LIV Golf Stalwart Names One Change He'd Make To The League

One of the founder members of the LIV Golf League, Peter Uihlein has played in every single tournament across three seasons and for three different teams - so not many know the organisation as well as him.

So who better for Golf Monthly to sit down with to get the situation report on the state of LIV Golf ahead of the fourth season of the team-based 54-hole competition.

The American was originally drafted onto Brooks Koepka's Smash GC side before moving to Dustin Johnson's 4 Aces for a season and playing last year as a one of Bubba Watson's RangeGoats.

The 35-year-old is generally delighted with the progress LIV has made, with the innovation shown at tournaments and the process of those in charge consulting with and listening to the players.

If there's one thing Uihlein would change though, it would be to move the point of emphasis more into the team aspect - even to the degree of tipping the balance of prize money more in the team direction.

"It’s changed a lot. It just keeps growing right, it keeps innovating, keeps doing things different," Uihlein told Golf Monthly.

"Feedback has been great from all the way up the execs, they seem to listen to what the players want and what the league as a whole wants to accomplish. It seems like everyone’s on the same page, which is nice.

"Just kept getting better and better. I think the first year we played maybe two countries and then this year we’re gonna play a lot more and then it’s just going to keep going and we’re just going to keep kind of expanding and keep going all around the world.

"It’s been pretty incredible, and the deal with Fox, that’s obviously a big step in the right direction for the league for the market here in America."

More prize money for team finishes?

Along with the 54-hole format and shotgun start, LIV's big selling points were the huge prize pots, playing all around the world and the team format - but the latter hasn't quite been at the forefront as much as it could have in tournament play.

For all bar the final team event, the emphasis is still very much on the individuals at most of the LIV Golf tournaments - and that's something Uihlein would look to change even if it meant the teams getting the majority of the prize money.

"First thing I’d like the team stuff to be a bit more kind of at the forefront," UIhlein said. "Obviously, there’s things that the coverage and stuff that you could do to make more a point of emphasis with the teams.

"But I think the team stuff needs to be much more at the forefront, and much more focused and much more of a goal for you know, LIV, and then the teams just for the branding standpoint to be definitely more at the forefront."

Team wins are still handsomely rewarded each week, with the four players splitting $3m for winning just one event, but the majority of the prize purse still goes to the individual standings.

Uihlein wouldn't mind if those shares shifted more towards the team finishing positions rather than individuals in order to change LIV Golf's emphasis to more on that team aspect that was promised at the start.

"You obviously have an individual purse and you have a team purse, right? If you really want to make it team centric, you know, you start maybe the team plays for the bigger portion or whatever?

"So I think that all of a sudden puts much more emphasis on the team and then the players care more about how the team finishes and stuff like that, so I think that’d be one quick, easy way, but not entirely sure if that’s the way they’re going to go.

"But as of right now, I think we’re going forward with feels like kind of the same stuff as last year, maybe there might be a few tweaks here and there, but as of right now that’s what I’m aware of."

Louis Oosthuizen last year hinted that LIV may lean more into the team aspect of the league more in the future.

"I think going forward we all feel that the team side of it is going to take over and LIV Golf is probably going to be more team than anything," the Stinger GC captain said.

"It’s very exciting to travel all over the world again playing golf in different places."