Lucas Herbert, a star of LIV Golf and recent Team Championship winner, has voiced his support for the breakaway league's reduced schedule compared to the demanding PGA Tour.
Herbert, who played a crucial role in leading Cam Smith's Ripper GC to victory at the season finale in Dallas last month, shared insights from his first season with LIV Golf. He emphasized how the trimmed down calendar of just 14 events in 2024 allowed him to enhance his performance on the green. "I played so much more in 2023, but it's just a perfect schedule now," he revealed to News.com.au .
au. "You get your time to get away from the game and get your development blocks to be able to get better, not just from a perspective of hitting balls for three or four days and then go to an event, you can actually really work on your game and elevate your skill set rather than just tune it up. I've spent 10 months now taking advantage of that opportunity, it's been awesome."
The Aussie continued: "I am comfortably, comfortably better this year. I mean, Cam Smith gave me an hour of his time on the chipping ground at the Greenbrier. Can't imagine that ever happening to any other player when we're playing individual events on the PGA Tour.
"So just the knowledge I've been able to zap from my teammates at various stages throughout the year has been awesome, and my game has massively benefited from that." It's no surprise that Herbert isn't the only player to have praised the LIV league's schedule after making the switch.
Dustin Johnson, one of LIV's most prominent figures, has expressed his support for the league, citing the opportunity to play less golf while earning more money as a compelling reason. "For me it was playing less, making more money. Pretty simple," Johnson revealed on Netflix's Full Swing during the first season of the behind-the-scenes show.
He further explained, "Someone offers anyone a job, doing the same thing they're already doing but less time at the office and they're gonna pay them more. Pretty sure you're gonna take it. And something's wrong with you if you didn't."
Talor Gooch, Johnson's former 4Aces teammate, echoed these sentiments. "That's one of the things that is great about LIV," he shared with Forbes last month. "Rather than playing 30 times a year like I did on the PGA Tour, having 14 events makes it easier to bring the family out on the road. I'm not out on the road for long stretches at a time. It just gives me more time at home, too, which is fantastic."
As Gooch pointed out, less golf means more family time for those in the breakaway league, a benefit that Sergio Garcia also appreciates. "It has benefited my life," the Spaniard recently told Mirror Sport . "It has made my life more manageable with family and everything."
"So in a way that helps. I am more settled not only financially, but as a family, time-wise the time you are able to spend with the family, resting and getting your body rebooted and recharged, that is something unfortunately we didn't really have."
Phil Mickelson, who initiated the LIV exodus from the PGA Tour, gave a compelling reason why the league's schedule surpasses their Tour rivals. "Love LIV or hate it, it's the best way/Tour to be your best in the majors," he posted on Twitter last May.
"Enough events to keep you sharp, fresh and ready, yet not be worn down from too many tournaments or obligations. 14 LIV events, 34 weeks left open to prepare for the 4 majors. Fact."
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