[Photo/inset: Getty images]

The year 2024 in men’s professional golf, outside of a handful of captivating moments, lacked juice. TV viewership was down across the board, a strange development when golf has never been healthier at the participation level.

Yes, there were moments like Bryson DeChambeau’s epic US Open win at Pinehurst, Scottie Scheffler’s emotional gold medal at the Olympics in Paris, and Xander Schauffele’s dominance in two majors, or stretches like the DP World Tour’s dreamy run home from its autumn series – which included epic finishes at the Irish Open at Royal County Down and the BMW PGA at Wentworth – into the finals. But outside of a handful of weeks, men’s pro golf made it obvious a shakeup is needed that puts fans first. Here are 18 suggestions. Some are reasonable, and some are ambitious:

1.PGA Tour: Introduce a shot clock to the US circuit. The pace of play has rendered parts of the tour almost unwatchable. In 2018, the DP World Tour held the Shot Clock Masters and it garnered rave reviews from the players. It can, and should, be done on PGA Tour.

2. While the framework agreement (between the PGA Tour, DP World Tour and Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund) remains in limbo, the PGA Tour should treat LIV golfers as non-members and allow them to play a maximum of seven starts per season. It’s hard to imagine LIV Golfers would play more than a handful of starts, given they already tee up in 14 events on LIV (plus the majors for those eligible). It’s also hard to picture a tournament that wouldn’t want Bryson DeChambeau in its field. Conversely, on LIV Golf, add a certain number of wildcard spots (to the two existing) for PGA Tour pros and do away with the shotgun start to allow for more than 54 players (or 18 groups of three players, one per hole).

3. LIV Golf: Speaking of DeChambeau, he has untapped potential to bridge the gap between young and old sports fans, and between the rise in playing golf and the downturn in watching golf. Whether it be trying to make a hole-in-one over his house, or his “Can I beak 50?” series, the reigning US Open champion is a content genius. His Break 50 episode with two-time major winner John Daly garnered 6.2 million views. DeChambeau should first air his YouTube episodes on the LIV Golf broadcast before its final rounds, and encourage more viewers to hang around for the competition. After the episode airs, put it on his YouTube channel.

4. PGA Tour: Get the ball rolling on promised plans from PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan to have TV broadcasts tailored to specific regions around the world. On August 28, at the Tour Championship in Atlanta, Monahan said this: “We’re elevating the experience for fans around the world. Elevating our global stars and engaging international fans is one of our top priorities, and our new PGA Tour Studios will give us that capability like never before. In the past and for example, if a fan in Tokyo wanted to watch Hideki Matsuyama’s win at the FedEx St. Jude Championship, they watched basically the same broadcast as a fan in Atlanta. Going forward, with dedicated resources made possible by PGA Tour Studios, we’re launching our new world feed.” … Great idea. Long awaited. Imagine having an Australian feed that focusses on Jason Day, Cam Davis, Min Woo Lee, Adam Scott and Karl Vilips? Or Japan, as Monahan mentioned. Let’s see it.

Following up on @chambleebrandel’s post: Yes, PGAT Sundays were -19%, but Golf Channel’s average daily (66K) was -21% this year (through Dec 15).

Other networks: MLB Net (+3%), NBA TV (-2%) and Tennis Channel (-7%).

To me that speaks to a problem with pro golf as a whole. pic.twitter.com/Kb2i1uCh5U

— Josh Carpenter (@JoshACarpenter) December 29, 2024

5. LIV Golf: Whether it be in 2026 or beyond, create at least one (and maybe more) LIV tournaments to be held from Monday to Wednesday. Tragic golf fans would be all over that weekly void between Sundays and Thursdays.

6. PGA Tour: Bring back the World Golf Championships-Match Play to the schedule. The WGC-Match Play was one of the best events on tour.



7. The DP World Tour and PGA Tour should each create an official, 72-hole night golf event to be played under lights in 2026. LIV Golf as well, for its 54-hole tournaments.

8. Follow through on Paul McGinley’s idea to give the winner of select national opens around the world a start in all four majors the following year. In April, 2024, the former Ryder Cup captain suggested the French Open and Australian Open were among the ideal candidates. It would be a boon for those tournaments and facilitate tour pros travelling around the world to play the sport’s most historic opens.

9. DP World Tour: Add another one or two links golf tournaments to the 2026 schedules of the DP World Tour and LIV Golf. The countries of Ireland, Scotland, Wales and England have so much more to offer than what is currently played by the major tours. At the very least, ensure the Irish Open goes to proper links courses every year (Royal County Down hosted in 2024), and not just beautiful parkland resorts like the K Club (2023 and 2025).

10. PGA Tour: Fix the Tour Championship’s format. Firstly, get rid of the staggered scoring. If you want an advantage for the leader, and the entire top six in FedEx Cup points, award morning tee times for them before 8am for the first two rounds, while rest of the field tees off after 12pm in the sweltering Atlanta heat. But what about the broadcast?! If you’re watching the Tour Championship’s opening two rounds between 12pm and 6pm on a Thursday and Friday, you’ll watch at any window it is on.

11. LIV Golf: Create more spots for promotion to LIV Golf via the International Series’ order of merit. This year, there was only one spot and it went to an already-exempt LIV golfer: Joaquin Niemann. Send the top five (not already exempt) from the International Series’ moneylist to LIV. The Asian Tour is full of talented players who would complement LIV’s band of superstars like Cam Smith and Brooks Koepka, who began their careers in Asia (Smith) and Europe (Koepka).

12. Mic up players and caddies at almost every event, on every tour, when they are within 10 yards of the ball. Eventually, players and their caddies will learn that within 10 yards of the ball, it’s going on the broadcast. It would add so much to golf broadcasts that it’s a mystery why it’s not already a viewing option on every shot on every tour.

13. DP World Tour: Return the Australian Open to having the men’s and women’s tournaments played separately. The mixed format hasn’t worked since debuting in 2022, and viewers have voted with their remote controls. The number of average viewers for the Sunday final round decreased from 438,000 in 2023 to 212,000 in 2024, or a 52 percent drop (source: tvtonight.com.au). Among those viewers, 66 percent of the audience was reportedly over the age of 55. So, play the men’s and women’s Australian Opens in consecutive weeks on the same course. Host it on the Melbourne Sandbelt each year (or three from every four years and take it on the road once in that span). That’ll go a long way to putting the Australian Open back on the map, and the radar of some top players.

14. Show the first hour of every round at every men’s golf event – across the PGA Tour, DP World Tour and LIV Golf – free on YouTube. Grow the audience base.

15. Create a tournament in the Fall (autumn) series, on either the PGA or DP World Tour, where each player must complete each round in 3.5 hours.

16. Make a bigger TV spectacle out of US Open and Open Championship qualifying. There’s so much on the line and often qualifiers for both are played on great golf courses (especially the Open).

17. Conceptualise plans for a production in golf similar to NFL red zone, where every touchdown is shown from every game. Bring on a channel in golf where viewers watch – in rapid sequence – every shot that led to every birdie.

18. Announce the Open Championship’s return to St Andrews (only 2025 ((Portrush)) and 2026 ((Royal Birkdale)) have been announced), so that there’s something monumental to look forward to.