Professional golf is completely divided right now, and it has been since the inception of LIV Golf and their attempts to poach as many star names as possible from the PGA Tour.

LIV was formed back in 2022, and numerous high-profile names jumped ship from the PGA Tour, including Bryson DeChambeau, Phil Mickelson and Dustin Johnson.

Towards the end of 2023, LIV were building up a head of steam. However, things have shifted back in the PGA Tour’s favor over the past couple of years.

Give us one reason why Chris Gotterup could be the man to challenge Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy

Gotterup began his 2026 in fine style with a win at the Sony Open…

Brooks Koepka’s return to the PGA Tour in December 2025 put LIV under all sorts of pressure.

Koepka being allowed back on the PGA Tour has been fairly well-received for the most part.

LIV are definitely behind the eight-ball, so to speak, and their struggles to sign elite players during the off-season have not gone unnoticed.

The four genuine ‘needle-movers’ in the professional game

It is Rex Hoggard’s belief that there are only four genuine ‘needle-movers’ in the professional game right now.

Hoggard listed the four players who he believes are the only needle-movers in the game right now, when speaking on The Golf Channel Podcast with Rex and Lav.

“Tiger at that moment in time in all sports, just not golf, was a genuine superstar.

“Those players don’t come along very often, and I would turn this back on you and challenge you, how many needle-movers are there actually in the game right now?

“I would say Rory McIlroy is clearly one of them. Bryson is one of them. I think Scottie Scheffler is one of them, but I don’t know that you could say that from a marketing perspective.“

Lavner then responded by saying Scheffler definitely is, in fact, a needle-mover.

He said: “Scottie is. People like watching a dominant player, and Scottie is that. He’s a needle-mover.“

Hoggard then finished off his list of players…

“Jordan Spieth for a lot of different reasons,“ the Golf Channel golf journalist said.

“But the idea is it’s such a small group of people that I’m not even quite sure who LIV Golf at this point could sign who would qualify as quote unquote, ‘a needle mover’.“

Is there any way back for LIV Golf?

Hoggard is correct in the sense that LIV will struggle to sign a genuine needle-mover from the PGA Tour.

Which LIV Golf youngster do you think is going to have the best career?

The likes of Michael La Sasso, Josele Ballester, David Puig and Tom McKibbin undoubtedly have incredible potential!

However, things could easily change very quickly if they are successful in their application for world ranking points.

Could more PGA Tour stars then be tempted to jump ship? It’s fair to argue that situation could well come to fruition.

However, in relation to the three PGA Tour players mentioned above, perhaps Spieth is the only player who LIV could realistically sign.

Much will depend on how he performs over the next year or two and as mentioned previously, whether or not LIV become recognized by the Official World Golf Rankings.

Until that happens, the PGA Tour will undoubtedly continue to dominate LIV Golf in terms of viewing figures and sponsorship deals.