LIV plays on as foundation shows crumbling
Koivun era begins with decisive 3M win over No. 1 Scheffler; Fox endorses 'ready' golf
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Despite uncertain future, big crowds show up to see Lucas Herbert cruise in UK event (Chris Trotman/LIV Golf)
From afar, all looked good at the LIV Golf event in England. The crowds were seemingly robust, as they typically have been going back to the very first one in 2022. The buildout was impressive. A nice leaderboard was topped by an strong performance by Lucas Herbert.
The view behind the scenes, however, was not nearly as pretty.
Aside from the Mexico City event in April when reports started to surface that the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia was going to drop its funding after this year, this might have been LIV Golf’s most tumultuous week.
Reports on the ground from Ben Parsons of Today’s Golfer and Tom Hobbs who runs the Flushing It social media account were alarming.
Parson’s reported that two-time major champion Martin Kaymer acknowledged that LIV Golf’s season-ending team event in Michigan is in danger of not being played, meaning two of LIV’s 14 events would be scrapped. That’s $70 million in purse money off the table. Hobbs reported that — regardless of LIV’s future — at least seven players are prepared to leave at the end of the season.
And all of that followed the Golf Digest report that preceded an announcement that the Asian Tour — which had partnered with LIV Golf before it launched in 2022 — was changing its allegiance to the DP World Tour and the PGA Tour.
Any one of those stories would be bad enough. Combined they might be fatal to the viability of the breakaway league.
Also in today’s DD …
Quick study: New pro Koivun cashes in on first win, beating Scheffler at 3M
This week in golf recaps the week’s tournament results
Scheffler’s awesonely unsatisfying season of near misses
Fast Ryan Fox is the new poster boy for ‘ready golf’
Scott O’Neil, LIV Golf’s CEO, is still forging ahead seeking more than $300 million in outside investment to try and keep the league afloat beyond this year. He has expressed optimism that he can find the right mix of investors who would be willing to prop up a LIV Golf 2.0, with a reduced schedule, manageable purses and a continued emphasis on the team format.
But with all that is going on, retaining a decent roster of players is going to be a challenge, regardless of what O’Neil puts together. And it leads to speculation about what kind of options players will have if they elect to leave LIV Golf, or if it folds.
