Harry Higgs has expressed reservations about the future of golf broadcasts after LIV Golf “took all the a**holes and villains” from the PGA Tour.
If you’re reading this and are unsure who Higgs is, you might remember he was the PGA Tour pro who went viral for the wrong reasons.
He whipped his shirt off and sent the crowd into a frenzy during last year’s raucous Waste Management Phoenix Open.
Higgs is also one of the most opinionated players on the circuit.
The American – who lost his full PGA Tour card last year – previously described golf broadcasts as “s***” on the No Laying Up podcast in an unflinching assessment.
This week he was asked by Golfweek what he would do if he were to run a golf television network.
Part of the problem – Higgs believes – is what he described as the “Tiger Woods hangover”.
People used to tune into golf on TV simply because Woods showed up and “nobody” on the network had to be particularly good at their jobs.
Higgs told the publication:
And I’m not saying that people weren’t [good at their jobs]because they were, but really no one had to be any good at their jobs within the golf kind of landscape because Tiger was playing, Tiger was winning and shit just sold because he was showing up.
“We are certainly entering an era where that’s going to happen less and less, if at all.
“I’m obviously rooting for it to happen as much as it possibly can because that just helps out everybody involved.
“So my kind of elevator pitch would just be, obviously, keep doing what you’re doing but also don’t be afraid to tell the more difficult story or storyline.”
Higgs continued:
“I obviously live golf and everything, right? And as for the division [with LIV Golf] and all that stuff, I don’t necessarily agree but I don’t blame any of these guys for leaving.
“But we joke back and forth — they took all the assholes. They took all the villains. And that’s a problem. They took some of our best players, too.
“But those who have left haven’t put this in a spot where it’s like, oh, shit, you know, all the great players are gone and playing somewhere else.
“That’s not the case, but they took some of the ones who would have stories written about them maybe in a negative light with kind of negative connotations.
“And OK, that’s kind of a driving force for people to read your story or for people to turn their television on. I struggle with this.”
LIV Golf certainly made a splash in 2022 but they are still without a TV deal.
There were rumors circulating earlier this week that the breakaway tour was considering giving away the rights for free.
Next page: Jordan Spieth reacts to “disrespectful” question
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