Will Saudi Arabia’s LIV Golf Tour Lure Akshay Bhatia

Saudi Arabia’s LIV Golf Tour is likely offering Akshay Bhatia big money to switch from the U.S. PGA Tour

Earlier this week, at his press conference prior to the start of the Masters Tournament, Akshay Bhatia said he had spoken with Jon Rahm about how to play the challenging golf course near Atlanta. 

In December, Rahm, who won the Masters last year, switched from the U.S. Professional Golf Association (PGA) to the LIV Tour. He was reportedly enticed by the LIV with a payment package totaling $550 million.

LIV Golf Investments is funded by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, the major investment arm of the Saudi Arabian Kingdom. Given the kingdom’s crude oil revenues and the backing of crown prince Mohammed bin Salman, LIV has no budget constraints and apparently does not need to show profits.    

At his Masters press conference, Bhatia also said that Phil Mickelson was one of his mentors. A left-handed golfer like Bhatia, Mickelson has won 45 PGA titles including three Masters and three other majors. “For me, to play with young kids like Akshay, who are so talented, it actually motivates me,” Mickelson told the media after a round of golf with Bhatia at a PGA tournament in 2021.

In June 2022, at the start of LIV’s first season, Mickelson led several PGA players who moved to the Saudi funded tour. LIV reportedly offered Mickelson $200 million to make the switch.

Before he joined the LIV Tour, Mickelson told an interviewer that the Saudis “killed [Washington Post reporter and U.S. resident Jamal] Khashoggi and have a horrible record on human rights.” Then Mickelson apologized for his earlier comments on the Saudi rulers.

Mickelson is also a mentor to Rahm. Prior to attracting Rahm, the LIV Tour mostly consisted of golfers who were past their prime athletic ability, like Mickelson who is 53-years-old, those who had major injuries or those who had won few golf titles. This is still the case. For instance, only 13 of 54 LIV players are among the 89 who qualified for the Masters tournament this week. And, after today’s third round, only two LIV players are among the top ten heading into the final round of the tournament.

The PGA Tour was founded in 1916. It was nurtured by Jack Nicklaus, who played on the tour from 1962 to 2003. He won 18 major titles, three more than Tiger Woods. When LIV surfaced, Nicklaus and Woods led the effort to protect the PGA from losing more players. Nicklaus said that the PGA has wide support among most leading golfers, especially Americans, since they were groomed for years, from tournaments for teens to U.S. college competitions, the Korn Ferry International Tour, and the PGA Tour.

The PGA offers sizeable sums in prize money. For instance, the total prize money at this week’s Masters is $18 million. So, the top 200 golfers in the PGA earn a very good income. For instance, since turning professional in 2019 at age 18, Bhatia has earned $5.2 million in prize money on the PGA Tour. In addition, like many other top golfers, he earns substantial amounts from advertising sponsors.

In February, Strategic Sports Group, a U.S. based entity led by John Henry, owner of the Boston Red Sox baseball team, agreed to invest up to $3 billion for a minority stake in the PGA. The investors seek to improve the appeal of golf to a wider global audience and thereby grow media revenues. Also, about 200 PGA Tour players will be given equity in the PGA Tour. 

Since June 2023, the PGA and LIV have been in negotiations to merge the two tours. Yet in December, LIV got Rahm to switch from the PGA. Rahm, who was then ranked third in the World, was a major catch for the LIV Tour. So, maybe LIV would seek to attract Bhatia and other players, including to increase its bargaining clout with the PGA.

LIV would get a big media boost if it can attract Bhatia. He has won two PGA tournaments, is only 22- years-old and is of Indian origin. At his Masters’ press conference, Bhatia was asked by an Indian reporter if he realized the major impact his second PGA Tour win, at the Valero Texas Open last week, had in India. As with other sports businesses, both the PGA and LIV see India as a major potential market for their TV, online, YouTube, and social media content.

Bhatia has not publicly stated that he plans to join the LIV Tour. Nor has there been news leaks by LIV officials or players about such a potential move.     

The only reason for Bhatia to join LIV would be if he is keen to earn more money. Rahm’s income from LIV, for instance, will be more than ten times the $50 million he earned on the PGA Tour before he switched to LIV. Also, Bhatia has a dislocated shoulder, an injury that keeps recurring. In case the injury does not heal quickly and he assumes it will mean fewer years of peak performance on the PGA Tour, Bhatia could switch to the LIV Tour - if the Saudis offer him a sizeable sum to do so.

Speaking of his joining LIV, Rahm told the media he has a "duty" to his family "to give them the best opportunities and the most amount of resources possible."

It’s hard for the ordinary golfer to listen to multi-millionaires say they made the move to LIV to put food on the table for their families, Shane Lowry told the Irish Independent. Ranked 36^th in the world, PGA member Lowry has earned $19 million in prize money since he turned professional in 2015.

“I think what Jon (Rahm) said about growing the game and stuff that’s obviously what they have to say” since LIV owns them, Lowry added, “I make a great living doing what we do, playing the game I love for a living.”