Lucas Glover, 45, has a better perspective on the professional game than most.
He won the 2009 U.S. Open, fending off Phil Mickelson and Tiger Woods on rain-swept Bethpage Black. His next win was the 2011 Wells Fargo Championship, but he then suffered a decade-long drought that can be attributed to injuries, a slump, and personal issues. This shows that Glover was at the top of the sports world, but also fell to his lowest point. He knows what it means to be a major champion, but he was also a journeyman who struggled to hold his PGA Tour card multiple times.
That's why his perspective is important.
Given that an agreement between the PGA Tour and the Saudi Public Investment Fund is reportedly “coming close,” Glover proposed a solution to the tour's potential actions against top LIV golfers. The former Clemson Tiger said the tour should extend an olive branch and invite these players to its signature event.
“If you're going to have a top-end event, you need huge top-end talent playing LIV,” Glover commented. Thursday Sirius XM Radio Show.
“If we're going to create a for-profit money-making organization, we're going to need them, and golf needs them. If it's unification, if it's head-to-head, we're going to need them. Whatever comes up, the best players in the world need to play.”
Glover previously scrapped his Signature Event, an eight-tournament with a limited field and large sums of money. Tours created these programs to cater to stars, TV sponsors, and spectators, but they also gave journeyman Tour players the intimidation of the “Heisman” and distanced them from those players, allowing stars to compete with the best players. Made it difficult to compete.
Therefore, Glover believes players like Bryson DeChambeau, Jon Rahm, Brooks Koepka and Cameron Smith should be invited to the tour. That would create more interest among fans and sponsors. That will lead to more drama.
Glover also advocates for a larger field in signature events.
“If you were to spend $22 million to $25 million or more on one of these events, you would have a much better field, but if you limit the fans and TV audience to 70 to 80 players, , that's going to really limit that storyline,'' Glover said.
“It limits the drama. In my opinion, the more organizations you have, the more golfers you have, the more competition you have, so it limits the competition overall. It's just common sense. Besides that. It takes it to another level. It's better for the fans on the field because they can play golf all day long.”
Jack Mirko is a golf staff writer for SB Nation's Playing Through. Follow him on X @jack_milko.
