Jimmy Roberts on LIV vs PGA Tour: What People Still Don’t Get

Trey Wingo sits down with longtime ESPN storyteller and golf insider Jimmy Roberts for a wide-ranging conversation that connects the dots between Tiger Woods, the modern PGA Tour vs LIV Golf era, and why the Ryder Cup still hits differently in Europe than it does in the U.S.Jimmy takes us back to how he accidentally became ESPN’s golf reporter (“I was looking around and had to think… what could I cover that nobody cares about?”) — and how Tiger’s arrival instantly transformed golf into must-see TV. He shares personal stories from the earliest Tiger years, including what it was like covering Tiger as an amateur and the moment it became obvious: golf was never going to be the same.From there, Trey and Jimmy dig into the post-LIV landscape: what LIV actually brought into the ecosystem, what the PGA Tour had to change because of it, and why the conversation gets more complicated when you zoom out beyond U.S. ratings and consider golf’s global growth. They also get into the modern business reality of the sport — including the shift to PGA Tour Enterprises, private equity investment, and players becoming equity partners — and what that could mean for the future of competition, scheduling, and fan clarity.And because you can’t talk about golf’s soul without going there: Trey and Jimmy unpack the Ryder Cup problem. Jimmy makes the case that, culturally, it simply means more in Europe year-round — and Trey shares why it’s his favorite sporting event, even when it drives him insane as an American fan.They wrap with a look at Jimmy’s newest chapter: “The Big Swing with Jimmy Roberts” — a show focused on the business and personalities shaping golf, from equipment and tourism to technology, simulators, and the massive scale of the modern golf economy.If you care about where golf has been — and where it’s headed next — this is the conversation.Topics include:Jimmy Roberts’ ESPN origin story and how he claimed golf as his laneTiger Woods as an amateur, the “hello world” moment, and the sport’s inflection pointLIV vs PGA Tour: the product, the strategy, and what’s actually at stakeNIL / image rights in golf and why that debate is about to get louderPGA Tour Enterprises, private equity, and the new business model of pro golfRyder Cup culture: why Europe treats it like the Super BowlJimmy’s new show: The Big Swing with Jimmy Roberts Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.