‘It’s a rat race’: major champion offers ‘hot take’ after big signing of LIV

The latest development in the long-running PGA Tour-LIV Golf feud came down Tuesday. Reigning NCAA champion Michael La Sasso surprised everyone by joining LIV Golf and giving up a Masters spot.

Later in the day, grand champion and former LIV pro Graeme McDowell headed to X to deliver a ‘hot take’ inspired by LIV’s latest signing. That hot move sparked a debate between McDowell and a popular PGA Tour professional on X, with McDowell calling the PGA Tour the “most complete tour in the world.”

Here’s what you need to know.

Michael La Sasso gives up Masters spot to join LIV

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

The big win earned the promising amateur a spot at the 2025 U.S. Open at Oakmont and earned him sponsorship exemptions for five other PGA Tour events last season.

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

It seemed like the question wasn’t as La Sasso would turn pro and join the PGA TourBut when. But now we know he won’t be playing on the PGA Tour at all.

On Tuesday, LIV Golf announced it had signed La Sasso, and he will play alongside Phil Mickelson on the HyFlyers team when LIV’s 2026 season begins in February.

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

NCAA champions will be allowed to play next year’s Masters, but only if they maintain their amateur status. Because La Sasso turns pro to join LIV, he also loses his tee times at Augusta National.

Graeme McDowell’s ‘hot take’ on LIV vs. PGA Tour

While many wondered why a promising young player would give up his lifelong opportunity to play the Masters to join LIV Golf, McDowell had a very different perspective.

In a first post on XMcDowell wrote that he was offering a “hot take.” The 2010 US Open champion’s theory was simple. He argued that LIV provided a “legitimate” path to the professional ranks for young “superstars.” The PGA Tour, he argued, has a “more dangerous” career path.

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

And McDowell has a point. If La Sasso had rejected LIV’s offer, he would have been allowed to play the Masters. But nothing after his Masters start would be guaranteed.

To build a career on the PGA Tour, La Sasso would have to beat his fellow college players to graduate through the PGA Tour University Rankings. Or he can play at Q-School and hope to make the Tour, or earn Korn Ferry Tour status and start his career there.

Had he not gone to LIV, he likely would have earned more sponsorship exemptions and performed well enough in them to earn Tour status.

But all these processes have many ‘ifs’, especially in the financial department. By becoming a member of LIV, La Sasso will receive a guaranteed salary and direct access to LIV’s wallets from February.

McDowell calls PGA Tour ‘most complete tour’ in debate with pro

McDowell’s vision provoked many reactions. One of these came from popular PGA Tour professional Michael Kim.

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

When he saw McDowell’s post, Kim decided to intervene with a response to publicly express his own opinion.

Kim started off saying that he didn’t “disagree” with McDowell’s main argument, but Kim also stated that if a player is good enough, he or she will make it to the PGA Tour one way or another.

“I don’t 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 tour,” Kim wrote. “If you never made it… you just weren’t good enough.”

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

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

“I don’t dispute that the PGA Tour is currently the most complete tour in the world for playing golf. My point is that it is also increasingly becoming a closed shop, like LIV, with more difficult and narrower paths to get there,” McDowell wrote on generation of player. Money in my pocket and a chance to compete at a high level, in my humble opinion.”

When a commentator responded to McDowell by arguing that the path to the PGA Tour is challenging rather than “dangerous,” McDowell explained his point in more detail, calling the path to the PGA Tour a “rat race.”

“I mean [the path to the PGA Tour is] a rat race with constant failures on mini-tours and the lottery nature of multiple Q-school stages,” McDowell wrote. “It’s harder to force your way into the tour than it is to keep your card, assuming you’re good.”

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