top form at the majors, and that – no matter which tour – that tends to be the case.
Rose said: “At the end of the day, you look at the four majors and say, ‘OK, I need to stay mentally fresh and ready for these tournaments; this is my preparation.’ You have the family component in your life. All the other factors come into play.
“So that's the million-dollar question that we're all trying to figure out, like what is the product? What's the best way for top players to play together in an engaging, concise, manageable way that makes sense not only for us but for the product itself, for the attention span of the fans and so on.”
