Big champ offers ‘hot’ after LIV’s big signing: ‘It’s a rat race’

The biggest development in the long-running PGA Tour-LIV Golf conflict came Tuesday. The reigning NCAA champion Michael La Sasso surprised everyone by joining LIV Golf and submission of a Master’s place in the process.

Later in the day, Grand Champion and LIV Senior Pro Graeme McDowell took to X to deliver a hot take inspired by LIV’s latest signing. This heated performance started an argument between McDowell and a well-known PGA Tour professional at X, during which McDowell called the PGA Tour “the most complete tour in the world.”

Here’s what you need to know.

Michael La Sasso relinquishes Master seat to join LIV

Last May in Carlsbad, California, Ole Miss junior Michael La Sasso triumphed to win the 2025 NCAA Individual Championship title.

The big win earned the promising amateur a spot in the 2025 US Open at Oakmont and helped him earn sponsor exemptions at five other PGA Tour events last season.

La Sasso’s NCAA win earned him an invitation to the 2026 Masters.

It seemed that the question was not whether La Sasso would turn pro and join them PGA Tourbut when. But now we know he won’t be joining the PGA Tour at all.

On Tuesday, LIV Golf announced that it had signed La Sasso to a contract and he will play alongside Phil Mickelson on the HyFlyers team as the 2026 LIV season begins in February.

Not only was it a surprise for La Sasso to choose LIV over the PGA Tour, but it was a surprise considering what he gave up: his Masters invitation.

NCAA champions can play in next year’s Masters, but only if they maintain their amateur status. Since La Sasso will turn pro to join LIV, he will also miss his time at Augusta National.

Graeme McDowell’s ‘hot catch’ at the LIV vs. PGA Tour

While many questioned why a promising young player would give up an opportunity of a lifetime to play the Masters in order to join LIV Golf, McDowell had a very different perspective.

In an initial post on XMcDowell wrote that he was a “hot one” to offer. The 2010 US Open champion’s theory was simple. He argued that LIV offered a “legitimate” path to the pro ranks for young “superstars.” The PGA Tour, he argued, features a more “risky” career path.

“Hot hot, but LIV is a legitimate path for potential young superstars who can get paid to be mentored in their fledgling careers by Tour greats and play a guaranteed schedule,” McDowell wrote on X. “The road to the PGA Tour is increasingly dangerous and filled with great talent who never made it.”

And McDowell has a point. If La Sasso had turned down LIV’s offer, he likely would have played the Masters and another year in college. But nothing after the start of his Masters would be guaranteed.

To carve out a career on the PGA Tour, La Sasso would have to best his college peers to graduate through the PGA Tour University rankings. 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 likely would have earned more sponsor exemptions and could have performed well enough in them to earn tournament status.

But all these paths contain many “ifs”, especially in the financial department. By joining LIV, La Sasso gets a guaranteed payout and instant access to LIV bags starting in February.

McDowell calls the PGA Tour ‘the most complete tour’ in debating with the pros

McDowell’s take inspired plenty of commentary. One of them came from a well-known PGA Tour professional Michael Kim.

Kim has a huge presence on X and shares regularly behind-the-scenes details about his life on the PGA Tour.

When he saw McDowell’s post, Kim decided to respond to offer his opinion publicly.

Kim began by saying that he didn’t “disagree” with McDowell’s main argument, but Kim also stated that if a player is good enough, they will end up on the PGA Tour one way or another.

“I disagree, but the PGA Tour is one of the purest meritocracies in sports, and if you’re good enough, you’ll end up playing on the tour,” Kim wrote. “If you never made it… you just weren’t good enough.”

McDowell responded with another startling statement. First, he said he doesn’t dispute that the PGA Tour “is the most complete golfing tour in the world right now.”

But he went on to argue that the Tour is increasingly becoming a “closed shop” while the LIV offers young players like La Sasso guaranteed “money in their pocket a chance to compete at a high level”.

“There’s no doubt in my mind that the PGA Tour is the most complete golfing tour in the world right now. My sense is that it’s also becoming an increasingly closed shop, like LIV, with harder and narrower fairways to get there,” McDowell wrote in X. “Getting there is definitely harder than staying there, and golf is one of the few sports that guarantees the best talent in the world. Fairways will always be important, and LIV is it offers a very interesting and compelling opportunity for the next generation of players in their pocket and a chance to compete at a high level in my humble opinion.

When a commenter responded to McDowell arguing that 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 road to the PGA Tour is) a rat race with constant failure on the mini-tours and the lottery nature of the multiple stages of the Q school,” McDowell wrote. “It’s harder to get through the tournament than it is to hold the card assuming you’re good.”

You can check out McDowell’s post and the ensuing debate in the replies below.