A Look At LIV Golf Through Three Events – Winners Only Club

JACOB DIETRICH | SCHAUMBURG, IL AUGUST 6, 2022

LIV Golf hasn’t been talked about much…… is something you will never read again. LIV, outside of the NFL drama with Deshaun Watson, has been the most talked about sports organization in the world. If you live under a rock and have not heard about LIV, let me give you a quick rundown of what makes this so compelling to talk about.

LIV golf is a new golf tour that is Saudi-backed and has been offering massive amounts of money to golf stars like Phil Mickelson, Dustin Johnson, Bryson DeChambeau, and many more. The PGA Tour has been put on notice and told all players that if they decide to leave to play on the Saudi backed tour, their tour card would be suspended and they would be excluded from team events such as the Ryder Cup and Presidents Cup. LIV Golf’s format is 48 players competing over 54 holes with the roman numeral for 50 is L and 4 is IV, making LIV. The rounds start in a shotgun start which provides shorter broadcasts and more action during every minute. Players compete for themselves for massive amounts of money over 8 events this year as well as in 4 person teams for an added shot at making money. Henrik Stenson, the now former European Ryder Cup champion, has left for LIV Golf and has lost his spot as captain in 2023 and instead took home a nice $4m+. The players of LIV Golf have now gone at the PGA Tour with a new law suit to have their suspensions not be in effect for major championships like The Masters and PGA Championship. This is an ongoing issue that we are just at the start of. On top of the PGA displaying an irrational hate towards the players, they have received hate from multiple liberal organizations since the events is a) Saudi Arabian backed and b) playing at ton of the 45th president of the United States, Donald Trump, owned courses with the most recent event being held at Trump Bedminster in Bedminster, NJ.

Besides that they have still played nine rounds of golf through three events in London, Portland, and Bedminster. The events have been held on YouTube and on LIV Golf’s website and with new voice David Feherty. Some stars like Dustin Johnson and Patrick Reed have shined since joining LIV Golf while players like Pat Perez and Phil Mickelson certainly have not. None the less, every event that has been played has been entertaining to watch. The winners so far have been Henrik Stenson, Branden Grace, and Charl Schwartzel. The success and happiness of players can be seen by everyone that walks the course. The only downside that has been seen is the crowds at these events however I truly don’t believe this should be a worry. The recent events have been gaining fans as event event comes and you can notice on the broadcasts. The most recent event had several thousand fans per day which in comparison, the average PGA event has 20k fans per day. That may seem like it is low but you need to remember the organization is only three events in and tickets weren’t on sale for as long as the PGA tickets go up for sale. With the organization having the entire month of August off, I would expect more players to join the organization and ticket sales to improve before heading to cities like Boston, Chicago, and Miami. The new tour has also announced that next year they will go from 8 to 14 events and continue to grow the game and leave a global footprint.

All in all, I expect for the LIV Golf Tour to continue to improve week after week attracting new names and eventually resulting in a TV deal. I don’t know if a network will pick them up or if they will end up with a streaming service like Netflix, HBO, or Showtime. I expect players like Rickie Fowler and Cameron Smith to be part of the next wave into the tour as it continues to draw a huge following from the conservatives that supported Donald Trump. He has left his impression and as more and more people get involved, I expect it to continue being a highly talked about organization that continue to ruffle the feathers emotionally as it becomes a disruptive force into the overly controlling PGA Tour ran by Jay Monahan.