A major development in the long-running PGA Tour-LIV Golf rivalry went down on Tuesday. Reigning NCAA champion Michael La Sasso surprised everyone by joining LIV Golf and giving the Masters a spot in the running.
Later in the day, big champ and longtime LIV champion Graeme McDowell took X to offer a “hot” inspired by LIV’s latest signing. That heated attack started a debate between McDowell and the famous PGA Tour expert on X, during which McDowell called the PGA Tour “the perfect tour in the world.”
Here’s what you need to know.
Michael La Sasso is leaving Masters to join LIV
Last May in Carlsbad, Calif., Ole Miss junior Michael La Sasso won the 2025 NCAA tournament individual title.
The big win earned the promising junior a spot in the 2025 US Open at Oakmont, and helped earn him sponsorship exemptions from five other PGA Tour events last season.
La Sasso’s NCAA win also earned him an invitation to the 2026 Masters.
It seemed that there was no question if La Sasso will turn pro and join the PGA Tour, however when. But now we know he won’t be joining the PGA Tour at all.
On Tuesday, LIV Golf announced that it has signed La Sasso to a contract, and will play with Phil Mickelson on the HyFlyers team as the 2026 LIV season begins in February.
It wasn’t just a surprise for La Sasso to choose LIV over the PGA Tour, it was a surprise when you consider what he’s giving up: his Masters invitation.
NCAA champions get to play in the following year’s Masters, but only if they maintain their ateur status. Since La Sasso will turn pro to join LIV, he will miss his tee times at Augusta National, too.
Graeme McDowell’s ‘Hot take’ on LIV vs. PGA Tour
While many questioned why a promising young player would give up the chance of a lifetime to play the Masters to join LIV Golf, McDowell had a very different opinion.
In the first post on X, McDowell wrote that he “takes the hot” to give. The theory behind the 2010 US Open champion was simple. He pointed out that LIV provided a “legitimate” route to the professional ranks for young “minor celebrities”. The PGA Tour, he said, involves a very “dangerous” way of working.
;)
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“Hot take but LIV is a legitimate way for potential new stars to get paid to be tutored by Tour greats and play a proven program,” McDowell wrote in X. “The road to the PGA Tour is very dangerous and full of great talent that has never made it.”
And McDowell has a point. If La Sasso had turned down LIV’s offer, he might have played the Masters another year in college. But nothing will be confirmed after the start of his Masters.
To make his career on the PGA Tour, La Sasso will have to outperform other college players to make it to the PGA Tour University level. Or he can play Q-School and hope to make the Tour or earn Korn Ferry Tour status and start his career there.
If he hadn’t gone to LIV, he probably would have gotten more sponsor exemptions and would have done well enough to earn Tour status.
But all of those methods involve a lot of “ifs,” especially in the financial department. By joining LIV, La Sasso receives guaranteed payment and immediate access to LIV funds starting in February.
McDowell calls the PGA Tour ‘the most complete tour’ in an interview with the pros
McDowell’s take inspired a lot of commentary. One of them comes from the famous PGA Tour pro Michael Kim.
Kim is very popular on X and often shares behind-the-scenes details about her life on the PGA Tour.
When she saw McDowell’s post, Kim decided to chime in with a reply to give her opinion publicly.
Kim began by saying he “didn’t disagree” with McDowell’s main argument, but Kim also said that if a player is good enough, he will eventually make it to the PGA Tour one way or another.
“I’m not arguing, but the PGA Tour is one of the best things in sports and if you do well, you’ll end up playing on the tour,” Kim wrote. “If you never succeeded… you wouldn’t be good enough.”
;)
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McDowell responded with another surprising statement. First, he said he doesn’t dispute that the PGA Tour is “the ultimate golf tour in the world right now.”
But he went on to argue that the Tour is becoming more and more a “closed shop,” and LIV offers young players like La Sasso guaranteed “pocket money the chance to compete at the highest level.”
“There’s no disputing to me that the PGA Tour is the ultimate world tour of golf right now. My point is that it’s becoming more and more a closed shop, like LIV, with hard and narrow ways to get there,” McDowell wrote in X. “Getting there is harder than staying and golf is one of the few sports in the world where their fairways can’t guarantee their talent is the best. what’s important and LIV offers an exciting and compelling opportunity for the next gen player Cash in his pocket and the opportunity to compete at the highest level in my humble opinion.
When a commenter responded to McDowell saying the road to the PGA Tour is challenging, rather than “dangerous,” McDowell elaborated on his point, calling the road to the PGA Tour a “rat race.”
“I mean [the path to the PGA Tour is] a rat race with constant failure on the small tour and the lottery nature of many Q school divisions,” McDowell wrote. “It’s so hard to work on tour that you keep your card and tell yourself you’re right.”
