Zurich Classic: Why The PGA Tour Should Invite Teams From LIV Golf

I am going to say something controversial to start... The Zurich Classic is one of my favourite weeks of the year. With the absence of the WGC Match Play from the calendar moving forwards, this really is the only opportunity to see the pros take on an alternate format outside of the Ryder Cup, but I fear for its future due to what I would describe as a gradually weakening field.

As we move towards the start of this week's event, I am feeling nostalgic about the 'good old days', and I think I know why.

Cast your mind back three years to the 2021 edition, which is the last time I remember the event being a real blockbuster, and let's consider what made that tournament so great.

The answer lies in the play-off. All four contenders comprising the two teams battling for the trophy now play on LIV Golf, which perhaps highlights this particular event as one of the biggest victims of the split.

The eventual playoff winners that year, Cam Smith and Marc Leishman, battled valiantly against the team of Lois Oosthuizen and Charl Schwartzel, but there were also plenty of other LIV Golf names appearing at the top of the leaderboard.

Third place that year was Peter Uihlein, playing with Richy Werenski, with Tyrrell Hatton, Jon Rahm, Thomas Pieters and Bubba Watson all finishing in the top-8 with their respective partners.

The event was also won in 2019 by Jon Rahm, with partner Ryan Palmer, winning by three shots from Sergio Garcia and his partner Tommy Fleetwood, and quite frankly it isn't the same without the big names that clearly enjoyed teeing it up at this intriguing event.

So, how do we fix it? With the on-going discussions between the PGA Tour and LIV Golf regarding the future of mens professional golf, I believe this event could have been the ideal olive branch and the perfect opportunity to take the first step towards unity in golf.

After all, similarly to the LIV Golf product, this is a tournament with a team focus at its core – so what better way could there be to test the water? 

Picture the scene... we get to Sunday and the leaders are coming down the stretch. You have Team McIlroy and Lowry, along with Team Cantlay and Schauffele, flying the flag for the PGA tour, while storming through the field to contend for the title is Legion XIII's Tyrrell Hatton and Jon Rahm, or Stinger GC captain Lois Oosthuizen and Charl Schwartzel out for revenge.

No disrespect to the current field, but that is a much more compelling watch than the alternative reality that we expect to see this weekend. The side-story of the PGA Tour teams vs the LIV Golf teams would give the event a sort of Ryder Cup feel, and the opportunity to get the world's best players back together at a non-major event would have only been a good thing for the Zurich Classic.

I mean, if you wanted to go the whole hog, why not insist that each team consists of one PGA Tour player and one LIV Golf player, in a co-sanctioned event that announces to the whole world that we are willing to move in one direction once again.

Perhaps that might be a little farfetched, and I would be upset at being denied the opportunity to see the team of McIlroy and Lowry tee it up together this week, but the point I am making is that discussions have dragged on long enough and maybe the only way to get things moving in the right direction is to rip off the band-aid.

While the opportunity has clearly passed, I believe the sentiment around getting everyone back on the same golf course as quickly as possible remains relevant, especially as the sad reality sets in that I feel more excited about watching LIV Adelaide this week than what was historically one of my favourite competitions on the PGA Tour.