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By Sonny Jones

The LIV Golf series is changing the sport. Time will tell if Greg Norman, Phil Mickelson and the Saudi-backed tour is changing it for the better.

The early returns indicate they are.

The PGA Tour already has announced changes for next season with larger payouts, player bonuses, guaranteed earnings and what it’s calling “elevated” events involving more top players.

There’s no way that happens without the upstart — some may say renegade — tour that’s lured several top PGA players with massive signing bonuses and its 54-hole, shotgun-start tournaments that pay $4 million to the winner and $750,000 for each member of the winning team.

Dustin Johnson won Sunday’s event in a playoff after drilling a 35-foot eagle putt. Johnson has won almost $10 million in LIV’s first four events.

Yes, there’s controversy about LIV being funded by the Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund. And, yes, the country has an atrocious human rights record. So do a lot of countries where several companies make a lot of sportswear and shoes that almost all of us wear. We don’t like the human rights abuses and the deplorable working conditions in those countries, but we keeping opening our wallets.

Regardless of the funding source, LIV is here and looks like it will continue to grow. If a TV network signs on, then the rival tours will have to come together. Currently, LIV tournaments are streamed online.

It’s reminiscent when the American Football League challenged the National Football League in the 1960s, the American Basketball Association challenged the National Basketball Association in the late 1960s through the mid-1970s and the World Hockey Association went up against the National Hockey League in the 1970s.

Eventually, for the betterment of all, the leagues merged.

It may take a while, but a merger of some type will happen in golf. The two tours cannot function separately in the long term. Fans want to watch top players play against each other, not in separate tournaments. With the exception of the majors, at least for now, all of the top players can’t be in the same tournament.

That’s not good for the game. There’s too much money on the line for there not to be a meeting of the minds and a resolution to the current state of pro golf.

MONDAY’S PICK TO CLICK

Clemson’s Will Shipley scores twice and runs for 90 yards in the season-opener against Georgia Tech.

SUNDAY’S PICK: Kyle Larson to win the Southern 500 and advance to the next round of the NASCAR Cup playoffs. Larson looked strong Saturday night in the Xfinity race and was battling for the lead on the final lap. That run should carry over to the Cup race. RESULTS: Larson had mechanical trouble early, fell behind by 4 laps and worked his way back to finish 12th and on the lead lap. He’s in seventh place in the playoff standings.

WHAT TO WATCH TODAY

• TENNIS: U.S. Open round of 16, 11 a.m., ESPN and 7 p.m., ESPN2

• NHRA: U.S. Nationals, noon, FS1 and 2 p.m., FOX

• MLB: Minnesota at NY Yankees or Toronto at Baltimore, 1 p.m., MLBN

• MLB: Boston at Tampa Bay or Washington at St. Louis, 4 p.m., MLBN

• MLB: Texas at Houston or Chicago White Sox at Seattle, 7 p.m., MLBN

• FOOTBALL: Clemson vs. Georgia Tech, 8 p.m., ESPN

• MLB: San Francisco at LA Dodgers, 10 p.m., MLBN

Sonny Jones can be reached at wibbyj@gmail.com and follow on Twitter @FOSonnyJones.